Emoji Kitchen is an illustration system. Every mashup of two emoji is drawn as a single new image, kept stylistically consistent across a library of more than 150,000 combinations. I led design on this project, which made the library available inside Google Search.
Search emoji kitchen on Google and the mixer opens directly in the results. Pick two emoji, get the mashup, copy it anywhere. It works without an app, a keyboard install, or an account.
Two tabs
Combine is for picking a specific pair: two slots, an equals sign, and a randomize die under each slot. Explore starts from a single emoji and shows every combination it appears in.
Made for the results page
On desktop the mixer opens as an overlay on top of the results.
The full desktop flow, end to end:
Press and awards
It shipped in September 2023. The Verge announced that Google's "emoji mashup maker" was now available in Search and noted what changed: Emoji Kitchen had been limited to Gboard on Android, and iPhone users could now make combinations and paste them into any messaging app of their choice. A year later, Google's Keyword blog described the Search experience as the main way to browse a library that had passed 100,000 drawings, meant to give people more precise ways to express themselves.
The Webby Awards named Emoji Kitchen a two-time honoree in 2024: NetArt, for projects that integrate art and technology, and Weird, for sites that are strange, offbeat, or odd.