Closed Eyes Pink Smiley

Illustration of a face with a smile and long eyelashes with eyes closed

The classic yellow smiley face is comprised of a yellow circle, two black dots for eyes, and a black arc ending in serifs for a mouth. It was designed in 1963 by commercial artist, Harvey Ross Ball. Ball was commissioned by The State Mutual Life Insurance Company to create a happy face to raise the morale of their employees. His version was created in 10 minutes. The design was printed onto more than 50 million buttons. Neither Ball nor the company copyrighted this smiley, so it was continually used by other businesses in their promotions.
The design and concept is quite simple and was definitely used before Ball’s 1963 version. However, his has become the most iconic. Variations have been used for advertising campaigns and in popular culture ever since.

In the 1980s, Highlights children's magazine gave away promotional items with personified smileys, such as stickers or buttons, to their subscribers.

In internet culture the smiling face represents warm and positive feelings including love and gratitude with its slight smile, closed eyes, and rosy cheeks.