WWW… Wednesday! 5 Experimental CSS Libraries

Whether you’re currently a student, a working professional, or just dabbling in web design, CSS libraries are a fun way to add some interest to your designs. Thanks to sites like GitHub, sharing and discovering new libraries to experiment with is easier than ever. Here’s a list of 5 libraries that are worth checking out.

I’m not sure where the idea that drop-shadows are tacky came from, but I disagree. Like any other effect, there’s an appropriate time and place, and they’re best used with moderation, but to say that they have no place in modern design is a bit of an overstatement. If you agree and would like an easy way to add some drop shadows to your web designs, check out box-shadows.css. It’s got an easy slider interface you can use to create multiple classes and export a ready to use css file.

Our minds have a funny way of storing information of unassuming things like the sound a washing machine makes when its finished or the smell of a brand new pencil pouch from our childhood. When we experience these sensations later in life, we’re left with a strange sense of nostalgia for something we can’t quite seem to place. Flix carousel is modeled after Netflix’s browse screen and presents the opportunity to have some fun with your visitor’s unconscious memory. Why does this site seem so familiar? Check it out here.

Animations are fun. We’ve grown so accustomed to the subtle tactile cues we receive while using our phones that by contrast, the desktop browsing experience can feel a bit lacking. CSS Wand is a library of animations that help to bridge that gap by providing buttons with an extra layer of visual feedback. Shrink, grow, rotate, these buttons do it all. Or at least those three. Check out CSS Wand here.

If you’re a fan of brutalist web design or miss the early days of the internet where sophistication was still a distant dream, Woah.css was made for you. It’s a collection of animations that range from entertaining to nauseating with a few memes thrown in for good measure. If you don’t take yourself too seriously, check out woah.css here.

In direct contrast with Woah.css, Animation Library dials the “woah” down to about a 3. It’s also a collection of animations but it’s wares consist of a range more appropriate for serious applications. It’s a pretty comprehensive set and the animations look great. You can check it out here.

Whether you build respectable websites for corporate clients, or try to make your visitor’s eyes bleed, CSS libraries present lots of different ways to do so. Hopefully you found some of these to be useful.