The ABBA Emoji Album was conceptualised and designed by freelance Cape Town-based Advertising Creative Director, Copywriter and Content Creator Kyle Cockeran (assisted by some former studio-mates) and uploaded on Facebook and Instagram on World Emoji Day, 17 July 2022.

We asked him more about this passion project:

What is the ABBA Emoji Album, Kyle?

It’s a collection of 88 images representing (in emoji form) almost every single ABBA track ever recorded. Eighty-six of the images represent song titles and 2 act as the front and back ‘covers’ of the Album.

What is the purpose of the ABBA Emoji Album?

The ABBA Emoji Album is:

An homage to the world’s most-loved 4-piece band and a celebration of their return to the charts after a 40-year absence; the band’s 9th studio album Voyage dropped on 5 November 2021.

A guessing game to test fans’ knowledge of the group’s hits.

There is no commercial angle to the project. It exists solely as a ‘surprise and delight’ for fans.

Some song titles are super simple and very easy to guess. Others will have you Googling the band’s back catalogue to prompt your memory.

What prompted or inspired this labour of love?

I was struck by a comment someone going by the name Pink Goddess had made on the ABBA YouTube channel in September 2021. I saw she (or maybe even he) had racked up well over 1000 Likes so I was intrigued to see what they’d said that had struck such a chord with so many people. Pink Goddess explained that she’d been going progressively deaf over the past 20 years and was now absolutely 100% deaf. She said she’d joked with her husband that it was OK as she’d heard all the ABBA songs that were ever made – and had retained them all in her memory. But, she confided, when she read the band had reformed and were releasing a brand new album, her heart absolutely broke. So, under the lyric video for Don’t Shut Me Down (one of the two pre-release singles from the Voyage album) she asked ABBA fans to explain the tune using references to any of the old hits. The internet did not disappoint. People were chiming in in droves. From laymen’s explanations to serious music Prof detail. I thought If this is how seriously people are taking the request and we’re only on the first track, we’re going to need more recruits! So, I posted a story about it on my Facebook to see if my Friends and Followers wanted to help. As a writer, I always know from the start how my posts are going to end and the obvious sign-off would have to be the thank-you and music note emojis – as in Thank You For The Music (one of ABBA’s best-known tunes). I dropped them on…and then I wondered how many other combinations might just apply to other ABBA tracks. And there they all were: Money, Money, Money; Honey, Honey; Dancing Queen; One Man, One Woman; Bang-A-Boomerang, Eagle, Tiger. It just kept on going. I put them all on my post, but it just looked a mess. Each one needed its own showcase.

How was the ABBA Emoji Album created?

Almost all of the 88 images were created in-app on Facebook using the Status Update function (now known by its more familiar name What’s on your mind?) with an iPhone. The remainder were assembled in Photoshop and InDesign, with one or two in PowerPoint – believe it or not.

I didn’t want to use too many fancy-pants art direction tools because we wanted to keep the door open for fans – ordinary people not in the creative industries – to be able to self-assemble their own versions. That meant we had to keep it simple and use the most ‘democratic’ creative means possible. And what could be more easily accessible than Facebook’s Status Update? It’s something people use every day and have been using for years, so they’re comfortable with it. There’s nothing ‘designer’ about it. You open your Facebook. You hit What’s on your mind? You pick your background colour. You arrange your emojis. You screen-grab…and you’re done! Easy.

How long did it take?

Test-image construction began on 10 September 2021. The last touches and tweaks were made on 16 July 2022. Roughly ten months, working in between my day job and on weekends. In the bath. On the jazz. Waiting for my Uber. In my Uber. While on boring Zoom calls, etc.

What was the hardest one to make?

The album cover.

The arrangement calls for some creative reinterpretation to mimic those signature colour swishes above the band members’ heads on the original 1977 album cover (ABBA – The Album).

Some elements had to be combined to achieve the desired effect, but I love the way it turned out. If you count the number of birds flying out of that bush, it matches exactly to the source material. As does the curve of the flock.

Any other tough nuts?

Little Things, the Christmas-themed one. Getting the symmetry just right was absolute murder. Since the images extend over the area you’d be able to fill in-app on Facebook, it had to be done using other tools. But wrapping paper just seemed the right way to go. And the random crop was done on purpose. You know, just as your aunty would randomly cut and wrap your Christmas prezzie!

The Visitors. Like the song Arrival, this was one where I used the album cover of the same name to spark the name of the song. You don’t get emojis showing people sitting down. Clip art, yes. Emojis, no. So, some license had to be taken because both Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Benny Andersson are pictured seated on the original 1981 album cover. And then there are all those pictures on the wall!

Voulez-Vous was hard too – but not from a technical perspective. The challenge was how to depict the sexually free-wheeling, 1970s spirit of the song without being crass or crude – which I didn’t think would go down well with the group. Emojipedia.org warns against rude emoji combinations, so I think the rabbits are adequate stand-ins, if you catch my drift?

Dancing Queen?

Dancing Queen was always going to be one of the easiest ones to ID. The trick was how to make it visually rewarding enough to look at, bearing in mind it is the all-time signature ABBA track, so it needed special attention. I save all my WIPs (work in progress), and when I did a Select All on that folder it said 347 items. There were that many alternatives in there. Bonkers, right? Ultimately, I chose the classic disco set-up: black background and the dancefloor with random backlit colours. Apple only released the mirror ball emoji in March 2022 as part of their iOS 15.4 update so that had to be added later! You’ll notice, unlike any other ABBA emoji quizzes online, this version does not have a crown. As it turns out, not every queen needs one. Who’d have guessed?

Personal favourite?

The cover.

But creatively, I have a soft spot for the ones that transmit their clues using only a single emoji, like Head Over Heels.

Easter eggs?

There are plenty of design ‘in-jokes’ scattered throughout the album, but only superfans will be able to find and decode them. Happy Easter, everyone.

Any plans for a sequel?

I would need my head read, seriously! That said, there were many instances where you look at a layout and think Hmmm, that would be better for XXX – some or other non-ABBA song. So, I started saving some of those. Let’s just say we have enough material for a 40-track album. Actually, I sent them to my former boss lady to keep her kids occupied last Christmas.