ProPreview and play it free. Its code and sound come with Pro.

Animated Alien icon for React.

An alien whose head tilts while its eyes blink with a glint and its two antennae bob.

Use it forSci-fi game start Character select Movie night Support helper

Plays while the pointer is on the stage. Drag it and let go.

Trigger

Mood

Look

Colour

Size104Line2

Stage

What you hear. A wobbling theremin-like chirp that follows the head's tilts, two bubbly boings as the antennae swing out, a wet pip as the eyes blink and a glassy glint when they open. Every note lands on a beat of the animation.

Use it

This is how you would use it. The file itself comes with Pro; the snippet follows everything you change on the stage.

TSXpage.tsx


1import { AlienIcon } from "@/components/icons/alien";
2 
3export default function Page() {
4  return (
5    <AlienIcon size={104} accent="#30d158" />
6  );
7}

Spark just sets the accent prop, so the small details of each icon get their own colour.

Where to use the alien icon

4 real places it fits, each one live. Hover, tap or press a key on a mock-up to see the icon move in context, then copy the file above and drop it in.

First contactMake peace or make war
Sci-fi game start
A big alien greets the player on the title screen.
Character select
Leads a character in a game roster.
Movie night
A film card in a streaming app.
Support helper
A floating helper button for a playful space app.

More in context on the Made for real interfaces page: a player, a cart, a toolbar, a chat box and a tab bar.

The code

One file. Save it as components/icons/alien.tsx, run npm i framer-motion, and import AlienIcon.

The Alien code is part of Pro

Preview and play it above, with its looks and its sound. Pro unlocks the file to copy for every Pro icon.

See plans

The sound (optional)

A wobbling theremin-like chirp that follows the head's tilts, two bubbly boings as the antennae swing out, a wet pip as the eyes blink and a glassy glint when they open. It is written against this icon's own animation: each line below is a note placed on a beat of the picture, and t() stretches it with the speed prop. There are no audio files: it is synthesised in the browser.

Once per project, copy sound-engine.ts and sound-kit.ts from the sound guide into components/icons/.
Save the score below as components/icons/sounds/alien.ts.
Call playIconScore(alien) from a click or hover handler:


1"use client";
2 
3import { AlienIcon } from "@/components/icons/alien";
4import * as alien from "@/components/icons/sounds/alien";
5import { playIconScore } from "@/components/icons/sound-engine";
6 
7export function AlienButton() {
8  return (
9    <button
10      type="button"
11      onPointerEnter={() => playIconScore(alien)}
12      onClick={() => playIconScore(alien)}
13    >
14      <AlienIcon size={24} />
15    </button>
16  );
17}

The Alien sound is part of Pro

Preview and play it above, with its looks and its sound. Pro unlocks the score to play for every Pro icon.

See plans

Props

Prop	Type	Default	What it does
size	number	24	Width and height in pixels.
strokeWidth	number	2	Line thickness, in a drawing that is 24 units wide.
speed	number	1	Playback speed: 1 is the designed pace, 2 is twice as fast, 0.5 is half.
accent	string	currentColor	Colour of the icon's small accent details (a badge, a spark, a trail). Left out, they match the icon.
className	string	–	Set a text colour here: the icon draws in currentColor.
play	boolean	–	true plays, false rests. Left out, it follows the pointer (or loops, for loaders).

Looks (optional)

Wrap an icon, or a whole grid of them, in IconMaterial to give it a finish: neon glow, an aurora spectrum, polished chrome, or one of the liquid looks (Mercury, Liquid and Glass), which are pure SVG with no canvas or WebGL and each make a sound of their own. Save it as components/icons/icon-material.tsx. Spark needs no helper: it is just the accent prop.


1"use client";
2 
3import { useId, type CSSProperties, type ReactNode } from "react";
4import { useReducedMotion } from "framer-motion";
5 
6export type IconMaterialName = "line" | "spark" | "neon" | "aurora" | "chrome" | "mercury" | "liquid" | "glass";
7 
8/**
9 * Looks for the icons: wrap one icon, or a whole grid of them, and they all take on the same finish.
10 *
11 *   line     plain strokes in the current colour (the default; nothing is added)
12 *   spark    strokes in the current colour, with each icon's small accent details in colour:
13 *            give the icons an `accent`, e.g. <BellIcon accent="#ff3b30" />
14 *   neon     a glow around every stroke, in the current colour
15 *   aurora   every stroke painted with a blue-to-orange spectrum
16 *   chrome   every stroke painted as polished metal (looks best on a dark background)
17 *   mercury  liquid metal: the strokes round and thicken into a lit tube, and a reflected room of light and
18 *            dark bands flows slowly along them (best on a dark background)
19 *   liquid   the strokes in the current colour as a wet droplet: where they touch they melt together, with a
20 *            glossy highlight, and the whole icon wobbles like jelly while the pointer is over it
21 *   glass    clear glass: a translucent body with a bright edge, a fringe of red and blue where the lens bends
22 *            the light, and a sheen that drifts across (best on a dark or colourful background)
23 *
24 * It only restyles, so it works with any icon that draws in currentColor and has a 24-unit viewBox. The three
25 * liquid looks are pure SVG (gradients and filters): no canvas, no WebGL, nothing to load, and they hold still
26 * for visitors who have reduced motion switched on.
27 */
28 
29const AURORA: [string, string][] = [["0", "#0090f7"], ["0.3", "#6e5bff"], ["0.55", "#ba62fc"], ["0.78", "#f2416b"], ["1", "#f55600"]];
30const CHROME: [string, string][] = [["0", "#f4f5fb"], ["0.22", "#9ea3b6"], ["0.38", "#ffffff"], ["0.55", "#6d7183"], ["0.72", "#e8e9f2"], ["0.84", "#ffe3b8"], ["1", "#bfc3d4"]];
31// The room mercury reflects, as one stripe of light: bright sky, soft grey, two hard dark bands and a warm window.
32// It starts and ends on the same colour so it can repeat and flow without a seam.
33const MERCURY: [string, string][] = [
34  ["0", "#f6f7fc"], ["0.12", "#d6d9e8"], ["0.26", "#8e93aa"], ["0.32", "#262833"], ["0.4", "#a4a9bf"], ["0.52", "#ffffff"],
35  ["0.6", "#646a80"], ["0.65", "#1c1e27"], ["0.73", "#cdd1e3"], ["0.85", "#ffe8c0"], ["1", "#f6f7fc"],
36];
37const GLASS: [string, string, number][] = [["0", "#ffffff", 0.95], ["0.35", "#e6f0ff", 0.55], ["0.7", "#cfe0ff", 0.3], ["1", "#ffffff", 0.7]];
38 
39export function IconMaterial({
40  material = "line",
41  color,
42  className,
43  style,
44  children,
45}: {
46  material?: IconMaterialName;
47  /** The current colour for everything inside. Left out, it inherits. */
48  color?: string;
49  className?: string;
50  style?: CSSProperties;
51  children: ReactNode;
52}) {
53  const uid = useId().replace(/[^a-zA-Z0-9_-]/g, "");
54  const scope = `nx-mat-${uid}`;
55  const reduce = useReducedMotion();
56  const flat = material === "aurora" || material === "chrome";
57  const stops = material === "aurora" ? AURORA : CHROME;
58  const liquidish = material === "mercury" || material === "liquid" || material === "glass";
59 
60  // An inline <style> (not a class in a stylesheet), so that url(#…) points into this page's own document.
61  // Filters go on each top-level shape of an icon (not the <svg>), so their units are the icon's own 24-unit grid
62  // and a look is the same size-for-size at 16px or 160px.
63  let css = "";
64  if (material === "neon") {
65    css = `.${scope} svg{filter:drop-shadow(0 0 1.5px currentColor) drop-shadow(0 0 6px currentColor)}`;
66  } else if (flat) {
67    css =
68      `.${scope} svg *:not([stroke="none"]){stroke:url(#${scope}) !important}` +
69      `.${scope} svg *[fill]:not([fill="none"]){fill:url(#${scope}) !important}` +
70      (material === "chrome" ? `.${scope} svg{filter:drop-shadow(0 1px 1px rgba(0,0,0,.35))}` : "");
71  } else if (liquidish) {
72    css =
73      `.${scope} svg *:not([stroke="none"]){stroke:url(#${scope}) !important}` +
74      `.${scope} svg *[fill]:not([fill="none"]){fill:url(#${scope}) !important}` +
75      `.${scope} svg>*:not(defs){filter:url(#${scope}-f)}` +
76      (material === "liquid" && !reduce ? `.${scope} svg:hover>*:not(defs){filter:url(#${scope}-w)}` : "");
77  }
78 
79  const flow = !reduce && (material === "mercury" || material === "glass");
80 
81  return (
82    <div className={[scope, className].filter(Boolean).join(" ")} style={{ color, ...style }} data-material={material}>
83      {css ? <style>{css}</style> : null}
84      {flat ? (
85        <svg width="0" height="0" aria-hidden="true" style={{ position: "absolute" }} focusable="false">
86          <defs>
87            <linearGradient id={scope} gradientUnits="userSpaceOnUse" x1="3" y1="21" x2="21" y2="3">
88              {stops.map(([offset, c]) => (
89                <stop key={offset} offset={offset} stopColor={c} />
90              ))}
91            </linearGradient>
92          </defs>
93        </svg>
94      ) : null}
95 
96      {material === "mercury" ? (
97        <svg width="0" height="0" aria-hidden="true" style={{ position: "absolute" }} focusable="false">
98          <defs>
99            {/* one stripe of reflected room, repeated, so sliding it by one period loops without a seam */}
100            <linearGradient id={scope} gradientUnits="userSpaceOnUse" x1="0" y1="24" x2="24" y2="0" spreadMethod="repeat">
101              {MERCURY.map(([offset, c]) => (
102                <stop key={offset} offset={offset} stopColor={c} />
103              ))}
104              {flow ? <animateTransform attributeName="gradientTransform" type="translate" from="0 0" to="24 -24" dur="7s" repeatCount="indefinite" /> : null}
105            </linearGradient>
106            <filter id={`${scope}-f`} filterUnits="userSpaceOnUse" x="-4" y="-4" width="32" height="32" colorInterpolationFilters="sRGB">
107              {/* round the strokes off and let touching ones melt together */}
108              <feGaussianBlur in="SourceAlpha" stdDeviation="0.5" result="soft" />
109              <feColorMatrix in="soft" type="matrix" values="0 0 0 0 0  0 0 0 0 0  0 0 0 0 0  0 0 0 16 -6" result="shape" />
110              {/* a smooth height map of that shape, lit from the top left like a tube of metal */}
111              <feGaussianBlur in="shape" stdDeviation="0.65" result="relief" />
112              <feSpecularLighting in="relief" surfaceScale="2.6" specularConstant="1.2" specularExponent="28" lightingColor="#ffffff" result="shine">
113                <fePointLight x="3" y="0" z="13" />
114              </feSpecularLighting>
115              <feComposite in="shine" in2="shape" operator="in" result="glint" />
116              <feComposite in="SourceGraphic" in2="shape" operator="in" result="body" />
117              <feComposite in="body" in2="glint" operator="arithmetic" k1="0" k2="1" k3="0.9" k4="0" result="lit" />
118              <feDropShadow in="lit" dx="0" dy="0.5" stdDeviation="0.45" floodColor="#000000" floodOpacity="0.42" />
119            </filter>
120          </defs>
121        </svg>
122      ) : null}
123 
124      {material === "liquid" ? (
125        <svg width="0" height="0" aria-hidden="true" style={{ position: "absolute" }} focusable="false">
126          <defs>
127            <linearGradient id={scope} gradientUnits="userSpaceOnUse" x1="3" y1="3" x2="21" y2="21">
128              <stop offset="0" stopColor="currentColor" style={{ stopColor: "color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 55%, white)" }} />
129              <stop offset="0.5" stopColor="currentColor" />
130              <stop offset="1" stopColor="currentColor" style={{ stopColor: "color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 70%, black)" }} />
131            </linearGradient>
132            <filter id={`${scope}-f`} filterUnits="userSpaceOnUse" x="-4" y="-4" width="32" height="32" colorInterpolationFilters="sRGB">
133              <LiquidCore wobble={false} />
134            </filter>
135            <filter id={`${scope}-w`} filterUnits="userSpaceOnUse" x="-4" y="-4" width="32" height="32" colorInterpolationFilters="sRGB">
136              <LiquidCore wobble />
137            </filter>
138          </defs>
139        </svg>
140      ) : null}
141 
142      {material === "glass" ? (
143        <svg width="0" height="0" aria-hidden="true" style={{ position: "absolute" }} focusable="false">
144          <defs>
145            <linearGradient id={scope} gradientUnits="userSpaceOnUse" x1="0" y1="24" x2="24" y2="0" spreadMethod="repeat">
146              {GLASS.map(([offset, c, o]) => (
147                <stop key={offset} offset={offset} stopColor={c} stopOpacity={o} />
148              ))}
149              {flow ? <animateTransform attributeName="gradientTransform" type="translate" from="0 0" to="24 -24" dur="9s" repeatCount="indefinite" /> : null}
150            </linearGradient>
151            <filter id={`${scope}-f`} filterUnits="userSpaceOnUse" x="-4" y="-4" width="32" height="32" colorInterpolationFilters="sRGB">
152              {/* a bright rim where the glass catches the light */}
153              <feGaussianBlur in="SourceAlpha" stdDeviation="0.3" result="soft" />
154              <feSpecularLighting in="soft" surfaceScale="2" specularConstant="1" specularExponent="13" lightingColor="#ffffff" result="rim">
155                <fePointLight x="2" y="0" z="9" />
156              </feSpecularLighting>
157              <feComposite in="rim" in2="SourceAlpha" operator="in" result="edge" />
158              {/* the lens bends red and blue light apart: a fringe on each side of every stroke */}
159              <feColorMatrix in="SourceGraphic" type="matrix" values="1 0 0 0 0  0 0 0 0 0  0 0 0 0 0  0 0 0 1 0" result="red" />
160              <feOffset in="red" dx="-0.32" dy="0" result="redShift" />
161              <feColorMatrix in="SourceGraphic" type="matrix" values="0 0 0 0 0  0 1 0 0 0  0 0 0 0 0  0 0 0 1 0" result="green" />
162              <feColorMatrix in="SourceGraphic" type="matrix" values="0 0 0 0 0  0 0 0 0 0  0 0 1 0 0  0 0 0 1 0" result="blue" />
163              <feOffset in="blue" dx="0.32" dy="0" result="blueShift" />
164              <feBlend in="redShift" in2="green" mode="screen" result="rg" />
165              <feBlend in="rg" in2="blueShift" mode="screen" result="split" />
166              <feComposite in="edge" in2="split" operator="arithmetic" k1="0" k2="0.9" k3="1" k4="0" result="glass" />
167              <feDropShadow in="glass" dx="0" dy="0.6" stdDeviation="0.55" floodColor="#0a1030" floodOpacity="0.5" />
168            </filter>
169          </defs>
170        </svg>
171      ) : null}
172 
173      {children}
174    </div>
175  );
176}
177 
178/** The shared part of the liquid filter: melt, light, and (on hover) a slow jelly wobble. */
179function LiquidCore({ wobble }: { wobble: boolean }) {
180  return (
181    <>
182      {wobble ? (
183        <>
184          <feTurbulence type="fractalNoise" baseFrequency="0.05 0.07" numOctaves="1" seed="3" result="noise">
185            <animate attributeName="baseFrequency" values="0.05 0.07;0.08 0.05;0.05 0.07" dur="2.6s" repeatCount="indefinite" />
186          </feTurbulence>
187          <feDisplacementMap in="SourceGraphic" in2="noise" scale="1.1" xChannelSelector="R" yChannelSelector="G" result="wobbled" />
188        </>
189      ) : null}
190      <feGaussianBlur in={wobble ? "wobbled" : "SourceGraphic"} stdDeviation="0.7" result="soft" />
191      <feColorMatrix in="soft" type="matrix" values="1 0 0 0 0  0 1 0 0 0  0 0 1 0 0  0 0 0 22 -9" result="melted" />
192      <feGaussianBlur in="melted" stdDeviation="0.7" result="relief" />
193      <feSpecularLighting in="relief" surfaceScale="3" specularConstant="1.3" specularExponent="18" lightingColor="#ffffff" result="wet">
194        <fePointLight x="4" y="0" z="10" />
195      </feSpecularLighting>
196      <feComposite in="wet" in2="melted" operator="in" result="gloss" />
197      <feComposite in="melted" in2="gloss" operator="arithmetic" k1="0" k2="1" k3="0.95" k4="0" result="lit" />
198      <feDropShadow in="lit" dx="0" dy="0.55" stdDeviation="0.5" floodColor="currentColor" floodOpacity="0.45" />
199    </>
200  );
201}
202

More play icons

All animated icons ›

Questions about the alien icon

How do I use the alien icon in React?

Copy alien.tsx into your project, install framer-motion, and import AlienIcon. Render it like any component: <AlienIcon size={32} />.

Where can I use the alien icon?

sci-fi game start, character select, movie night, support helper. Each one is shown live on this page.

Is the alien icon free?

You can preview and play the alien icon, with its looks and its sound, for free. Its code and sound file are part of Nexus UI Pro, which unlocks all 325 Pro icons. 75 other icons are free to copy.

Does it need a library?

Only Framer Motion, which draws the animation. The icon itself is one file of plain SVG and React, with no other dependencies.

Can I change the size and colour?

Yes. Set size (in pixels) and strokeWidth as props. The icon draws in currentColor, so a text colour class on it, or on a parent, changes its colour.

Does the alien icon make a sound?

Yes, optionally: A wobbling theremin-like chirp that follows the head's tilts, two bubbly boings as the antennae swing out, a wet pip as the eyes blink and a glassy glint when they open. The sound is scored against the icon's own animation, so every note lands on a beat of the picture, and it follows the speed prop. It plays only if you call it, and it follows the visitor's sound setting.

What happens with reduced motion?

When the visitor has reduced motion switched on in their system, the icon does not animate. It stays in its resting pose.