Expanding Circle Arrow Button
The 'Learn more' pattern: a colored circle holding an arrow stretches into a full pill behind the label, the text turns white and the arrow steps forward. One element changes width.
Also known as: learn more button hover, circle to pill button, arrow circle button.
HTML
<button class="btn-circle-arrow-expand">
<span class="btn-circle-arrow-expand-circle" aria-hidden="true">
<svg viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2.5" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round"><path d="M4 12h15M13 6l6 6-6 6"/></svg>
</span>
<span class="btn-circle-arrow-expand-label">Learn more</span>
</button>CSS
.btn-circle-arrow-expand {
--c: var(--btn-color, #3b82f6);
display: inline-flex;
align-items: center;
justify-content: center;
gap: 0.5em;
font: 600 var(--btn-size, 18px)/1.2 system-ui, sans-serif;
cursor: pointer;
position: relative;
width: 11.5em;
height: 3em;
padding: 0;
border: 0;
background: transparent;}
.btn-circle-arrow-expand-circle {
position: absolute;
inset: 0 auto 0 0;
width: 3em;
border-radius: 1.5em;
background: var(--c);
transition: width 0.45s cubic-bezier(0.65, 0, 0.076, 1);
}
.btn-circle-arrow-expand-circle svg {
position: absolute;
top: 50%;
left: 0.8em;
width: 1.4em;
height: 1.4em;
margin-top: -0.7em;
color: #fff;
transition: transform 0.45s cubic-bezier(0.65, 0, 0.076, 1);
}
.btn-circle-arrow-expand-label {
position: relative;
flex: 1;
padding-left: 2.6em;
color: var(--c);
text-align: center;
transition: color 0.45s cubic-bezier(0.65, 0, 0.076, 1);
}
.btn-circle-arrow-expand:is(:hover, :focus-visible) .btn-circle-arrow-expand-circle { width: 100%; }
.btn-circle-arrow-expand:is(:hover, :focus-visible) .btn-circle-arrow-expand-circle svg { transform: translateX(0.45em); }
.btn-circle-arrow-expand:is(:hover, :focus-visible) .btn-circle-arrow-expand-label { color: #fff; }
@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
.btn-circle-arrow-expand, .btn-circle-arrow-expand *, .btn-circle-arrow-expand::before, .btn-circle-arrow-expand::after, .btn-circle-arrow-expand *::before, .btn-circle-arrow-expand *::after {
animation-duration: 0.01ms !important;
animation-iteration-count: 1 !important;
transition-duration: 0.01ms !important;
}
}Customizing this snippet
- Color: set
--btn-coloron the element or a parent. Currently previewing#3b82f6. - Base size: set
--btn-size. Every other dimension is inem, so the whole thing scales together. Currently previewing18px. - Speed: change the duration on the
transitionoranimationshorthand. Staggered delays are relative, so they keep their rhythm. - Reduced motion: the rule at the end of the CSS turns the motion off for people who asked their OS for less of it. Keep it.