Google Pixel
Emoji Wallpaper
Interaction Design, Motion DesignExpress yourself with emojis.
Choose a pattern, colors, and a few of your favorite emojis—then let Pixel do the rest. In collaboration with the Emoji team, we brought this one-of-a-kind, fully customizable wallpaper to life with rich interactions and animations. Role
In the project, I conceptualized and designed the wallpaper interaction. I then built the high-fidelity prototype using Blender and Origami Studio to support the engineering team in production.
Credits
Agency: B-Reel
Team: Thomas Buffet, Karl Ringman, Cam Schultheis, Patrick Gardner, Miguel Ángel, and many others on the Google teams.
01Challenge
Emoji is dynamic and fun, while wallpaper is ambient and quiet. The challenge was finding the right balance—keeping the playful energy of emojis without overwhelming the user or causing visual fatigue.
02
Solution
By responding to user interactions and the phone’s various states, we bring emojis to life. Touch pressure influences the scale, position, and rotation of the emojis, making the wallpaper feel like a playful, squeezable object. Special events, like charging, incoming calls, or flight mode, trigger a one-time shuffle to add a small surprise.
To achieve the right level of dynamism without causing motion sickness, we used Blender and Origami Studio to repeatedly build and test the wallpaper prototype until we found the ideal balance.
To achieve the right level of dynamism without causing motion sickness, we used Blender and Origami Studio to repeatedly build and test the wallpaper prototype until we found the ideal balance.
03
Outcome
At Google I/O 2023, Emoji Wallpapers were announced as a key new feature for Android 14 Pixel phones. This fully customizable background experience showcases the playful and dynamic possibilities of emoji integration, offering users a fun and interactive way to personalize their devices.