diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f0d35b4dae..ac9c2c300d 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 /packages/
 /vector/bundle.*
 /vector/components.css
+/vector/emojione/
 /vector/config.json
 /vector/olm.js
 .DS_Store
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index e00505c5cf..3863cd1443 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -12,22 +12,24 @@
   "matrix-react-parent": "matrix-react-sdk",
   "scripts": {
     "reskindex": "reskindex -h src/header",
+    "build:emojione": "cpx \"node_modules/emojione/assets/svg/*\" vector/emojione/svg/",
     "build:modernizr": "modernizr -c .modernizr.json -d src/vector/modernizr.js",
     "build:css": "catw \"src/skins/vector/css/**/*.css\" -o vector/components.css --no-watch",
     "build:compile": "babel --source-maps -d lib src",
     "build:bundle": "NODE_ENV=production webpack -p lib/vector/index.js vector/bundle.js",
     "build:bundle:dev": "NODE_ENV=production webpack --optimize-occurence-order lib/vector/index.js vector/bundle.js",
     "build:staticfiles": "scripts/staticfiles.js",
-    "build": "npm run build:staticfiles && npm run build:css && npm run build:compile && npm run build:bundle",
-    "build:dev": "npm run build:staticfiles && npm run build:css && npm run build:compile && npm run build:bundle:dev",
+    "build": "npm run build:staticfiles && npm run build:emojione && npm run build:css && npm run build:compile && npm run build:bundle",
+    "build:dev": "npm run build:staticfiles && npm run build:emojione && npm run build:css && npm run build:compile && npm run build:bundle:dev",
     "package": "scripts/package.sh",
+    "start:emojione": "cpx \"node_modules/emojione/assets/svg/*\" vector/emojione/svg/ -w",
     "start:js": "webpack -w src/vector/index.js vector/bundle.js",
     "start:js:prod": "NODE_ENV=production webpack -w src/vector/index.js vector/bundle.js",
     "start:skins:css": "catw \"src/skins/vector/css/**/*.css\" -o vector/components.css",
     "//cache": "Note the -c 1 below due to https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=508270",
-    "start": "parallelshell \"npm run build:staticfiles\" \"npm run start:js\" \"npm run start:skins:css\" \"http-server -c 1 vector\"",
-    "start:prod": "parallelshell \"npm run build:staticfiles\" \"npm run start:js:prod\" \"npm run start:skins:css\" \"http-server -c 1 vector\"",
-    "clean": "rimraf lib vector/olm.js vector/bundle.css vector/bundle.js vector/bundle.js.map vector/webpack.css*",
+    "start": "parallelshell \"npm run build:staticfiles\" \"npm run start:emojione\" \"npm run start:js\" \"npm run start:skins:css\" \"http-server -c 1 vector\"",
+    "start:prod": "parallelshell \"npm run build:staticfiles\" \"npm run start:emojione\" \"npm run start:js:prod\" \"npm run start:skins:css\" \"http-server -c 1 vector\"",
+    "clean": "rimraf lib vector/olm.js vector/bundle.css vector/bundle.js vector/bundle.js.map vector/webpack.css* vector/emojione",
     "prepublish": "npm run build:css && npm run build:compile",
     "test": "karma start --single-run=true --autoWatch=false --browsers PhantomJS --colors=false",
     "test:multi": "karma start"
@@ -60,7 +62,9 @@
     "babel-core": "^5.8.25",
     "babel-loader": "^5.3.2",
     "catw": "^1.0.1",
+    "cpx": "^1.3.2",
     "css-raw-loader": "^0.1.1",
+    "emojione": "^2.2.3",
     "expect": "^1.16.0",
     "fs-extra": "^0.30.0",
     "http-server": "^0.8.4",
diff --git a/src/component-index.js b/src/component-index.js
index e9cce7f7de..b8efcdb4ca 100644
--- a/src/component-index.js
+++ b/src/component-index.js
@@ -46,7 +46,6 @@ module.exports.components['views.login.VectorLoginFooter'] = require('./componen
 module.exports.components['views.login.VectorLoginHeader'] = require('./components/views/login/VectorLoginHeader');
 module.exports.components['views.messages.DateSeparator'] = require('./components/views/messages/DateSeparator');
 module.exports.components['views.messages.MessageTimestamp'] = require('./components/views/messages/MessageTimestamp');
-module.exports.components['views.messages.SenderProfile'] = require('./components/views/messages/SenderProfile');
 module.exports.components['views.rooms.BottomLeftMenuTile'] = require('./components/views/rooms/BottomLeftMenuTile');
 module.exports.components['views.rooms.RoomDNDView'] = require('./components/views/rooms/RoomDNDView');
 module.exports.components['views.rooms.RoomDropTarget'] = require('./components/views/rooms/RoomDropTarget');
diff --git a/src/components/views/messages/SenderProfile.js b/src/components/views/messages/SenderProfile.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 82f3337d15..0000000000
--- a/src/components/views/messages/SenderProfile.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,45 +0,0 @@
-/*
-Copyright 2015, 2016 OpenMarket Ltd
-
-Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-You may obtain a copy of the License at
-
-    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-
-Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-limitations under the License.
-*/
-
-'use strict';
-
-var React = require('react');
-
-module.exports = React.createClass({
-    displayName: 'SenderProfile',
-
-    propTypes: {
-        mxEvent: React.PropTypes.object.isRequired, // event whose sender we're showing
-        aux: React.PropTypes.string, // stuff to go after the sender name, if anything
-        onClick: React.PropTypes.func,
-    },
-
-    render: function() {
-        var mxEvent = this.props.mxEvent;
-        var name = mxEvent.sender ? mxEvent.sender.name : mxEvent.getSender();
-
-        var msgtype = mxEvent.getContent().msgtype;
-        if (msgtype && msgtype == 'm.emote') {
-            return <span/>; // emote message must include the name so don't duplicate it
-        }
-        return (
-            <span className="mx_SenderProfile" onClick={this.props.onClick}>
-                {name} { this.props.aux }
-            </span>
-        );
-    },
-});
-
diff --git a/src/skins/vector/css/matrix-react-sdk/views/rooms/EventTile.css b/src/skins/vector/css/matrix-react-sdk/views/rooms/EventTile.css
index 012239685d..b9b8f45461 100644
--- a/src/skins/vector/css/matrix-react-sdk/views/rooms/EventTile.css
+++ b/src/skins/vector/css/matrix-react-sdk/views/rooms/EventTile.css
@@ -120,8 +120,10 @@ limitations under the License.
 
 /* end of overrides */
 
-.mx_EventTile_bigEmoji {
+/* HACK to override line-height which is already marked important elsewhere */
+.mx_EventTile_bigEmoji.mx_EventTile_bigEmoji {
     font-size: 48px ! important;
+    line-height: 48px ! important;
 }
 
 /* this is used for the tile for the event which is selected via the URL.