Google is redesigning its emojis to be more universal and authentic

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Google today announced that it has modified 992 emoji designs to make them more “universal, accessible, and authentic.” The new builds will arrive this fall alongside Android 12, but Google says they’ll also be available in older versions with apps that use its Appcompat compatibility layer. They’re also coming to other Google platforms like Gmail, Chrome OS, Google Chat, and YouTube Live Chat this month.

None of the changes were particularly drastic. Instead, they are mostly the kinds of mods that make the meaning of each emoji easier to understand at a single glance by a wide range of people. For example, the pie emoji currently looks like the classic American pumpkin pie. That’s fine for Americans, but it means that in the UK, the design looked more like a tart than a traditional pie. The new, more universal design should fix this.

American-style pie versus a more universal design Image: Google

In other cases, Google has given their designs a bolder, more exaggerated look, which is useful given how small they are on most screens. The croissant and bacon emoji will now have more sheen, while the scissors have an exaggerated sharp edge. The proportions of vehicles such as cars and taxis have also been modified to make them more attractive.

Finally, the bikini emoji no longer looks like it’s being worn by an invisible person, and the face mask now shows a face with its eyes open. Google says it made the change to reflect the fact that masks have become a “universal way of showing kindness to others” rather than a symbol of someone’s illness.

The new eye-opening mask design. Image: google

It’s not unusual for companies to redesign their emojis like this, either to correct errors or reverse changing cultural assumptions about how they are used. Last year, Apple made a similar tweak to its mask emoji to show a smiling face under the mask, and it also changed the syringe emoji to make it more appropriate as a vaccine icon. In 2019, it updated the counter emoji after people pointed out problems with its outdated design. And let’s not forget Google’s redesign of the burger and beer emoji in response to the protest in 2017.

If you’re wondering why we’ve seen such a flurry of emoji news over the past couple of days, it’s because this year’s World Emoji Day arrives tomorrow, July 17th. Yesterday, we saw the announcement of the finalists for this year’s new set of emojis, Facebook announcing a new emoji with sound for its Messenger service, and even Microsoft getting into the action with a new set of 3D emojis across Windows, Office, Microsoft Teams, and in places other.

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