.card p {
  font-size: 17px;
  font-weight: 400;
  line-height: 20px;
  color: #666;
}

.card p.small {
  font-size: 14px;
}

.go-corner {
  display: flex;
  align-items: center;
  justify-content: center;
  position: absolute;
  width: 32px;
  height: 32px;
  overflow: hidden;
  top: 0;
  right: 0;
  background-color: #00838d;
  border-radius: 0 4px 0 32px;
}

.go-arrow {
  margin-top: -4px;
  margin-right: -4px;
  color: white;
  font-family: courier, sans;
}

.card1 {
  display: block;
  position: relative;
  max-width: 262px;
  background-color: #f2f8f9;
  border-radius: 4px;
  padding: 32px 24px;
  margin: 12px;
  text-decoration: none;
  z-index: 0;
  overflow: hidden;
}

.card1:before {
  content: "";
  position: absolute;
  z-index: -1;
  top: -16px;
  right: -16px;
  background: #00838d;
  height: 32px;
  width: 32px;
  border-radius: 32px;
  transform: scale(1);
  transform-origin: 50% 50%;
  transition: transform 0.25s ease-out;
}

.card1:hover:before {
  transform: scale(21);
}

.card1:hover p {
  transition: all 0.3s ease-out;
  color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);
}

.card1:hover h3 {
  transition: all 0.3s ease-out;
  color: #fff;
}

.card2 {
  display: block;
  top: 0px;
  position: relative;
  max-width: 262px;
  background-color: #f2f8f9;
  border-radius: 4px;
  padding: 32px 24px;
  margin: 12px;
  text-decoration: none;
  z-index: 0;
  overflow: hidden;
  border: 1px solid #f2f8f9;
}

.card2:hover {
  transition: all 0.2s ease-out;
  box-shadow: 0px 4px 8px rgba(38, 38, 38, 0.2);
  top: -4px;
  border: 1px solid #ccc;
  background-color: white;
}

.card2:before {
  content: "";
  position: absolute;
  z-index: -1;
  top: -16px;
  right: -16px;
  background: #00838d;
  height: 32px;
  width: 32px;
  border-radius: 32px;
  transform: scale(2);
  transform-origin: 50% 50%;
  transition: transform 0.15s ease-out;
}

.card2:hover:before {
  transform: scale(2.15);
}

.card3 {
  display: block;
  top: 0px;
  position: relative;
  max-width: 262px;
  background-color: #f2f8f9;
  border-radius: 4px;
  padding: 32px 24px;
  margin: 12px;
  text-decoration: none;
  overflow: hidden;
  border: 1px solid #f2f8f9;
}

.card3 .go-corner {
  opacity: 0.7;
}

.card3:hover {
  border: 1px solid #00838d;
  box-shadow: 0px 0px 999px 999px rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);
  z-index: 500;
}

.card3:hover p {
  color: #00838d;
}

.card3:hover .go-corner {
  transition: opactiy 0.3s linear;
  opacity: 1;
}

.card4 {
  display: block;
  top: 0px;
  position: relative;
  max-width: 262px;
  background-color: #fff;
  border-radius: 4px;
  padding: 32px 24px;
  margin: 12px;
  text-decoration: none;
  overflow: hidden;
  border: 1px solid #ccc;
}

.card4 .go-corner {
  background-color: #00838d;
  height: 100%;
  width: 16px;
  padding-right: 9px;
  border-radius: 0;
  transform: skew(6deg);
  margin-right: -36px;
  align-items: start;
  background-image: linear-gradient(-45deg, #8f479a 1%, #dc2a74 100%);
}

.card4 .go-arrow {
  transform: skew(-6deg);
  margin-left: -2px;
  margin-top: 9px;
  opacity: 0;
}

.card4:hover {
  border: 1px solid #cd3d73;
}

.card4 h3 {
  margin-top: 8px;
}

.card4:hover .go-corner {
  margin-right: -12px;
}

.card4:hover .go-arrow {
  opacity: 1;
}

Live Preview

Ready Ln 1, Col 1

UTF-8 HTML/JS

Creative CSS Card Designs with Hover Effects

Card-based layouts are a popular and effective way to display information in a compact, organized format. In this example, we explore four uniquely styled cards using only HTML and CSS — each one offering a different hover effect and design feel.

These cards are clickable containers that include a heading, a short description, and a corner icon arrow. When hovered over, each card responds with its own visual effect, making them ideal for user interaction in modern web design.

Card 1 – Expanding Circle Hover Effect

The first card has a soft background and a circular animation that expands from the top right corner when hovered. The visual centerpiece of this effect is a hidden circle that quickly scales up to cover the entire card, creating a colored overlay.

As the circle expands, the text inside the card changes color to a subtle white shade, giving the entire card a highlighted, active look. This type of design is great for making one card stand out clearly when hovered over.

The arrow icon in the corner is neatly placed inside a styled box that blends perfectly with the background overlay.

Card 2 – Shadow Lift Hover Effect

The second card takes a more subtle approach. When hovered, the card gently lifts upward while a shadow appears beneath it. The background becomes brighter, and the card border shifts from soft to slightly more defined.

This hover style is minimal but effective, giving the impression of physical depth. The animation is fast and smooth, making the card feel responsive and modern without being too flashy.

It’s perfect for clean, professional layouts where subtlety matters — like portfolios, dashboards, or service sections.

Card 3 – Bright Blur Glow Effect

The third card introduces a glowing overlay on hover. As the mouse hovers over the card, a glowing blur covers the card’s background, simulating a soft spotlight. The text color also changes to match the card’s main accent, reinforcing the hover state.

The arrow in the corner becomes more visible during the hover interaction, creating a more active look and encouraging the user to click. This effect adds excitement to the layout and works well when you want a strong interactive visual without overwhelming the design.

Card 4 – Skewed Corner Gradient Reveal

The fourth card is the most uniquely styled of all. Its standout feature is the colorful gradient strip that appears on the right side. This strip is skewed and styled with a diagonal line, giving the card a more edgy, dynamic appearance.

On hover, the strip shifts slightly into view and reveals a clean white arrow, enhancing the clickability of the card. At the same time, the card border changes to a stronger pink tone, indicating active interaction.

This design is bold and creative, making it a great choice for landing pages, product cards, or areas where visual uniqueness is a priority.

Final Thoughts

Each of these four cards offers a different interaction style, from clean shadows to bold gradients and expanding overlays. They’re built entirely with HTML and CSS, making them lightweight and easy to customize.

Whether you’re building a blog, a product showcase, or a service page, these cards offer flexible, modern components to enhance the visual and interactive quality of your design.

This code uses HTML and CSS only — no JavaScript included.

MIT License

Permission is freely granted to anyone who obtains a copy of this software and its accompanying documentation files (referred to as “the Software”), allowing them to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and even sell copies of the Software. Additionally, users are allowed to permit others to use the Software under these same terms.

It is required that the above copyright notices and this permission notice be included in all versions or significant portions of the Software.

Please note, the Software is provided “as is”, without any form of warranty—express or implied. This includes, but is not limited to, warranties of merchantability, fitness for a specific purpose, or non-infringement. Under no circumstances shall the original authors or rights holders be held responsible for any claims, damages, or other liabilities that may arise from the use of the Software, whether through legal action, negligence, or otherwise.

All code on Freeofcosts.com is reviewed before publishing. Each post includes a live code editor with real-time preview, so you can experiment and learn by doing. Most code is open-source and free to use or modify under respective licenses.