Smileys and emoticons are simple tools for communicating emotions and for softening a tone in a written text.

Though the use of smileys and emoticons have exploded recent years, it is actually not a new and hip invention. The first smiley face is dated back to 1963 where freelance artist Harvey Ball designed a yellow button with two black dots for eyes and an upturning curve for mouth. Several decades later, it has become a household name that is broadly used and understood by people of all ages.

Smileys and emoticons caught on during the MSN chat era where especially teenagers worldwide found the illustrations great for expressing or highlighting a feeling through images. Do to the popularity the market for creating new variations of the classic smileys and emoticons boomed and the smiley trend spread throughout the Internet. Where the smileys and emoticons used to be restricted to chats online all of a sudden they found their way into e-mails, text messages and designs.

Today there is a great amount of different designs available online some based on themes, others animated and some are static. – And each day new design ideas are drawn and uploaded into this mass. Coming up with a unique design that are spot on the emotion yet with a fun twist might seem hard at first however, by looking at some of the great designs already created by others you might come up with a unique design of your own. In some cases, using the designs already available is preferable – especially if you are working on a project for a client where the smiley or emoticon is just an element of the assignment and not the foundation of the project.

For this article, I have found quite a few examples of truly amazing and creative smileys and emoticons for designers to use in their work. The quality is high and the selection is diverse making it a great tool to browse through and find the icon you need. I hope you will find this resource helpful. Enjoy!

Iconset: Vista Style Emoticons Icons by Icons-Land – MORE INFO

VF Emoticons – MORE INFO

Iconset: Purple Monsters Icons by Deleket  – MORE INFO

Chibi Xion Emoticons – MORE INFO

28 Gummy Emoticons Pack – MORE INFO

Jelliemotes First Set – MORE INFO

Onion Club Emoticons – MORE INFO

Very Emotional Emoticons – MORE INFO

The Blacy – MORE INFO

Yolks – MORE INFO

Face Avatars – MORE INFO

Blueticons – Win – MORE INFO

16 Non Rasterized Emoticons Pack – MORE INFO

Woofie Adium Theme – MORE INFO

Keriyo Emoticons – MORE INFO

Matte Motes Emoticon – MORE INFO

Emoji – MORE INFO

Dont Leave Me Alone Plz – MORE INFO

Emoticons – MORE INFO

Emoticons: SHREK – MORE INFO

AJ Emoticons SPOILERS – MORE INFO

Friendly Fire Emoticons- MORE INFO

2S Emotions V1 – MORE INFO

Smiley Face – MORE INFO

Mask Emoticons – MORE INFO

Shiny Smiley Icons – MORE INFO

Emix  1 Emoticons Pack – MORE INFO

Cutest Panda Emoticons – MORE INFO

Pidgin ‘Old’ Tango Smilies – MORE INFO

Emotion Icon Pack – MORE INFO

Rainbow Icons – MORE INFO

Icon Texto Emoticons – MORE INFO

Giant Green Vector Emote Pack – MORE INFO

Micro ServBot Emoticons – MORE INFO

Halloween Pumpkin Emoticons Icons Pack – MORE INFO

Tango Emotes – Devil Extension – MORE INFO

Creepy Emoticons – MORE INFO

POPO Emotions Full Version – MORE INFO

Free AI Vector Smiley Pack – MORE INFO

Grassy Icon Design – MORE INFO

Free Windows 7 Emoticons – MORE INFO

36 Square Emoticons Pack – MORE INFO

Water Drop Emoticons – MORE INFO

Halloween Avatars- MORE INFO

Say – MORE INFO

Packs Emoticons A Gogo – MORE INFO

Vector Smiley Pack – MORE INFO

Free Goblin Emoticon Set – MORE INFO

Yolks 2 – MORE INFO

Emoticons – MORE INFO

Emoticons Sheet 2 – MORE INFO

DRLM Emoticons Pack V1 – MORE INFO