Does This Little Critter Say 'Mexico City' to You?

What digital icon best sums up the culture of Mexico City? For Itzel Oropeza Castillo, it’s an axolotl, the rare Mexican salamander, eating tacos or posing as Frida Kahlo. Castillo has just been revealed as the winner of the Emoji CDMX contest, which asked residents to design 20 emojis best representing the megalopolis.

The contest was organized by Laboratory for the City, an experimental arm of the city government that organizes projects bridging academia, nonprofits, private businesses, and the public sector, and Zoe Mendelson (who also designed the contest). “One of the small contemporary graphic revolutions has been the use of emoticons,” says the laboratory’s director, Gabriella Gómez-Mont. “We thought it would be interesting to ask designers to create an emoji package that speaks to the icons that best represent the city. Not only its jewels, but also the local idiosyncrasies.”