Ann Ding introduces the application Stampme to the market by employing artists to create digital versions of real life users. Photo provided to Shanghai Star

Stampme has over 10 thousand downloads a day. Users can personalize emojis by choosing face shape, eyes, nose, mouth, emotion, and even clothes from the online database uploaded by Ding's team. The database was created by about 3,000 contracted professional painters, over 50 of which are based in Japan. Ding employs 10 full-time painters in the office.

"The regularly updated database available for users to customize dynamic emojis is a combination of animated portraits and dynamic emotion, which is more vivid for young people to insert into the conversation," Ding says.

To retain freshness and curiosity for both new and established customers, Stampme updates its emoji packages almost everyday, adding popular phrases, seasonal scenery and funny backgrounds to the database for people to choose and build their own emojis.

"More people see mobile phones as a way to demonstrate their personalities, so we are helping them show their unique personality without going to shopping malls to purchase colorful clothes," Ding says.

Ding plans to have Stampme cooperate with certain online platforms such as social and game applications and design special emoji packages for their users to download.

"We are keen to be the face of real people in the animated world, where people are able to express their happiness, anger, sadness and cheerfulness with a click on their cell phones," Ding says.