CSS Before and After pseudo elements explained - part three: as design elements

Exploring how to use ::before and ::after to create some fun design elements without any extra markup.
The before and after pseudo elements are great, since they let us add in content without any extra markup. This makes them perfect for adding in design flourishes, since we can do it without creating empty divs.
In this video, I first I look at using them to make a fun thing that can be used on headlines, and the second one a very fun hover effect that was inspired from this codrops article: tympanus.net/c...
Here is the CodePen: codepen.io/kev...
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[@rafabagrowski1918]

Amazing. I watched all 3 parts and immediately solved 6 issues at my job. Instant subscribe ;-)

[@KevinPowell]

Very awesome, so glad I could help, and thanks for subbing!

[@konraddariuszwoloszyn9206]

As always, Your videos are the top level of professionalism combined with great explanation and a healthy dose of humor. Great job!

[@KevinPowell]

Thanks so much for the kind words Konrad, really glad you're enjoying my content!

[@fersahahmet9597]

At last I found someone who really knows css and what he is doing. Not mimics some code learnt from some where else. Mr. Powell you ARE a pro. And thank you so much for all the effort putting these video series together

[@tontonsan3534]

As a beginner, no online course was really explaining what you could do with ::before and ::after and I always thought "I'll get back to it later". Well, I finally took the plunge after your video appeared in my recommended autoplay after watching another tutorial, and I just had to leave a comment because you explain so well, and it is now so easy for me and I feel like you taught me in 1hour what several days of school would have. Thank you and you got a new subscriber :)!

[@KevinPowell]

Thanks for the sub Tontonsan, and I'm really glad you like my approach!

[@justinpayne6845]

Thank you so much! After watching this series I now know how to make those little notification bubbles KZbin has telling how many new videos you have and like facebook uses for new posts and such.

[@joeldcanfield_spinhead]

Another excellent explanation. I think the reason this isn't used much is because it's all a bit abstract until you see examples. I suspect that as we all get more familiar and see more examples, there'll be ongoing creative use of pseudo elements like this.

[@KevinPowell]

I almost exclusively use them for design elements. It's actually good from an accessiblity point of view too, rather than adding extra markup that doesn't actually have a purpose other than looking pretty :)

[@philkewley]

I had an idea replace a blocky looking footer section with a simple text based section, but that meant finding a way to separate content without using background colours or images - I've watched this video so many times over the years without fully understanding how I could use it. And now today when I needed inspiration and direction I remembered it! So I follow everything on the video and place a 50% height before & after behind h3 text, set the after color to transparent, reduce the height to 50%, give it a 3px border-top and push it down using vh, until I've basically got a horizontal rule with the brand name nicely centred. I even managed to place it all in a centred container so it only takes up 90% width. It looks a lot better than that messy description - Honestly I can't thank you enough for sharing so much knowledge, your teaching keeps me going forwards. Thank you

[@dyllanmccreary688]

Wow. Watching this series i expected to only learn about ::before and ::after pseudo elements. not only did i learn that but you helped me fix a few issues i was stuck on. thanks guy, great videos.

[@KevinPowell]

Very awesome, glad it helped Dyllan!

[@amysheeter877]

You're the best. Just finished this series, and I was trying to do something similar to this on a website I am currently working on but could NOT figure out how to make it look good. This answered all my questions. Thank you for your amazing work!

[@aminedrouche5465]

You got my brain working 😂 i was thinking with you along the video to find out how to do it. Awesomeness is a fact 😍😍 thank you

[@seemsas]

I am more of the backend guy but your videos makes me more and more interested in frontend coding. Thank you!

[@KevinPowell]

That's awesome. Backend scares me, lol.

[@MVIVN]

I'm still very, very early in my front-end journey but watching stuff like this blows my mind! I can't wait until I get to a point where I am implementing stuff like this into my sites!

[@octavian3033]

Wow!! Watching these videos is like having your mind opened to a new CSS multiverse where anything is possible.

[@riyazahamed5378]

Wow, ::before watching this video i assumed that i know something about css, but ::after i realized i am doing css in a wrong way, Thank you Sir (immediately subscribed )

[@adityads1339]

Watched all 3 videos that were part of the series. Great content! I can confidently say that I understand ::before and ::after, so much better than before. Thank you so much!!!

[@ilhambagirov571]

Ohh God. Finally i found someone who could explain me what these elements do. Thanks a lot for giving this valuable knowledge to us. 👍🙏

[@santiagocalvo]

im learning CSS and your channel is the BEST!!! thnx a lot!!!

[@sravant]

Your channel deserve 10 million subscribers. Thanks for all the videos Kevin.

[@brandonv8525]

Your videos are pretty good, I speak Spanish but I better understand your videos than the other videos in my language

[@MrTanguero]

Loved all three parts of the series and that link you shared also has some amazing ideas! Thanks a lot, Kevin!

[@bpavanellic]

Kevin, realy thank u for this series of videos. Love from Brasil .

[@nerozone84]

Your videos are great. I just watch any video you have randomly and find a solution to a problem I have in a design. Like in this video, I didn't realise I had to go set box-sizing on before and after psuedo elements. I was wondering why a psuedo element I had wasn't quite lining up the way I expected. Thanks!

[@jeffjarvis222]

I enjoy your videos. A super-easy way to style the .intro class "Generic Heading" is with grid using grid-template-columns: 1fr auto 1fr. (I learned this by watching your videos about grid, heh). Add a small grid-gap for white space around the text. Now the ::before and ::after elements just need background color and you're done! Keep up the excellent work, Kevin.

[@johnthiongo4305]

I have a new found respect for css thanks to you

[@cyndikirkpatrick7578]

I sure have learned a lot from you. Thank you.

[@jeffdunham541]

These videos are GREAT! Thank you so much for sharing.

[@travisantoniello]

Great series - this totally demystified ::before and ::after for me, and it was inspiring to see what's possible with them. Thank you!

[@vijais5692]

You are my all time favourite instructor in youtube ❤❤❤❤❤

[@MroMroMarc]

Man! Im speechless! This is so fun and useful! Ive already said that but you are a great instructor. I wish I could afford some monetary gratification like buying your course. I will, someday soon. For now, thank you very much.

[@kelvinsmith4894]

Watched the complete 3 parts on TV, had to grab my laptop to comment, like and subscribe!!! Thank you Kevin...

[@KevinPowell]

Thanks so much Kelvin, glad you liked it enough to take the time to do that! Thanks for the sub :D

[@wiecek00]

You are providing really great content Kevin. I started watching your channel and learned a lot of new things as well as solidified my knowledge. Thanks for your help and keep up the good work! I already subscribed :)

[@360theosiris]

This stuff is amazing and completely changed my view on what is possible with just css.. Thanks for this! Subscribed

[@22D011AROCKIAVIMALJAPSONA]

For these kind of effects, outline - offset with some transitions also cool.👍👍

[@mo3ad96]

As always, Your videos are the top level of professionalism thank you so much

[@CliveStephensonCoUkDesigner]

Fabulous Kevin, you have a real skill for explaining things

[@marikabasagoitia6828]

Thank you so much for this! This really cleared up before and after pseudo elements for me and helped create a really cool effect on a page I’ve been working on.

[@jenniferward6821]

Thanks Kevin watched all three and lights went on!

[@jimdart8219]

Kevin, once again thank-you for the details on how all this works and why. Just had a thought (it happens now and then). Have you ever considered explaining the planning stages for building a website. What goes on before we hit exclamation tab.Thanks again Kevin, you have raised my ability 10 fold.

[@KevinPowell]

I sort of talked about it once very briefly in one of my other videos, but I am about to start redesigning my personal site. I'm pretty much in the ideation phase at the moment. I should totally make some videos of what I'm doing and how I'm approaching it.

[@rasul3d]

I like using before and after as a nice colorful thick underline that is 30% of the width of content.

[@yoSn4p]

Thank you master, all explained clearly!!

[@insaneviruss]

Really enjoyed the video, the pacing and your entire thought process. *First timer on the channel* *subscribed*

[@KevinPowell]

So glad that you enjoyed it so much, and a big thank you for the sub :)

[@akinyemiolalekan1681]

This is simply awesome.....Great job...

[@ricard112]

These videos are gold. Thank you for sharing.

[@karstenlehmann13595]

Thanks a lot for these three videos!

[@colindante5164]

One of the most overlooked selectors to overcome glitches when working will rollovers. In this presentation (referring to the codepen) its .card:hover .card__text {opacity: 1;} This will target Any element with a class name of 'card_text' that descends from an element that is hovered on with a class name 'card' .

[@anishjoshi1999]

This man a legend

[@SothearithKONGMrMuyKhmer]

Thanks Kevin; that’s amazing! 👏👍

[@alainstross3108]

Kevin, you're a boss

[@shashankdasaniya]

This is really a great learning for me,from watching your videos. Thumbs up !

[@travisbburch]

this was fantastic - can't wait to watch your other videos

[@daniamsalem]

This is a fantastic video, upping my skills and code cleanliness.

[@thiagoterceiro9902]

Amazing series of ::before and ::after!

[@benyamin4634]

i will really be gladful if you put an extra pen for the initial codes so i can code along with you . it becomes really difficul to remove that extra code then write it again along with you . thanks for your wonderful tutorials :3

[@Swiftrunner10123]

You are incredible! Thank you so much!

[@maheshbeeravelli]

Awesome content worth watching. How did I miss to watch this content before.

[@KevinPowell]

Glad you're liking it 😁

[@maheshbeeravelli]

Kevin Powell shared with all my peers (y)

[@pettgree]

dudes, CSS seems awesome after this tutorial 🤣 Thanks Kevin

[@lucadifazio2735]

Awesome. This is incredible

[@tilakmadichettitheappdeveloper]

I watched all 3 parts - this is so cool !

[@kristianulvund4274]

Awesome, Kevin🤩 CSS is so much fun!

[@keithho5335]

just found your channel. IM HOOKED

[@zt.5677]

Good material. Thank you.

[@mahdijafaree5332]

Awesome! You are Perfect! thanks!😃

[@herveboulangue6051]

Thank you Kevin. Love your tips !!! Very usefull and clear as usual :)

[@kush0602]

It's only your X, which changes.. LOL ;)... Jokes apart you are a great tutor.. Thanks

[@jijiwaiwai]

Thank you! I learned a lot

[@ya-juchang5099]

Thank you so much! That is amazing and you are definitely a good teacher!

[@KevinPowell]

Thanks a lot, glad that you liked the video :D

[@melbournemeliodas215]

Phew, Exam secured! Thank you Kevin Powell! Im going to watch all of your series after my Exam, but can I ask if you have like a playlist?

[@KevinPowell]

I have a bunch of playlists :)

[@marcel-vc]

I came up with the following solution to add the red bars around the title: .intro { display: grid; grid-template-columns: 1fr auto 1fr; grid-gap: 0.1em; } h1::before, h1::after { content: ''; background: $clr-red; } It works in the CodePen but I'm not sure if there are any drawbacks to it.

[@soumya_r_mohanty]

Excellent explanation Kevin. Could you please explain more about how .card::before goes behind image without setting any z-index on it.

[@danielkim4487]

Really cool. thanks for the lesson Kevin!

[@BenRogersWPG]

Outstanding

[@redisick]

This is so cool!

[@OmarAshrafBombo]

You are the one man ✌🏼 thank U

[@from9835]

Man,Videos are very on point and this is one of the top channels in Web Development,but i think you speak to fast,if i hit 0.75 speed then is too slow. If you can make 5% voice slower it will be great.Thank You!

[@KevinPowell]

Haha, I'll try my best, I know I get carried away at times

[@carlosrangel4500]

Amazing content

[@osmbj1377]

Awesome, thanks

[@dre429]

Thank you so much!

[@peekaboo6026]

I can't thank you enough.

[@thuanle9444]

Thanks @Kevin.

[@arya_bakh]

Great Job bro

[@pagarevijayy]

this is awesome!

[@mohdsaquib380]

Really loved it. You killed it ✌️

[@HEKuiper]

I would replace the right and left positioning with "   "

[@KevinPowell]

I wouldn't use non-breaking spaces in my HTML for very much just because it's a lot easier to make changes to it later if everything is in the CSS. HTML = content, CSS = style. Non-breaking spaces have a purpose, but using them to trick layouts can cause some issues in the long run. Same reason I wouldn't use them to space items out, and instead use margins. Also, what if I wanted the space to be a lot bigger? Would I then need 10 non-breaking spaces? Also, in general, I like to think that I'm writing code that someone else might be editing one day. Would someone else think of looking for that in the HTML, or would they assume it's in the CSS? For a personal project it might be a different story obviously, but most of the time we're working in teams, or on projects that will, at one point, eventually, have someone else making changes to it.

[@tomnagy2439]

Great stuff !

[@KevinPowell]

Thanks so much!

[@inayathkhan100]

Great Tutorial Kevin

[@duke1sanj1]

Excellent as always 👍👍👍

[@KevinPowell]

Thanks Sanjay!

[@huzaifarasheed2313]

Great video

[@marjan5170]

Thank you for this 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

[@JustJordano]

Tank you, you really helped me there.

[@samuelfischer3764]

pls cover ::selection

[@shashwatpal8626]

hail down to the Css king

[@andersonhall08]

subscribed... these are great videos, man. Thanks!

[@KevinPowell]

Thanks so much for the sub Andy! So glad to hear that you're enjoying my videos!

[@xerxius5446]

Always wondered how this worked, Now I know

[@TheSETJ]

I can only say: Amazing!

[@KevinPowell]

Glad you liked it :)

[@doritoflake9375]

Might be a dumb question but I don't understand why you had to separate out the lines in before and after...couldn't you have done everything in before and achieved the same effect?

[@shimphillip]

Good job. Your videos are superb.

[@KevinPowell]

Thanks Phillip!

[@MohammadSyedhasan]

why my border property on .card::before isn't working ??any solution?

[@gajjalaharsha]

If we dont keep position:relative , then background color will take entire screen?

[@killDJuice]

I am so glad i found you😂😅

[@Nicolas5095]

It doesn't work for me to declare &::before and &::after inside a block of code, it shows me an error saying I'm missing a "{" lol