Designing Emoji For The Way We Communicate Today
Google, Friday, July 17th, 2026
Google redesigns nearly 4,000 Noto emoji in 3D and releases the model library as open source .OBJ files.
For World Emoji Day, Google detailed a redesign of nearly 4,000 emoji in 3D for its Noto font library.
The team studied shifting usage, noting that face with tears of joy has declined while rolling on the floor laughing rose to the top, and that the wilted flower now outpaces the broken heart.
Designers deliberately avoided photorealism in favor of expressive, playful illustration. Google used AI tooling to analyze pixel-level contrast so emoji with darker skin tones remain legible in dark mode.
The full 3D library ships publicly as raw .OBJ files for developers to remix in VR, games, and creative projects.