Microsoft is bringing its Clippy character back to life as an emoji in Office. Clippy will now replace the paperclip emoji across Microsoft Teams, Office, Windows, and other Microsoft 365 products. It is a more significant update to see 1,800 emoji in Microsoft 365 updated with its Fluent Design language and 3D design.
Clippy is the 3D emoji that has been redesigned, and the purpose is to add a lot more personality. “I grew up using Clippy, and it just seemed like a fun little Easter egg,” says Claire Anderson, Microsoft’s official “Emoji-ologist.” “We just all imagined that delight when you put the paperclip in a Microsoft product, and then all of a sudden, you get this dose of nostalgia.” Clippy will be seen in Groucho eyebrows which will replace the flat and dull paperclip.
The changes in emojis by Microsoft is a move to 3D that can be seen across Windows. According to Claire, “We opted for 3D designs over 2D and chose to animate the majority of our emoji.” The new emoji will have bright and saturated colours, and the focus will be on the fun in the workplace. The 3D element makes them unique, and they look more modern as compared to the current ones.
Around 900 of these overhauled emojis will also be animated in products like Microsoft Teams. We loved that element of Skype legacy, so we wanted to bring that into this new system and bring that to life for more of our users,” says Anderson.
In recent years emojis have become essential in modern communication. The company says with these significant emoji updates; it has worked to rethink graphical expressions of professionalism. This is relevant in the time of pandemic that has blurred the lines between work and life. With its emojis, Microsoft’s renewed focus on fun. Some employees of the Microsoft Team in 2019 release a fun sticker pack featuring animated Clippy GIFs, but after few days, the company removed them. As per an insider, the brand police inside the company weren’t happy that Clippy had appeared in Microsoft Teams. It might be that there were copyright or legal issues behind the decision. The company filed for the Clippy trademark last month.
