Apple's Canadian homepage is a glorious emoji tribute to the Raptors right now

Who doesn't love an animated emoji dino?
 By 
Rachel Kraus
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

The world's snootiest designers have come up with a tribute to Canada's winningest basketball team using whirling emojis on white space that is absolutely fucking beautiful.

On Thursday, the Toronto Raptors scraped out a victory against basketball's biggest villains/heroes the Golden State Warriors in what would be the last game of the NBA finals. Despite the Raptors' star player being mostly goddamn useless in a butt-clenching fourth quarter, the win delivered Canada its first NBA championship, and many a happy Drake meme.

Johnny Ive's crack design team apparently thought the victory was cause for celebration. On Friday morning, Apple's Canadian homepage (apple.ca) greeted visitors with excellent use of negative space, and three well-chosen emoji — the Canadian flag, the basketball, and the dinosaur — moving like the tornado that was the Raptors' path to victory.

The emoji homepage tribute is fitting in its child-like joy and wonder, mirroring the feeling of many a Canadian youth this 'morn, discovering the elation of an NBA triumph.

As the world's most elite design squad, it's nice to see the designers at Apple truly reveling in play, and making use of design elements we see in everyday life such as basketballs, flags, and dinosaurs. It's perfectly ok that the dino is a T-Rex and not a Raptor... we're not going for absolute fidelity here! And a good designer knows they've got to work with what they've got! Do YOU see a raptor emoji available in the keyboard? Didn't think so.

Truly though, this wacky amateur shit is fun as hell, and that's refreshing. Go Apple, Go Raptors.

Topics Apple

Mashable Image
Rachel Kraus

Rachel Kraus is a Mashable Tech Reporter specializing in health and wellness. She is an LA native, NYU j-school graduate, and writes cultural commentary across the internetz.

Mashable Potato

Recommended For You
Apple celebrates 50th birthday with homepage animation
Apple birthday

Amazon has Apple AirPods Pro 3 for $50 off right now
Apple AirPods Pro 3 deal


This Apple MacBook Air with an M4 chip is $200 off right now
macbook air m4 chip-deal


More in Tech
How to watch Chelsea vs. Port Vale online for free
Alejandro Garnacho of Chelsea reacts

How to watch 'Wuthering Heights' at home: Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi's controversial romance now streaming
Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi embracing in still from "Wuthering Heights"

How to watch New York Islanders vs. Philadelphia Flyers online for free
Matthew Schaefer of the New York Islanders warms up

How to watch Mexico vs. Belgium online for free
Israel Reyes of Mexico reacts

How to watch Brazil vs. Croatia online for free
Vinicius Junior #10 of Brazil leaves

Trending on Mashable
NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for April 3, 2026
Connections game on a smartphone

NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for April 4, 2026
Connections game on a smartphone

Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 3, 2026
Wordle game on a smartphone

Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 4, 2026
Wordle game on a smartphone

Google launches Gemma 4, a new open-source model: How to try it
Google Gemma
The biggest stories of the day delivered to your inbox.
These newsletters may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. By clicking Subscribe, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Thanks for signing up. See you at your inbox!