It all began in the Fall of 2020 during a hackathon project when we began to revisit our system with the very important goal of introducing skin tone choices to reactions and emoji. From there, it quickly grew to explore a new aesthetic as well.

It was then that our cross-company v-team began the journey of revisiting the Microsoft emoji system. A system that had been divided for some time, with different aesthetics in Windows, Microsoft Teams and Skype. While the system had plenty of personality, it hadn't yet caught up to the latest developments of Fluent Design.

As group of designers from various teams, we partnered with the creative agency Tendril to explore and define this new system. Below is a snapshot of the system’s smileys showing off this refreshed aesthetic, which we wanted to be exemplary of one Fluent Design principles: “Unmistakably Microsoft”.

Nando’s work as also a a very impressive body of work