Beautiful & Creative CSS3 Typography Code Snippets

CSS3 properties allow for truly unique typographic effects that in the past would have required images and custom JavaScript.

Web Design
Portrait for EnvatoBy Envato  |  Updated November 19, 2020

Web typography is now more stylish and malleable than ever before. New CSS3 properties allow for truly unique typographic effects that in the past would have required images and custom JavaScript.

Each of the following code snippets are completely free to use and customize for your own projects. Although some of these effects render in modern browsers, you’ll find other effects that run very smooth and may even have fallback alternatives for legacy support.

If you’re a fan of typographic design or just a curious web developer then you’re sure to enjoy these custom-built text manipulation snippets.

9. New Header By Johan van Tongeren

A full header crafted with Open Sans & Squada One – definitely a unique touch. This header was designed for Johan van Tongeren’s new website. The logotype letters feature a striped shadow and the nav links expand in size through animated hover effects. View New Header.

8. Star Wars Scrolling Text By Scott Bram

George Lucas has unleashed an incredible force in the world of cinema with ripples leading into many other creative fields. This code snippet replicates the Star Wars intro text as it scrolls upwards at a slant away from the viewer. View Star Wars Scrolling Text.

7. Opening Type By Bernardo

Perhaps the coolest aspect of this paper cutout effect is that it’s created with less than 100 lines of CSS. Each letter uses CSS3 transforms to skew the letter while rotating in 3-D along X/Y/Z axes. View Opening Type.

6. Stylish Blockquote By Stephen Greig

Here’s an interesting snippet that focuses on techniques found in traditional graphic design. Pseudo classes are used to manipulate the blockquote text and append CSS styles onto particular letters in the quote. Very cool style to spruce up a static webpage. View Stylish Blockquote.

5. 3D CSS Typography By Noah Blon

With CSS3 transforms we can manipulate just about any text or page element with ease. Browser support is increasing and transforms have grown to allow for fully-encompassed animations like this 3D rotating block of text. View 3D CSS Typography.

4. The Leonardo By Blake Johnson

Quite an interesting logo concept for pure typographic font manipulation. The outer letters are cut off at 45° using CSS borders. In production this may work better as a PNG but for pushing CSS boundaries this is truly an impressive feat to behold. View The Leonardo.

3. ’80s Typography By David Parker

The ’80s are still alive and well in this CodePen snippet by David Parker. All 5 text effects come straight out of 1980s graphic design relying on nothing more than pure CSS3. View ’80s Typography.

2. Curly Brace Divider By Lauren Herda

Horizontal Rules have been apart of HTML for years – but CSS3 allows more fanciful effects to bring HR elements into the modern age of UI design. For example, this HR snippet is styled into a large curly brace using custom CSS3 background properties. View Curly Brace Divider.

1. Knockout Text By Crisman Noble

This is one neat CSS style that forces a background image to show through letters on the page. I should note this effect will only work in Webkit browsers, so use it sparingly or in case test studies. View Knockout Text.

Some of these snippets may prove useful in future projects while others may never be replicable in a professional setting. CodePen is just a fun place for developers to explore languages and see what’s possible in the world of frontend development. Feel free to mess around with any of these code snippets and see what else you can create.

We have also published a collection of pure CSS animation snippets, a selection of snippets for things you never thought were possible with CSS, and a bunch of snippets that demonstrate the power of Canvas & SVG. There are plenty of sites to find CSS snippets & inspiration. Resources and equal opportunities for everyone in coding are only getting better by the day!

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