Apple - List of emoji substitutions for Messages in Mac OS X

This list is based off of the old iChat plist and scripting the list of emoticons from Wikipedia into Messages.app:

 :)
 ;)
 :(
 B)  
 :D  
 D:
 :d
 ;p
 :p
 :o
 :s
 :x
 :|
 :/
 :[
 :> 
 :@  
 :*
 :!
 o:)
 >:-o
 >:-)
 :3  
 (y)
 (n)
❤️ <3

Note most support using - for a nose so :-) works for as well.

You can define your own ones for emojis that are not pre-defined.

Open System Preferences > Keyboard and then navigate to the Text tab.

1. Click on the Plus Symbol on the left bottom corner
2. Type the text you want to replace with a emoji into the left field
3. Double Click on the right field
4. Go to the menu and click on Edit > Special Characters ...
5. There you can add your favourite emoij (or even more than one)

It's not a real shortcut solution, but a workaround when you want to use emojis a lot.

Easiest way I've found without doing anything outrageous was to:

1. Type the key combination Cmd-Ctrl-Space

   

   Emoji keyboard comes up! Also gives you more options. For example: ☃☼☞⚽︎⚾︎✇

2. From System Prefs > Keyboard, there is also an option to keep an icon in the menu bar.

   

   Not exactly a substitution for the emoji keyboard, but makes it a lot easier to just be able to open it with a quick command and then forget about it.