Brutal Dark CSS button
Black brutalist button with a yellow hard shadow. Hover, click and tab to it to see every state.
CSS
@import url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Space+Grotesk:wght@400;500;600;700&display=swap');
.btn {
display: inline-flex;
align-items: center;
justify-content: center;
gap: .5em;
padding: 14px 28px;
font-family: 'Space Grotesk', sans-serif;
font-size: 16px;
font-weight: 700;
line-height: 1.2;
letter-spacing: 0.059999999999999997779553950749686919152736663818359375em;
text-transform: uppercase;
color: #ffffff;
background: #000000;
border: 3px solid #000000;
border-radius: 0px;
box-shadow: 6px 6px 0 0 #facc15;
cursor: pointer;
text-decoration: none;
white-space: nowrap;
-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;
transition: transform 100ms cubic-bezier(.2,.8,.2,1), box-shadow 100ms cubic-bezier(.2,.8,.2,1), filter 100ms cubic-bezier(.2,.8,.2,1);
}
.btn__icon {
display: inline-block;
transition: transform 100ms cubic-bezier(.2,.8,.2,1);
}
.btn:hover {
transform: translateY(-2px);
box-shadow: 6px 8px 0 0 #facc15;
}
.btn:hover .btn__icon {
transform: translateX(3px);
}
.btn:active {
transform: translateY(6px);
box-shadow: 0 0 0 0 #facc15;
transition-duration: 50ms;
}
.btn:focus-visible {
outline: 3px solid #000000;
outline-offset: 3px;
}
@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
.btn,
.btn__icon {
transition: none;
animation: none;
}
}HTML
<button class="btn" type="button">
Join
<span class="btn__icon" aria-hidden="true">↗</span>
</button>How this button is built
- Background: a solid #000000 fill.
- Type: Space Grotesk, weight 700, 16px, uppercase, letter-spacing 6px, in #ffffff.
- Shape: square corners with 14px × 28px padding, plus a 3px solid border.
- Depth: a hard offset shadow with no blur, which gives it physical depth.
- Interaction: on hover it lifts 2px and nudges its icon, and it presses down 6px when clicked, with 100ms transitions.
- Accessibility: a visible
:focus-visiblering for keyboard users, and all motion turns off underprefers-reduced-motion.
How to use it
- Copy the CSS into your stylesheet. The
@importline loads the Space Grotesk font from Google Fonts. Move it to the top of your file, or drop it if you already load the font. - Paste the HTML where you want the button. It works on
<button>,<a>and<input type="submit">. - Change the label, or rename the
.btnclass if it clashes with your framework. Want a different colour or size? Open it in the editor, change it visually, and copy the new code.