The disclosed techniques provide a messaging system with a user interface (UI) having a specific arrangement of suggested expressive illustrations, such as emojis. In some examples, a system analyzes a received emoji and provides a suggested list of emojis for a response. The suggested emojis are arranged in a way that candidate emojis capable of generating animation effects in combination with the received emoji, are listed higher in ranking, e.g., preceding, over other candidate emojis that cannot generate animation effects in combination with the received emoji. The system can rank individual emojis, or other types of graphical expressions, depending on whether a candidate emoji is capable of generating animated effects with the received emoji. In some embodiments, candidate emojis that are capable of generating animated effects precede candidate emojis that are incapable of generating animated effects.