Parallax / Motion-Driven

Founded by Josh Comeau, Stripe, various creative developers · Flash animation; CSS/JS revival

Philosophy

The Story

Parallax — the phenomenon where objects at different distances appear to move at different speeds as you move through space — has been a web design technique since the early days of Flash. The modern revival uses CSS transforms and JavaScript to create scroll-driven animation that feels physical. Josh Comeau's blog became the canonical reference: elements rotate, scale, and fade as you scroll, creating the sensation of moving through a three-dimensional space. Stripe uses subtle parallax in their product illustrations — layers that move at different rates as you scroll, giving the static product images a sense of depth. The key constraint: motion must serve comprehension, not replace it. If users cannot understand the content without the animation, the motion is in the way. Great scroll-driven design is invisible when you are not paying attention to it and delightful when you are.

Design Parameters

Best For

Notable Examples