Dodo, Dark Beer and Almonds: 5 emojis that were left on the cutting floor
Some emojis are simply doomed to failure: here are 5 emojis that were proposed but never included in the emoji standard.
Creating an emoji sounds easy... right?
Surely it’s just a simple case of opening up any old design software, doodling a goofy face and calling it an emoji? Or it could be a case of taking any old everyday object and giving it the emoji treatment.
Well that’s only a small part of the challenge; there’s also research, showing user intent, expected usage levels, search data, showing that the emoji can stand on its own two feet or not represented by something else… submitting an emoji and creating a convincing proposal is a tough challenge.
And despite the hard work of individuals trying to bring these symbols to life - some emojis just aren’t destined to be used on smartphones or Whatsapp and are left on the cutting room floor. Here are five emojis that were proposed but never made it:
Dodo Emoji
Arguably the most famous example of species extinction, the Dodo was a large flightless bird characterised by its short stocky frame and large beak. Andrew West, proposer of adding the bird demonstrated how the symbol could symbolise obsolescence and the topic of extinction. Despite some convincing search data and a generally well researched proposal, the Dodo wasn’t resurrected in emoji form, potentially due to how niche the symbol is and possibly due to the depressing nature of extinction.
Almond Emoji
Delicious, nutritious and the perfect compliment to decadent desserts - the almond is like the peanuts more cultured cousin. Alexandra Perro and Steven Russo showed us just how delicious and popular these nuts were with a compelling 4 page proposal, together with some convincing usage examples (like highlighting nut allergies). Despite all of their best efforts, including showing dominant search data (even beating off competition from cashew and walnuts) - the almond wasn’t added. Maybe it’s because the chestnut emoji was already available and can represent a variety of different nuts - and that’s a shame. Chestnuts are kind of gross after all.
Coin Emoji
This is one of those emojis that inspire the reaction: really? That’s not an emoji? Yes, there is no coin emoji; there’s dollar emojis, huge sacks of money emojis, even smiley faces with dollar signs for eyes emojis but no coin emoji. Proposed by Katie McLaughlin, on paper this emoji sounds like a solid choice, representing pocket change or indicating a lack of funds. But perhaps the ever increasing reliance on electronic payment methods inspired the Unicode Consortium to give this emoji a hard pass.
Dark Beer Emoji
While the proposal may not be the most convincing out there, the 22,688 signatures on a petition in favour of the dark beer emoji was certainly an eye catcher. Dark beer is a much loved beverage which could of course represent dark ales and even guinness. Despite passionate support for such an emoji - dark beer was never added, probably because the traditional beer emoji is a close enough fit to represent these types of drinks.
Triceratops Emoji
Okay, so we may have clickbaited you with this one - turns out there are several dinosaur emojis, namely the sauropod and the t-rex symbols. Courtney Milan’s 2016 Jurassic emoji may have been flawed - but it also may have contributed to the inclusion of two of the three featured dinosaurs. In the original proposal, T-Rex Head, Bronto Head and Triceratops Head were all proposed. Two of those emojis would see life as fully fledged animal symbols - while the muscular triceratops would remain extinct.
