He is recognized as the inventor of the popular smiley face graphic picture, which became an enduring and notable international icon.

During high school, he worked as an apprentice under a local sign painter who started teaching him different styles and techniques of graphic design.

[5] After his time at Worcester Art Museum School, Ball decided to go into the National Guard, where he served for 27 years.

Ball started with a sunny-yellow circle containing a smile, however wasn't happy that it could be turned upside down to make a frown.

Philadelphian brothers Bernard and Murray Spain designed and sold products with the phrase and logo in the early 1970s.

[14] On July 18, 1998, around the 35th anniversary of the design's inception, Ball appeared at That's Entertainment to meet fans and sign smiley pins and art.

At this appearance Ball was shown copies of the graphic novel Watchmen issue number 1, which featured a notorious image of a smiley face with a splatter of blood across it.

[16] Ball founded the World Smile Foundation in 1999, a non-profit charitable trust that supports children's causes.

This property links Mass Audubon's Broad Meadow Brook Sanctuary with the developing Blackstone River Bikeway.

A Harvey Ball smiley face can be identified by three distinguishing features: Narrow oval eyes (with the one on the right slightly larger than the one on the left), a bright sunny yellow color, and a mouth that is not a perfect arc, which has been claimed to be similar to a "Mona Lisa Mouth".