The profession of emoji artist: income structure and reality
- Emoji artists are responsible for tasks that take longer than creating images.
- Why are so many people curious about this profession?
- Ultimately, is it a full-time job or a part-time job?
- A character can earn money through various methods.
- The real burden may begin after the approval is granted.
- Things to check before deciding on a career change:
- The way to continue a character in WordPress.
- Frequently Asked Questions.
- WordPress-related plugins
There is someone who has been working late into the night, correcting a character’s expressions. Can making small changes to the same drawing really cover living expenses, or is it a side job whose few success stories simply receive disproportionate attention?
An emoticon creator is not simply someone who creates and uploads a single image. They are more like digital content providers who pass through a review process, launch products, create subsequent series, and expand characters into other merchandise.
Emoji artists are responsible for tasks that take longer than creating images.
Kakao Emoticon Studio guides creators through a process consisting of four stages: proposal, review, production preparation, and launch and growth. Even after submitting an idea, the process continues with review, production, and sales management.
The review period is approximately 2 to 4 weeks. Approval does not mean the process is immediately complete.
The actual production and release must be completed within a specified timeframe. As of 2024, Kakao announced that the cumulative number of individual emoticons since the service launched was approximately 700,000.
The market is large. At the same time, there is a lot of competition.
Why are so many people curious about this profession?
This is because the entry path is open. Kakao states that anyone can submit their creations through the Kakao Emoji Studio.
There have also been cases of significant sales within the market. According to Kakao, as of 2024, there were 2,885 content creators in the emoticon business who recorded cumulative sales of 100,000,000 won or more, 146 who recorded 1,000,000,000 won or more, and 17 who recorded 10,000,000,000 won or more.
However, these numbers should not be interpreted like a pay stub. They represent cumulative sales figures, and do not necessarily reflect the average or median income of all authors.
The average number of monthly subscribers for Emoticon Plus was approximately 2,500,000, and the total number of messages sent since the service’s launch was approximately 280,000,000,000. The fact that people continue to use these characters in actual conversations represents a clear opportunity.
An opportunity does not necessarily mean a stable income.
Ultimately, is it a full-time job or a part-time job?
Being an emoji creator can be a profession that generates actual income. However, it is more realistic to consider it as a side job or a small content business to test the waters, rather than expecting it to be a stable, salaried job from the beginning.
The key point is not the success of a single work. It is a system that involves multiple releases, observing consumer reactions to which characters and expressions are chosen, and then expanding popular characters into subsequent series and merchandise.
Kakao Emoticon Studio also guides creators through continuing with follow-up series after releasing a work and growing into popular artists. It creates an environment where characters that can be reused are more likely to have a longer lifespan than works that are sold only once.
The possibility of repeated success is more important than a single instance of success.
A character can earn money through various methods.
The most straightforward approach would be to sell individual emojis. A subscription service could be added to this.
Kakao Emoticon Plus is a subscription service introduced in 2021. The fact that the average number of monthly subscribers in 2024 was approximately 2.5 million shows that continued use, not just one-time purchases, can also be a source of revenue.
Once a character becomes well-known, it is possible to create additional emojis and expand its reach through related products or collaborations. Kakao announced that in 2024, it collaborated with senior artists to release emojis and related products, and also held promotional product events.
There is no need to limit sales channels to just one. Naver OGQ Creator Studio provides functions for registering and reviewing digital content such as stickers, managing sales, and settling the resulting revenue.
Therefore, the revenue model is more about operating a character in various ways rather than relying on a single work and waiting for its success. The more sales, sequels, subscriptions, merchandise, and collaborations that follow, the longer a character can remain active.
The revenue is divided through various channels.
The real burden may begin after the approval is granted.
The biggest misconception is the belief that once approved, you will immediately start making money. After approval, a series of tasks follow, including production schedules, development of new content, verification of rights, and analysis of sales performance.
Kakao informs users that if they do not begin production within 30 days of approval, or fail to complete production within 180 days, their project may be suspended. Having an idea and completing a product within a specified timeframe are two different matters.
When you try it yourself, the sticking points are quite specific. It is difficult to decide what facial expressions and manner of speaking to put into the next work, and you also have to decide whether to change the character or stick with it when the first work does not sell.
It is more difficult to make a judgment than to create an image.
If a work contains images, names, or trademarks of other individuals, it can create a more significant problem. Kakao has announced that if copyright, trademark, right of publicity, or portrait rights violations are confirmed, they may take measures such as suspending sales.
Works created using generative artificial intelligence are not a universal solution. Kakao is currently limiting proposals for emoticons made using generative artificial intelligence due to the potential for copyright infringement.
These issues cannot be resolved solely by having good drawing skills. Because you must handle tasks such as schedule management, rights verification, and reaction recording on your own, it is important to start with a small workload when beginning while also working a regular job.
Tools may reduce the amount of work, but they cannot replace judgment.
The scope of what can be delegated to tools is not about setting schedules or making judgments about rights, but rather about organizing the completed content into a readable format. You can use DecoBlocks’ “Insert Character Sticker” to insert character stickers from an installed sticker pack, and you can use the “Section Box (Solid)” to group related content.
The H2 and H3 headings in a long post can be automatically converted into a table of contents after the post is published. The author still decides which character to create, which rights to secure, and which work to produce next.
Things to check before deciding on a career change:
If you want to test your artistic skills and character ideas, consider releasing one or two series while maintaining your current job. You should record not only whether they are approved, but also their sales, repurchase rates, and reactions to follow-up works.
- Does the first work actually get approved and released?
- Are people rediscovering characters again?
- Does the work contain enough elements to warrant a sequel?
- Can we continue to manage the schedule and verify the rights?
If you already have a fan base or character intellectual property, it is better to compare multiple sales channels, like Kakao and OGQ do, and design a strategy that includes sequels and product collaborations. This is because it is not possible to determine the overall potential of a character based on the response from a single channel.
If you intend to cover your living expenses solely through emoji sales, do not base your decision on the highest sales figures. It is safer to launch the product several times, verify the actual sales records for a certain period, and then decide whether to pursue it as a full-time endeavor.
Ultimately, being an emoji artist is less about selling individual images for a large sum and more akin to a small business that involves repeatedly managing characters. The realistic approach is to start as a side hustle, gauge the response, and consider transitioning to full-time work when there is evidence of repeated sales and potential for expansion.
The way to continue a character in WordPress.
After expanding the character into emojis and merchandise, when continuing work records or character introductions in WordPress, it is necessary to organize both the information and the expression of the content. DecoBlocks’ “Insert Character Sticker” feature allows you to insert character stickers from the installed sticker pack into your content. The same decorative function can be used in both the block editor and the classic editor using shortcodes.
When presenting related content such as information about sequels or release records, you can use a Section Box (Solid) to group the content within a single-color box. You can also create an Auto Table of Contents based on the H2 and H3 headings of a long article to display the article’s sections. While this feature does not determine the rights or profitability of a character, it provides a solution for organizing specific content within a WordPress post.
When assessing the potential revenue of an emoticon creator, it is essential to first review their production and sales records. When expanding characters into WordPress posts, DecoBlocks can be used to create expressive elements such as stickers, boxes, and tables of contents.
This function does not determine the rights or sale potential of a character; rather, it arranges the specified content within a post. When distinguishing between profit assessment and expression tools, it is important to consider the realities of this profession alongside WordPress operation.
Frequently Asked Questions.
Q. Can an emoticon artist start their career as a full-time professional from the very beginning?
A. Because earnings can vary significantly, it is more realistic to start with one or two series as a side business rather than making a full-time commitment from the beginning. Evaluate the results after several sales and settlement records before making a decision.
Q. If there are many authors with sales exceeding 100,000,000 won, does that mean the average income is also high?
A. The publicly disclosed figures of 100,000,000 won or more represent specific examples of content providers based on accumulated sales. These figures do not represent the average or median income of all authors.
Q. Can this problem be easily solved using a tool? What kind of tool should be used?
A. You can utilize a platform that provides support for registration, review, sales management, and settlement. However, this platform does not replace the tasks of generating character ideas, verifying rights, creating new works, and determining whether to sell them.
Q. Can I insert character stickers into a WordPress post?
A. It is possible.
DecoBlocks’ Insert Character Sticker allows you to embed character stickers from the installed sticker pack into your posts, and it can be used in both the block editor and the classic editor shortcodes. To group the stickers and their descriptions together, you can use the Section Box (Solid) feature.
