Hand Drawn Underline Link Hover
A loose marker swoosh draws itself under the link on hover and rewinds when you leave. An inline SVG path with pathLength set to 1, so the dash offset math never changes.
Also known as: svg underline animation, scribble underline css, marker stroke underline.
HTML
<a class="hfx-link-scribble-underline" href="#">Start here<svg class="hfx-link-scribble-underline-line" viewBox="0 0 200 22" aria-hidden="true"><path d="M4 9C60 4 140 3 196 6C150 9 80 12 34 18" pathLength="1"/></svg></a>
CSS
.hfx-link-scribble-underline {
--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-bottom: 0.1em;}
.hfx-link-scribble-underline-line {
position: absolute;
left: -0.15em;
top: 88%;
width: calc(100% + 0.3em);
overflow: visible;
pointer-events: none;
}
.hfx-link-scribble-underline-line path {
fill: none;
stroke: var(--c);
stroke-width: 5;
stroke-linecap: round;
stroke-linejoin: round;
stroke-dasharray: 1 2;
stroke-dashoffset: 1;
transition: stroke-dashoffset 0.6s cubic-bezier(0.65, 0, 0.35, 1);
}
.hfx-link-scribble-underline:is(:hover, :focus-visible) .hfx-link-scribble-underline-line path { stroke-dashoffset: 0; }
@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
.hfx-link-scribble-underline, .hfx-link-scribble-underline *, .hfx-link-scribble-underline::before, .hfx-link-scribble-underline::after, .hfx-link-scribble-underline *::before, .hfx-link-scribble-underline *::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.