You no longer need Flash to create web-based animations and
interactivity. Here are some of the best experiments in CSS3 animation
to inspire you.
The latest CSS3 properties have opened a multitude of
new doors to web designers and developers. It's now possible to create
animations and interactivity entirely in CSS markup, without going near
Flash, Silverlight or After Effects.
The inspirational experiments in CSS3 animation listed here
show just what CSS is now capable of - and while some utilise the odd
bit of JavaScript,
no plug-ins are necessary. Be warned, though: because they were
specifically created as experiments, most of these animations will only
work in the very latest versions of web browsers (and some will also
only work in specific browsers). To see all our CSS3 posts, click here
The animation is super-smooth - as long as you're using an updated browser, that is
You don't have to be a web design expert to appreciate this animated model of the solar system, another one of the best examples of CSS we've found. Created by Julian Garnier,
it shows the eight planets orbiting the sun in 3D (yes, you read that
right - despite what you got told at school, boffins recently decided
that Pluto is no longer officially a planet).
The demo was inspired by similar projects by Alex Giron and Nicolas Gallager.
It's one of a number of HTML, CSS and JavaScript projects to have been
uploaded to CodePen, a new app created by CSS-Tricks creator Chris Coyier, Alex Vazquez and Tim Sabat to help designers and developers share and fork their work.
This 3D page turn flips there and back again
Created by web designer and developer Fabrizio Bianchi,
this fantastic 3D bending page flip effect is a CSS-only experiment. Be
aware that it'll only work on browsers that support transform-style:
preserve-3D.
At the start of the demo, the disparate elements gently fly towards each other
The periodic table of elements is a popular subject for
designers to showcase new web technologies, and this latest CSS3
experiment is the most fun yet. Built by Barcelona-based web designer
Ricardo Cabello - best known within the community as 'Mr Doob' - the demo starts with the animated elements hurtling through space towards each other to form a table.
You're then given the option to rotate them in three
dimensions by dragging on your mouse. You can also switch between
'Table', 'Sphere', 'Helix', and 'Grid' views by clicking the buttons at
the bottom of the page.
Cabello created the experiment to see if he could use his three.js JavaScript library to replicate the effects used in a demo for the game engine famo.us. You can find full details on his Google+ page. In case you don't have access to a modern browser, Cabello has also posted this video of how the demo runs on an iPad 2:
What will your CSS creature look like?
We all know that working in the design industry can
sometimes become monotonous. So, take some time out from your busy
schedule and have some creative fun with this cute little CSS project
from Pittsburgh-based web designer and developer Bennett Feely.
CSS Creatures allows the user to design, create and animate
their very own web-based friend. Like the sound of that? All you have to
do is send a tweet to @CSSCreatures with your preferred colour, personality and features. Your CSS creature then appears on the site in under 25 seconds!
The web infographic is aimed at kids in the UK attending Bonfire Night on Nov 5th
With Bonfire Night approaching in the UK, Col Morley and Igor Krestov of Blue Claw decided to put their CSS skills to work creating this fire safety infographic aimed at school-age children.
When viewed in a suitable browser, some elements of the
infographic will animate. Rather than aiming at supersmooth,
in-your-face visual effects, the flickering of the flames and the
sparkling of the sparklers is simple, subtle - and, we think, all the
more effective for it.
Inspired by Firefox's homepage Olympic flame over the summer
of 2012, the infographic was created using layered graphics and CSS3 to
aid in the process of transition of scale, movement and speed, explains
Morley. "The bonfire is made up of several layered 'fire' shapes then
playing around with key frames enabled stretching, opacity and by adding
a warm glow renders a realistic flame effect.
"The spark that appears throughout the page was created
using a similar technique. Three images were used to pulsate at
different rates of scale, similar effect to how we animated the 'fearful
cat'. The movement of the eyes on the hot dog was produced by mouse
tracking code adding further interest to those who spotted that.
"The styling of the traditional blackboard theme gives the
piece the right level and tone for the audience and enabled us to
experiment with textures and fonts."
AT-AT Walker by Anthony Calzadilla
This illustrated animation of AT-AT Walker from The Empire
Strikes Back by Anthony Calzadilla is created entirely in CSS3. Click on
the ‘view the bones’ link on the iPad and you can see how each part
animates and functions. This great piece of work suggests we're going to
see a lot more of CSS3 introduced with online gaming.
We can stop looking at this any time we want. Any time. Easy.
You know those optical illusions you get that appear to be
moving, even though they're static images? This isn't one of those. It's
a mesmeric piece of CSS by Ana Tudor,
in which a sort of chessboard slowly spins and mutates and rebuilds and
spins and mutates and oh God we can't stop looking at it.
Futurama by Stu Nicholls
This entertaining CSS3 rollover created by Stu Nicholls
enables you to horizontal-run your cursor along the image and watch
Zoidberg from the sci-fi cartoon Futurama dance on the table. You can
also repeatedly click on the image above and watch each animated state.
The cat stretches to the width of the browser window
Japanese web designer and interactive director Masayuki Kido, aka Roxik,
has created this animated kitty which stretches across the length of
the browser window, and resizes accordingly as you reduce the window's
width. Make it narrow enough and the word changes with hilarious
consequences. And the fun doesn't end there - but we don't want to
spoilt it, so go have a play now!
Animated Buttons demo
This series of demos, featuring icons by webiconset.com and a symbol font by Just Be Nice,
showcase seven beautifully animated link elements with different
styles, hover effects and active states. The animation is marvellous,
although we're not to sure from a user perspective about the way the
information is hidden until you hover over the link .
Original Hover Effects demo by Alessio Atzeni
In another great demo series, Alessio Atzeni has created
some brilliant CSS transitions. Hover over the thumbnail and the CSS
animation reveals further information in a way that makes you go wow.
There is a great selection of transitions with 10 different demos to
choose from. If you want to integrate this rollover effect on your own
site then follow this tutorial.
Mad-Manimation by Anthony Calzadilla, Geri Coady and Andy Clarke
This animated title sequence for the hit TV drama Mad Men
showcases what CSS3 animation has to offer in the form of ultra-smooth
video.It was made byAnthony Calzadilla, Geri Coady and Andy Clarke, and if you work in web design, you'll notice a few familiar names and faces. To find out how it was created, see this blog post. NOTE: This CSS3 animation only works in
WebKit-based browsers, which include Safari and Chrome. Alternatively,
you can watch it on the YouTube video above.
Safari Technology Demos lets you gaze around the Apple Store
This demo lets you gaze around the Apple Store in 360
degrees - an amazing virtual scene in your web browser which you can
navigate without the need for any additional plug-in software. CSS
transforms are used to position six images in 3D space to form a cube
with the user's viewpoint inside. As you navigate, the cube is rotated
to reflect the new appropriate position. NOTE: Best viewed in Safari.
Man from Hollywood by Tyler Gaw
This kinetic type experiment made by Tyler Gaw uses advanced CSS3 selectors and CSS3 transitions, as well as a little JavaScript where necessary. NOTE: This demo only works on the following browsers: Chrome, Safari, and "kinda-sorta on Firefox 4+".
Google Doodle by CSS Creations
Inspired by Google's JavaScript-powered Doodle marking Eadweard J Muybridge's 182nd birthday, the guys at CSS Creations set out to achieve a pure CSS alternative
using transitions against a background-image sprite. As a result, the
CSS3 animation behaves almost exactly as the JavaScript original.
Album covers by bluedashed.com
Not only have @MrDenav and @lucasmarinm of bluedashed.com recreated
some classic record covers using pure CSS, they've also made them react
to music. Demonstrations include First Impressions by the Strokes and
Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures. NOTE: Only works in Google Chrome.
Coke Can by Roman CortesRoman Cortes'
Pure CSS coke can has been painstakingly assembled using fiendishly
clever background-positioning, giving the convincing illusion that the
can is rotating when a visitor scrolls left or right. (You may have
noticed that this is actually CSS 2.1 rather than CSS3, but we loved it
so much we couldn't resisting including it in this list!).
Animated 3D Super Mario by Andreas Jacob
Doesn't this just take you back? Andreas Jacob's retro Super Mario
leaps off the page using 3D transform and rotation to ruthless effect. A CSS3 animation to make you feel young again! NOTE: Supported browsers are Safari 5 & Chrome 14.
Fail Whale by Steve DennisSteve Dennis
took Yiying Lu's famous Twitter fail whale to an all-new level when he
recreated an animated version using pure CSS methods. This CSS3
animation also stands up surprisingly well in Internet Explorer 6! How
about that?
3D Clouds by Jaume Sánchez
This experiment to create fluffy clouds using CSS3 3D
Transforms and a bit of JavaScript is simply amazing. You move the mouse
to rotate around and mouse wheel to zoom in and out, and hit space to
generate a new cloud. It was made by Jaume Sánchez and inspired by Mr.Doob's WebGL clouds and Mark J. Harris' Real-Time Cloud Rendering for Games. For those wanting to try this CSS3 animation technique for themselves, there is also a tutorial worth checking out. NOTE: Works on Firefox (faster if Nightly), Chrome and Safari.
Cursor monster by Simurai
The Cursor Monster is a little CSS3/JS toy that's very simple, but a joy to play with. Made by Simurai, you basically feed it your cursor - try it, and you'll fall in love with this cute beastie!
Movie posters by Marco Kuiper
These movie posters, made by Marco Kuiper,
are a great example of pretty powerful CSS3 animation and 3D effects.
The perspective, transform and transition properties have been used to
create a 3D animation effect when you hover over the movie posters. NOTE: This demo only works on WebKit-based
browsers, which include Safari and Chrome. Alternatively, you can watch
it on the YouTube video above.
Words: John Galantini, Aaron Kitney and the Creative Bloq staff John Galantini
is a freelance web developer based in Hampshire whose clients include
Sky, Vodafone, Sapient Nitro and most recetly, Burberry. He specialises
in responsive, front-end development, using HTML5, CSS3 and a little bit
of jQuery. Aaron Kitney
is a freelance graphic designer and art director based in London and
Vancouver. He specialises in branding, identity, web design,
publication design, album covers, packaging and book design.
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