Microsoft has made its 3D emoji open source, allowing artists to remix and tweak them

Microsoft is open-sourcing over 1,500 of its 3D emoji, allowing artists to remix and expand on them. Starting Wednesday, almost all of Microsoft’s 1,538 emoji collections will be published on Figma and GitHub, in an effort to foster greater innovation and inclusion in the emoji arena.

While Microsoft launched emoji in Windows 11 last year and 3D versions in Microsoft Teams in February, the corporation did not intend to open source its work at the time.

Microsoft spent a lot of time thinking about inclusive design and the many emoji demands that span diverse individuals, faiths, and regions. The end product is over 1,500 emojis with bespoke skin tones, vibrant and saturated colors, and an emphasis on workplace fun. Even Clippy, a substitute for the paper clip emoji, was launched, but it’s one of a handful that won’t be open-sourced due to legal obligations around Microsoft’s trademarks.

Most of Microsoft’s vibrant and vivid 3D emoji may be remixed into stickers, used in the content, or combined to create unique sets of emoji. “I believe we will see things that are really unique and specialized, as well as concepts that are very universally applicable,” Friedman predicts. “Back when we were doing our app icons a few years ago, there were folks that produced Marvel versions of our app icons.” It was fantastic. It was just this wonderful artistic expression.”

Once the community begins to explore, we may expect producers to expand on Microsoft’s emoji to include holiday themes, more distinct skin tones, and more inventiveness. It’s simple to envision Halloween emojis or emoji specific to various countries or faiths.

The shifting condition of work is one of the reasons Microsoft says it’s open sourcing its emoji right now. Businesses and workers have been compelled to operate differently as a result of remote and hybrid work, and how you represent yourself via text has become even more crucial.

Microsoft’s design teams are now eager to watch how the community of artists expands on its emoji collection. The origins of emoji may be traced back to Japan and its picture-making traditions, which include prints, drawings, anime, and much more.