This year’s web design scene has seen a surge in the popularity of “ghost buttons,” characterized by their minimalist aesthetic with a border and transparent background. For an in-depth exploration of this design trend, refer to SitePoint and DesignModo. This tutorial delves into the creation of various ghost button styles using CSS.
To kick off, let’s examine actual implementations of ghost buttons across different websites:
[Insert images of ghost buttons]
Upon examining these ghost buttons, several distinguishing features emerge.
1. **Photographic Backdrops**: Ghost buttons excel when paired with background photographs, offering a visually appealing contrast that allows users to glimpse the underlying image.
2. **Predominance of White**: While ghost buttons can be in any color, the prevalent choice is a white border paired with white text, aligning with the design’s overall look and feel.
3. **CSS Transitions**: To enhance user interaction, subtle CSS transition effects can be applied to ghost buttons.
Inspired by the ghost buttons showcased, I have crafted eight distinct variations. View all in one page: [View demo]
In this tutorial, I utilize the HTML element to represent ghost buttons.
Let’s delve into the eight ghost button variations, identified as:
1. Basic Ghost Button
2. Rounded Corners
3. Simple Transition Effect
4. Thick Border
5. Semi-Transparent Fade
6. Border Color Fade
7. Full Color Fade
8. Size Transition Effect
**1. Basic Ghost Button**
The CSS properties below are foundational for creating a ghost button appearance.
[Insert CSS code]
These properties are the building blocks for the ghost button’s appearance. Additional visual cues are introduced upon user interaction, such as hover and active states.
**2. Rounded Corners**
Rounded corners can be easily achieved by adding a `border-radius` property.
[Insert CSS code]
**3. Simple Transition Effect**
To add intrigue, a subtle transition effect can be applied on hover or click. This variation utilizes the `transition` property to modify the button’s border and background color.
[Insert CSS code]
**4. Thick Border**
For a bolder visual presence, simply increase the `border-width` property value.
[Insert CSS code]
**5. Semi-Transparent Fade**
This variation allows the background image to peek through when hovering, achieved with a combination of the `background-color` and `opacity` properties.
[Insert CSS code]
**6. Border Color Fade**
A common effect is the transition of the border and text color to another hue, easily implemented with the `transition` property.
[Insert CSS code]
**7. Full Color Fade**
For a more pronounced transition, another color is faded into the border and background. The `transition` property is again employed, this time affecting both the `background-color` and `border-color`.
[Insert CSS code]
**8. Size Transition Effect**
By expanding and contracting the button size on hover, this variation creates an engaging animation. The `transition` property is used to animate the `width`, `height`, and `padding` properties.
[Insert CSS code]
The ghost button design trend is currently experiencing a surge in popularity. As demonstrated, crafting ghost buttons with CSS is straightforward. The demo page’s source code is available on GitHub for review or download: [View source on GitHub] [Download source on GitHub]
[Additional resources]
