emilkowal-animations

Comprehensive animation guide for web interfaces based on Emil Kowalski's teachings, open-source libraries (Sonner, Vaul), and his animations.dev course. Contains 43 rules across 7 categories, prioritized by impact.

When to Apply

Reference these guidelines when:

• Adding animations to React components

• Choosing easing curves or timing values

• Implementing gesture-based interactions (swipe, drag)

• Building toast notifications or drawer components

• Optimizing animation performance

• Ensuring animation accessibility

Rule Categories by Priority

| 1 | Easing Selection | CRITICAL | ease-

| 2 | Timing & Duration | CRITICAL | timing-

| 3 | Property Selection | HIGH | props-

| 4 | Transform Techniques | HIGH | transform-

| 5 | Interaction Patterns | MEDIUM-HIGH | interact-

| 6 | Strategic Animation | MEDIUM | strategy-

| 7 | Accessibility & Polish | MEDIUM | polish-

Quick Reference

1. Easing Selection (CRITICAL)

• ease-out-default - Use ease-out as your default easing

• ease-custom-curves - Use custom cubic-bezier over built-in CSS

• ease-in-out-onscreen - Use ease-in-out for on-screen movement

• ease-spring-natural - Use spring animations for natural motion

• ease-ios-drawer - Use iOS-style easing for drawer components

• ease-context-matters - Match easing to animation context

2. Timing & Duration (CRITICAL)

• timing-300ms-max - Keep UI animations under 300ms

• timing-faster-better - Faster animations improve perceived performance

• timing-asymmetric - Use asymmetric timing for press and release

• timing-tooltip-delay - Delay initial tooltips, instant subsequent ones

• timing-drawer-500ms - Use 500ms duration for drawer animations

3. Property Selection (HIGH)

• props-transform-opacity - Animate only transform and opacity

• props-hardware-accelerated - Use hardware-accelerated animations when main thread is busy

• props-will-change - Use will-change to prevent 1px shift

• props-avoid-css-variables - Avoid CSS variables for drag animations

• props-clip-path-performant - Use clip-path for layout-free reveals

4. Transform Techniques (HIGH)

• transform-scale-097 - Scale buttons to 0.97 on press

• transform-never-scale-zero - Never animate from scale(0)

• transform-percentage-translate - Use percentage values for translateY

• transform-origin-aware - Make animations origin-aware

• transform-scale-children - Scale transforms affect children

• transform-3d-preserve - Use preserve-3d for 3D transform effects

5. Interaction Patterns (MEDIUM-HIGH)

• interact-interruptible - Make animations interruptible

• interact-momentum-dismiss - Use momentum-based dismissal

• interact-damping - Damp drag at boundaries

• interact-scroll-drag-conflict - Resolve scroll and drag conflicts

• interact-snap-points - Implement velocity-aware snap points

• interact-friction-upward - Allow upward drag with friction

• interact-pointer-capture - Use pointer capture for drag operations

6. Strategic Animation (MEDIUM)

• strategy-keyboard-no-animate - Never animate keyboard-initiated actions

• strategy-frequency-matters - Consider interaction frequency before animating

• strategy-purpose-required - Every animation must have a purpose

• strategy-feedback-immediate - Provide immediate feedback on all actions

• strategy-marketing-exception - Marketing sites are the exception

7. Accessibility & Polish (MEDIUM)

• polish-reduced-motion - Respect prefers-reduced-motion

• polish-opacity-fallback - Use opacity as reduced motion fallback

• polish-framer-hook - Use useReducedMotion hook in Framer Motion

• polish-dont-remove-all - Don't remove all animation for reduced motion

• polish-blur-bridge - Use blur to bridge animation states

• polish-clip-path-tabs - Use clip-path for tab transitions

• polish-toast-stacking - Implement toast stacking with scale and offset

• polish-scroll-reveal - Trigger scroll animations at appropriate threshold

• polish-hover-gap-fill - Fill gaps between hoverable elements

• polish-stagger-children - Stagger child animations for orchestration

Key Values Reference

| cubic-bezier(0.32, 0.72, 0, 1) | iOS-style drawer/sheet animation

| scale(0.97) | Button press feedback

| scale(0.95) | Minimum enter scale (never scale(0))

| 200ms ease-out | Standard UI transition

| 300ms | Maximum duration for UI animations

| 500ms | Drawer animation duration

| 0.11 px/ms | Velocity threshold for momentum dismiss

| 100px | Scroll-reveal viewport threshold

| 14px | Toast stack offset

Reference Files

| references/_sections.md | Category definitions and ordering

| assets/templates/_template.md | Template for new rules

| metadata.json | Version and reference information