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No.297 · Text Animations

Scroll Ink

A statement you read at the speed you scroll: words wait in faint ink and darken one after another, with a few words of soft edge ahead of the reading point. The phrases that matter take the accent and are underlined by hand the moment you reach them.

The prompt

The design brief behind this component — reuse it to regenerate, remix, or explain it.

Build a scroll-driven statement. A section (min-height 520px) holds its own scroller (overflow-y auto, overscroll-behavior contain, focusable for keyboard scrolling) with a tall track (320%, min 1500px) and a sticky stage the scroller's height (container-type: size; height 100cqh) that centres a kicker, the statement and a sign-off. Text: one span per word; {{…}} in the text marks accent phrases (inside a phrase the space travels inside the word span so the underline is continuous). The statement is set large in Newsreader (clamp(1.55rem, 4.1vw, 3.15rem), line-height 1.24, max 30ch, text-wrap: pretty). Progress p = scrollTop / (90% of the scrollable distance). The reading point is head = p × (N + 5); each word's ink = clamp((head − i) / 5, 0, 1) and its opacity = 0.14 + 0.86 × ink, so a soft five-word edge leads the reading point. Accent words turn the accent colour once fully inked (380ms colour transition), and once a phrase's last word is inked its hand-drawn underline (an SVG wave used as a mask over an accent block, clip-path inset driven by --u) runs along it word by word over the next ~2 words of scroll. The sign-off fades up at the end. Work happens in one rAF per scroll event, never idle. Chrome: a "Scroll" hint with a nudging chevron that fades once you start, and a hairline progress rail on the left in the accent. Themes: night (#0d0c0b, ivory, amber #f2b56b) and paper (#f4efe6, ink, rust #b4461c). Reduced motion: everything inked, no hint or rail.

Notes

Interaction
Scroll inside it (wheel, trackpad, touch, or focus it and use the keyboard).
Motion
Scroll-linked: a five-word ink edge; accent colour 380ms; underline draws over ~2 words of scroll; sign-off 600ms.
Accessibility
The full text is real text in reading order; the scroller is focusable and labelled. Opacity never drops below 14%, and reduced motion shows it fully inked.
Responsive
The statement size and padding are fluid; the sticky stage always fits the scroller's own height.
On touch
Touch scrolling drives it the same way.

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