Something between \frownie and \smiley

Question

Inside a beamer presentation, I would like to compare and contrast several alternatives. For each, I would like to highlight the "pros" (with a \item[\Large\smiley]), the "cons" (with a \item[\Large\frownie]) and "neutral" observations. Is there a symbol with a face that is neither happy, nor sad, but rather neutral?

Answer 1

Here is a tikz version where you can use \Simley{<smile_level>} and control the smile level (setting shown below in the image) with 1 begin very happy, to -1 being very unhappy:

You can actually use larger numbers, but the results may not be desirable. The 1.75 fudge factor in the code below was used so that the reasonable range is -1...1 so you can adjust those as desired.

Code:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tikz}

\newcommand{\Simley}[1]{%
\begin{tikzpicture}[scale=0.11]
    \newcommand*{\SmileyRadius}{1.0}%
    \draw [fill=brown!10] (0,0) circle (\SmileyRadius)% outside circle
        %node [yshift=-0.22*\SmileyRadius cm] {\tiny #1}% uncomment this to see the smile factor
        ;  

    \pgfmathsetmacro{\eyeX}{0.5*\SmileyRadius*cos(30)}
    \pgfmathsetmacro{\eyeY}{0.5*\SmileyRadius*sin(30)}
    \draw [fill=cyan,draw=none] (\eyeX,\eyeY) circle (0.15cm);
    \draw [fill=cyan,draw=none] (-\eyeX,\eyeY) circle (0.15cm);

    \pgfmathsetmacro{\xScale}{2*\eyeX/180}
    \pgfmathsetmacro{\yScale}{1.0*\eyeY}
    \draw[color=red, domain=-\eyeX:\eyeX]   
        plot ({\x},{
            -0.1+#1*0.15 % shift the smiley as smile decreases
            -#1*1.75*\yScale*(sin((\x+\eyeX)/\xScale))-\eyeY});
\end{tikzpicture}%
}%

\begin{document}
  \Simley{1}
  \Simley{0.5}
  \Simley{0}
  \Simley{-0.5}
  \Simley{-1}
\end{document}

Answer 2

Here is for fun a non-Tikz solution from Knuth himself. Originally published in his paper with the apt name Stable Husbands.

\documentclass{article}
%% Knuths smile box from 
%\centerline{\bf Stable Husbands}
%\bigskip
%\centerline{\sl Donald E. Knuth, Rajeev Motwani, and Boris Pittel}
%\centerline{\sl  Computer Science Department, Stanford University}
\def\pfbox % new experimental version (DEK, November 88)
{{\ooalign{\hfil\lower.06ex % a smiley face
 \hbox{$\scriptscriptstyle\frown$}\hfil\crcr
 \hfil\lower.7ex\hbox{\"{}}\hfil\crcr
 \mathhexbox20D}}}
\begin{document}
\Huge \pfbox
\end{document}

And of course this is a mathematician's frown \texttt{\meaning\frown}. Change the \frown to a minus sign to get a very neutral one:

Answer 3

Here is a rather amusing one. Please adjust further for more expressive faces.

\documentclass{beamer}
\usepackage{tikz}

\newcommand{\smiley}{\tikz[baseline=-0.75ex,black]{
    \draw circle (2mm);
\node[fill,circle,inner sep=0.5pt] (left eye) at (135:0.8mm) {};
\node[fill,circle,inner sep=0.5pt] (right eye) at (45:0.8mm) {};
\draw (-145:0.9mm) arc (-120:-60:1.5mm);
    }
}

\newcommand{\frownie}{\tikz[baseline=-0.75ex,black]{
    \draw circle (2mm);
\node[fill,circle,inner sep=0.5pt] (left eye) at (135:0.8mm) {};
\node[fill,circle,inner sep=0.5pt] (right eye) at (45:0.8mm) {};
\draw (-145:0.9mm) arc (120:60:1.5mm);
    }
}

\newcommand{\neutranie}{\tikz[baseline=-0.75ex,black]{
    \draw circle (2mm);
\node[fill,circle,inner sep=0.5pt] (left eye) at (135:0.8mm) {};
\node[fill,circle,inner sep=0.5pt] (right eye) at (45:0.8mm) {};
\draw (-135:0.9mm) -- (-45:0.9mm);
    }
}

\begin{document}
\begin{frame}{Pros, Cons and others}
\begin{itemize}
    \item[\smiley] Yay!
    \item[\frownie] Bah!
    \item[\neutranie] Wadeva...
\end{itemize}
\end{frame}
\end{document}

Answer 4

Unicode defines lots of emoticons: There is ☺ and ☹ at U+263A and U+2639, and there are many more from U+1F601 onward. The neutral one is 😐 U+1F610 NEUTRAL FACE. So, all you need is a font that includes these characters (like DejaVu Sans) and use it with XeLaTeX or LuaLaTeX. E.g.,

% Compile with xelatex or lualatex and DejaVu Sans installed on your system.
\documentclass{beamer}
\usepackage{fontspec}

\newfontfamily\DejaSans{DejaVu Sans}
\newcommand\good{{\color{green}\DejaSans ☺}}
\newcommand\neutral{{\color{blue}\DejaSans 😐}}
\newcommand\bad{{\color{red}\DejaSans ☹}}

\begin{document}
\begin{frame}
  \begin{itemize}
    \item[\good] Unicode provides a lot of emoticons
    \item[\neutral] They even have cat faces: {\DejaSans 😺}
    \item[\bad] Few fonts actually include these characters.
  \end{itemize}
  More samples: {\DejaSans 😁😂😃😇😉😈😋😍😱}
\end{frame}
\end{document}

Answer 5

Update 4

I'm not an emoticon expert, so I draw some basic emoticons. Finally I changed the names now I define emoticon happy, emoticon sad , emoticon straight face and emoticon wink. I would put the final library on my site now. The shapes are not perfect because, there is a problem when I add some text inside.

First I created the file: tikzlibraryshapes.emoticon.code.tex

% tikzlibraryshapes.emoticon.code.tex
% Basic emoticons
%
\pgfdeclareshape{emoticon happy}
{
  \inheritsavedanchors[from=circle] 
  \inheritanchorborder[from=circle]
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{north}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{north west}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{north east}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{center}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{west}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{east}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{mid}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{mid west}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{mid east}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{base}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{base west}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{base east}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{south}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{south west}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{south east}
  \inheritbackgroundpath[from=circle]
  %
  % Background path
  %
  \inheritbackgroundpath[from=circle]
  \beforebackgroundpath{
    \pgfutil@tempdima=\radius%
    \pgfmathsetlength{\pgf@xb}{\pgfkeysvalueof{/pgf/outer xsep}}%  
    \pgfmathsetlength{\pgf@yb}{\pgfkeysvalueof{/pgf/outer ysep}}%
    \color{black}
    \pgfpathellipse{\pgfqpoint{.25\pgfutil@tempdima}{.25\pgfutil@tempdima}}%
                   {\pgfqpoint{.1\pgfutil@tempdima}{0pt}}%
                   {\pgfqpoint{0pt}{.15\pgfutil@tempdima}}%
                    \pgfusepath{fill}% 
    \pgfpathellipse{\pgfqpoint{-.25\pgfutil@tempdima}{.25\pgfutil@tempdima}}%
                   {\pgfqpoint{.1\pgfutil@tempdima}{0pt}}%
                   {\pgfqpoint{0pt}{.15\pgfutil@tempdima}}%
                    \pgfusepath{fill}% 
                          \pgfusepath{stroke}%  
\begingroup
\pgfsetlinewidth{0.4pt}%
\pgflowlevelsynccm    
       \pgfpathmoveto{\pgfqpoint{-.353\pgfutil@tempdima}{-.353\pgfutil@tempdima}}%
      \pgfpatharc{-135}{-45}{.5\pgfutil@tempdima and .5\pgfutil@tempdima}%
      \pgfusepath{stroke}%
\endgroup    
  }} 

  \pgfdeclareshape{emoticon sad}
{
  \inheritsavedanchors[from=circle] 
  \inheritanchorborder[from=circle]
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{north}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{north west}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{north east}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{center}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{west}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{east}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{mid}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{mid west}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{mid east}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{base}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{base west}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{base east}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{south}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{south west}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{south east}
  \inheritbackgroundpath[from=circle]
  %
  % Background path
  %
  \inheritbackgroundpath[from=circle]
  \beforebackgroundpath{
    \pgfutil@tempdima=\radius%
    \pgfmathsetlength{\pgf@xb}{\pgfkeysvalueof{/pgf/outer xsep}}%  
    \pgfmathsetlength{\pgf@yb}{\pgfkeysvalueof{/pgf/outer ysep}}%
    \color{black}
    \pgfpathellipse{\pgfqpoint{.25\pgfutil@tempdima}{.25\pgfutil@tempdima}}%
                   {\pgfqpoint{.1\pgfutil@tempdima}{0pt}}%
                   {\pgfqpoint{0pt}{.15\pgfutil@tempdima}}%
                    \pgfusepath{fill}% 
    \pgfpathellipse{\pgfqpoint{-.25\pgfutil@tempdima}{.25\pgfutil@tempdima}}%
                   {\pgfqpoint{.1\pgfutil@tempdima}{0pt}}%
                   {\pgfqpoint{0pt}{.15\pgfutil@tempdima}}%
                    \pgfusepath{fill}% 
                          \pgfusepath{stroke}%  
\begingroup
\pgfsetlinewidth{0.4pt}%
\pgflowlevelsynccm    
      \pgfpathmoveto{\pgfqpoint{-.353\pgfutil@tempdima}{-.353\pgfutil@tempdima}}%
 \pgfpathcurveto{\pgfqpoint{-.353\pgfutil@tempdima}{-.353\pgfutil@tempdima}}
                {\pgfpoint{0pt}{-.153\pgfutil@tempdima}}
                {\pgfqpoint{.353\pgfutil@tempdima}{-.353\pgfutil@tempdima}}
      \pgfusepath{stroke}%
\endgroup    
  }}  

    \pgfdeclareshape{emoticon straight face}
{
  \inheritsavedanchors[from=circle] 
  \inheritanchorborder[from=circle]
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{north}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{north west}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{north east}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{center}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{west}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{east}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{mid}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{mid west}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{mid east}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{base}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{base west}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{base east}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{south}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{south west}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{south east}
  \inheritbackgroundpath[from=circle]
  %
  % Background path
  %
  \inheritbackgroundpath[from=circle]
  \beforebackgroundpath{
    \pgfutil@tempdima=\radius%
    \pgfmathsetlength{\pgf@xb}{\pgfkeysvalueof{/pgf/outer xsep}}%  
    \pgfmathsetlength{\pgf@yb}{\pgfkeysvalueof{/pgf/outer ysep}}%
    \color{black}
    \pgfpathellipse{\pgfqpoint{.25\pgfutil@tempdima}{.25\pgfutil@tempdima}}%
                   {\pgfqpoint{.1\pgfutil@tempdima}{0pt}}%
                   {\pgfqpoint{0pt}{.15\pgfutil@tempdima}}%
                    \pgfusepath{fill}% 
    \pgfpathellipse{\pgfqpoint{-.25\pgfutil@tempdima}{.25\pgfutil@tempdima}}%
                   {\pgfqpoint{.1\pgfutil@tempdima}{0pt}}%
                   {\pgfqpoint{0pt}{.15\pgfutil@tempdima}}%
                    \pgfusepath{fill}% 
                          \pgfusepath{stroke}%  
\begingroup
  \pgfsetlinewidth{0.4pt}%
  \pgflowlevelsynccm    
  \pgfpathmoveto{\pgfqpoint{-.353\pgfutil@tempdima}{-.353\pgfutil@tempdima}}%
  \pgfpathlineto{\pgfqpoint{.353\pgfutil@tempdima}{-.353\pgfutil@tempdima}}
  \pgfusepath{stroke}%
\endgroup    
  }}  
      \pgfdeclareshape{emoticon wink}
{
  \inheritsavedanchors[from=circle] 
  \inheritanchorborder[from=circle]
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{north}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{north west}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{north east}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{center}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{west}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{east}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{mid}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{mid west}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{mid east}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{base}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{base west}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{base east}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{south}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{south west}
  \inheritanchor[from=circle]{south east}
  \inheritbackgroundpath[from=circle]
  %
  % Background path
  %
  \inheritbackgroundpath[from=circle]
  \beforebackgroundpath{
    \pgfutil@tempdima=\radius%
    \pgfmathsetlength{\pgf@xb}{\pgfkeysvalueof{/pgf/outer xsep}}%  
    \pgfmathsetlength{\pgf@yb}{\pgfkeysvalueof{/pgf/outer ysep}}%
    \color{black}
    \pgfpathmoveto{\pgfqpoint{-.40\pgfutil@tempdima}{.25\pgfutil@tempdima}}% 
    \pgfpathcurveto{\pgfqpoint{-.40\pgfutil@tempdima}{.25\pgfutil@tempdima}}%
                {\pgfqpoint{-.25\pgfutil@tempdima}{.10\pgfutil@tempdima}}%
                {\pgfqpoint{-.10\pgfutil@tempdima}{.25\pgfutil@tempdima}}%        
    \pgfpathellipse{\pgfqpoint{.25\pgfutil@tempdima}{.25\pgfutil@tempdima}}%
                   {\pgfqpoint{.1\pgfutil@tempdima}{0pt}}%
                   {\pgfqpoint{0pt}{.15\pgfutil@tempdima}}%
    \pgfusepath{fill}%     
    \pgfusepath{stroke}%  
\begingroup
   \pgfsetlinewidth{0.4pt}%
   \pgflowlevelsynccm    
   \pgfpathmoveto{\pgfqpoint{-.353\pgfutil@tempdima}{-.353\pgfutil@tempdima}}%
   \pgfpatharc{-135}{-45}{.5\pgfutil@tempdima and .5\pgfutil@tempdima}%
   \pgfusepath{stroke}%
\endgroup      
  }}%        
\endinput

The name of the first emoticon is emoticon :-). The second is emoticon :-(. Here an example how to use these new shapes:

\documentclass[11pt]{scrartcl}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{shapes.emoticon}
\begin{document}

\vspace{1cm}
\tikz \node [shape=emoticon happy,draw,fill=yellow]  {};    
\tikz \node [shape=emoticon sad,draw,fill=yellow]  {};

\begin{tikzpicture}[ultra thick]
  \node [shape=emoticon happy,draw,scale=8,fill=orange]  {};
\end{tikzpicture}
\begin{tikzpicture}[ultra thick]
  \node [shape=emoticon sad,draw,scale=8,fill=orange]  {};
\end{tikzpicture} 
\begin{tikzpicture}[ultra thick]
  \node [shape=emoticon straight face,draw,scale=8,fill=orange]  {};
\end{tikzpicture}    
 \begin{tikzpicture}[ultra thick]
  \node [shape=emoticon wink,draw,scale=8,fill=orange]  {};
\end{tikzpicture}     
\end{document}