11 min read

SVG , CSS , Design

In this article, pioneering author and web designer Andy Clarke shows his techniques for creating Toon Text titles using modern CSS and SVG.

After finishing a project that required me to learn everything I could about CSS and SVG animations, I started writing this series about Smashing Animations and “ How Classic Cartoons Inspire Modern CSS .” To round off this year, I want to show you how to use modern CSS to create that element that makes Toon Titles so impactful: their typography.

Title Artwork Design

In the silent era of the 1920s and early ’30s, the typography of a film’s title card created a mood, set the scene, and reminded an audience of the type of film they’d paid to see.

Typographic title cards from the early years of cinema. ( Large preview )

Cartoon title cards were also branding, mood, and scene-setting, all rolled into one.…