Raccoons, superheroes and bald heads are getting new emoji this year

By Andy Walker: Editor on 8 February, 2018 AndyWalkerSA

Expect to see more options when picking out the perfect emoji to accompany your messages this year.

The Unicode Consortium has this week announced the confirmed additions to the Emoji database, and there are some notable inclusions.

Of the 157 new emoji expected, a vast majority encompasses new hairstyles for male and female emojis, including red locks, white hair, curly hair and bald.

A bevy of generic superhero- and supervillain-themed emoji are also inbound, along with “legs”, “bones” and even teeth.

A “partying” face, “woozy” face, “pleading” face, “hot” and “cold” faces, and a “smiling face with three hearts” also feature.

And if you’re an animal lover, raccoons, llamas, lobsters and even microbes will also be represented in the update.

Device manufacturers, technology companies and social networks should adopt the new Unicode 11.0 update a few months after its June 2018 debut, so there’s plenty of time to get your submissions in for 2019’s emoji release.

See the full list of new emoji here.

Author | Andy Walker: Editor

Camper by day, run-and-gunner by night, Andy prefers his toast like his coffee -- dark and crunchy. Specialising in spotting the next big Instagram cat star, Andy also dabbles in smartphone and game reviews over on Gearburn. More