Virginia Tech releases Hokiemoji keyboard

Virginia Tech students, alumni, employees, and sports fans have a new way to express excitement and support for the university.

The official Virginia Tech emoji keyboard — featuring over 80 emojis of iconic Virginia Tech imagery, inside jokes (like the horse on a treadmill) and HokieBird emoji faces —  is now available as a free download by searching “Virginia Tech Emoji” in the Apple iTunes App Store and Google Play Store or using this link.

The emojis were designed by two students, Hannah Largen of Stuart, Virginia, a sophomore double majoring in visual communication design and marketing and Amanda Robinson of Berryville, Virginia, a sophomore majoring in visual communication design.

“We were fortunate to have these two incredibly talented student designers, who by working to create these emojis gained real-world business experience to enhance their educational career at Virginia Tech,” said Kristan Cole, Virginia Tech’s licensing and trademarks director.  “This project is very special to us because it gives Hokies worldwide a unique language to engage with each other in text and social media channels.”

The keyboard was developed by Swyft Media, a company that specializes in mobile content strategy and provides an authentic mobile extension to entertainment properties, sports teams and universities to drive fan engagement.

“Virginia Tech students are clearly passionate about their school and its storied history,” said Evan Wray, vice president and co-founder of Swyft Media. “The Hokiemoji keyboard takes fan engagement to a new level, by giving fans a visual way to communicate across their favorite messaging apps.”

The branded emoji keyboards are designed to work across any iOS® or Android™ device and can be used to share content across most messaging or social media networks. Furthermore, every brand keyboard deployed using Swyft’s Mobile Engagement Platform comes with access to real-time, personalized analytics—delivering valuable insights to help understand what content resonates most with their fans.