Take A First Look At The Emoji Proposed For 2018

What do a llama, party face, and frowning pile of poo have in common? All have been proposed as draft candidates for the next set of new emoji, which would arrive on phones in 2018.

Emojipedia first reported the news that 67 emoji are in contention, having made it through Unicode's initial approvals process. The governing body, which oversees all proposals for new characters, released a document offering a first look at the icons that may enrich your texts come next year.

There are some surprising variations on classic favourites, including the aforementioned frowning pile of poo and a smiling face surrounded by hearts, as well as major expansions of other categories, with many new body parts, animals, food products, and household goods.

As far as faces are concerned, the most interesting of the bunch are two caped crusaders (a masked bandit and green-cloaked hero), a confetti-adorned party face, a red face with its tongue sticking out and a bead of sweat (appropriate post-torturous workout class), and a smiling face with the letters "O" and "K" as the eyes. Okay, then.

There may also be a tooth, leg, tooth, and bone for playing fetch with your pup. Women who are sick of the heel option could have a stylish ballet flat alternative.

Those who have been wanting to see llamas, kangaroos, and lobsters, may soon get their wish (there's also a pretty peacock in the mix). In the food department, a cupcake, bagel, and salt shaker may finally make the cut. Unicode notes that the bagel would appear sliced, in order to differentiate it from the doughnut. For those who prefer cream cheese, lox, and sliced tomato, or some combination thereof, you'll need to get creative — this is just a plain bagel by the looks of it.

Travellers will be glad to see a suitcase on the list, and there's finally a receipt for all those meals you need to expense, too. In the household department, there's toilet paper (probably useful for both the frowning and smiling pile of poo), soap, and a sponge. The most random inclusion among the 67 candidates, meanwhile, is a nazar (an evil-eye amulet).

The 2018 candidate list won't be finalised until October of this year, but you can look forward to a slew of new emoji — those that were already finalised for 2017 — likely hitting screens before then.