Trollface

2008

Date: 19 September 2008 · Place: deviantART · Figures: Carlos Ramirez aka Whynne, illustrator · Tags: Rage Face, deviantART, Trolling Iconography 01. Coolface Posted To deviantART Carlos Ramirez, an eighteen year old Oakland art student posting as Whynne, uploads a comic titled Trolls to deviantART on 19 September 2008. The final panel features a face with a sinister wide grin, half-closed eyes, and the caption Problem? The face, sometimes called Coolface in its early circulation, is lifted to 4chan and YouTube comment sections within weeks. It becomes the universal pictograph for trolling intent. 02. The Iconography Of Bad Faith Trollface fixes a vocabulary. To troll is no longer abstract; it has a face. The grin is appropriated for everything from anti-piracy memes to political graffiti, eventually appearing on hand-painted signs at protests in Egypt and Hong Kong. Ramirez registers the copyright in 2010 and successfully pursues unauthorized commercial use, earning a reported six-figure income from licensing through the 2010s. Sources • KnowYourMeme, 'Trollface' • Whynne, 'Trolls' (deviantART, 19 September 2008) • Vice, 'The Man Who Drew Trollface Made Six Figures Off Memes' (12 February 2015)