Corner Border Link Hover
Two corner marks bracket the link at rest and stretch along the edges until they close into a full box on hover. Four gradient layers on the link itself, no extra elements.
Also known as: corners to box hover, border draw link, box outline link hover.
HTML
<a class="hfx-link-corner-border" href="#">View the archive</a>
CSS
.hfx-link-corner-border {
--c: var(--hfx-color, #3b82f6);
position: relative;
display: inline-block;
color: var(--c);
font: 600 calc(var(--hfx-size, 16px) * 1.25)/1.3 system-ui, sans-serif;
text-decoration: none;
padding: 0.4em 0.75em;
background:
linear-gradient(var(--c) 0 0) 0 0 / 0.7em 0.1em,
linear-gradient(var(--c) 0 0) 0 0 / 0.1em 0.7em,
linear-gradient(var(--c) 0 0) 100% 100% / 0.7em 0.1em,
linear-gradient(var(--c) 0 0) 100% 100% / 0.1em 0.7em;
background-repeat: no-repeat;
transition: background-size 0.4s cubic-bezier(0.65, 0, 0.35, 1);}
.hfx-link-corner-border:is(:hover, :focus-visible) {
background-size: 100% 0.1em, 0.1em 100%, 100% 0.1em, 0.1em 100%;
}
@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
.hfx-link-corner-border, .hfx-link-corner-border *, .hfx-link-corner-border::before, .hfx-link-corner-border::after, .hfx-link-corner-border *::before, .hfx-link-corner-border *::after {
animation-duration: 0.01ms !important;
animation-iteration-count: 1 !important;
transition-duration: 0.01ms !important;
}
}Customizing this snippet
- Color: set
--hfx-coloron the element or a parent. Currently previewing#3b82f6. - Base size: set
--hfx-size. Every other dimension is inem, so the whole thing scales together. Currently previewing16px. - 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.