Microsoft’s new 3D emojis have certainly caused a lot of noise. This long-overdue overhaul of the emoticons on the company’s platforms was well received.
For the most part.
Their arrival was marred by controversy, however, as soon after they were unveiled, did we get confirmation that Windows 11 was not getting these 3D designs. Instead, the OS received those traditional 2D creations.
What we did get on the latest Windows operating system were much simpler and plain designs, albeit with Clippy for company replacing the paperclip emoji.
The 3D designs graced other Microsoft apps and services like Teams earlier this year.
But these are not the only places where you will find these Fluent Design System-inspired emojis. You can now also finally incorporate these 3D creations into your projects without any limitations. That’s because Redmond has announced that it is open-sourcing these emojis.
All 1,538 are now available under the MIT open-source license. Additionally, creators on both Figma and GitHub will be able to customize and remix them based on their preferences.
Talking to The Verge, Jon Friedman, the CVP of design and research at Microsoft, explained the idea behind open-sourcing these 3D emojis:
“The idea kinda just started popping around, and it aligned with our belief and perspective that the more open source we are internally and externally, the more product excellence we can build, and the more relevant we can be for all of humanity.”
Good, we need more such ideas!
Keener eyes among you may notice that three emojis are missing. Clippy and two additional emojis that bear the Windows logo. This is due to the fact that these are trademarked.
Microsoft has not yet indicated whether the emojis that creators recreate across these platforms will be widely available. But they are welcome to customize them to their heart’s desire in order to express themselves through their work and change the designs how they see fit.
Great development, this!
