The Evolution of Gradient Creation

Gradients have long been a popular method of conveying backgrounds that feel "alive" when compared to uniformly flat and solid colors stretching across an entire page's background space. Simply by setting two separate colors as "end points," even amateur web designers can easily produce and utilize an aesthetically pleasing blend of colors that smoothly transitions between two opposing ends of a single space. Software-based functions dynamically fill in the technically countless colors that lie on the spectrum in between the two end points.

Originally, gradients would likely have been uploaded as exported image files from image-editing software dedicated to all sorts of advanced functions beyond mere gradient creation. In more recent years, web design standards and technology have evolved to the point that it now takes little more than several lines of code defined in an external CSS file to achieve these same gradient-based backgrounds. Having the browser itself directly render many kinds of visual effects on web pages this way allows for websites that load much faster, though in many cases, it results in HTML, CSS, and potentially JavaScript files filled with hard-to-read code.

Since gradients are made up of concise functions that specify little more than particular colors, however, gradients can be expressed through very little CSS syntax overall. A CodePen project demonstrates that it is possible within a mere handful of code lines to dynamically create a background that appears to display virtually every color at once. The example code reveals that this is made up of no more than three partially transparent layers of color stacked upon the same space.

One layer is a red gradient that steadily becomes increasingly transparent as it approaches the bottom edge of the screen. The second layer is a lime-colored gradient that steadily fades into transparency toward its top-left edge. Finally, the third layer is a blue gradient that centers its transparent end point at its top-right edge. Because red, green, and blue are the basic components of a complete color palette, a comprehensive spectrum is simulated when the transparent parts of particular layers overlap with other layers' solid segments. For more information click here https://codepen.io/GemmaStiles/pen/MqbwYr.