Since the days of Android KitKat, Google emoji have grown to over 2,000 characters with only subtle changes in style. With the proliferation of high density screens and new messaging use cases, Google decided it was time to give our emoji an overhaul.
We changed the animal set from a variety of styles to a single unified look for heads and bodies alike.
Bye bye blobs! Hello emotive squishy circles.
We used the grid to create angle and scale standards. In Android N (top row), the animals’ postures, angles, and styles were inconsistent.
Emoji are designed on a single grid to maximize readability and consistency.
Reusable emoji expression components cover a wide range of emotions.
We shared many of the eye and mouth components between the expression and animal emoji.
Colors reinforce emotion
The new color system unifies the emoji set.
The fully redesigned emoji set as well as the new Unicode 10 emoji will be available to Android O beta users starting May 17.
It’s been a long journey since Android started supporting color emoji and today we’re taking the biggest leap yet with a full redesign! We hope you’ll enjoy using our newly revamped emoji as much as we enjoyed making them.
