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The world of website design and development is constantly evolving. There is a continuous rapid progression of front-end technologies, especially in JavaScript. With the growing demand for interactive and visually appealing interfaces, free JavaScript effects have become essential tools for developers. It feels like each month there is a new JS library out; it can be difficult to keep track.
Technologies like React and Vue aside, there is a wide range of free and relatively easy to implement Javascript effects.
There is very much a trend in website design towards interactivity and animation. Using these free Javascript effects can help you animate and make your static site interactive, without necessarily having to go down a website redesign or re-development route.
Let’s take a look at 7 free Javascript effects you can use right now:
Particles.js
Probably one of the most versatile and widely known reactive JS effect libraries is Particles.js.
This effect uses multiple points and lines to create a network of linked particles in the background of a webpage. They move, swirl around and can often be clicked or dragged to produce new patterns.
The particles follow the viewer’s cursor, and clicking will cause a new wave to burst outwards and rebound across the header space.
The https://vincentgarreau.com/particles.js/ site offers a free configurator and CDN link, letting you get this effect in place on your site with ease.
This web design site is a good example of different particles on the header backgrounds, using a gradient and tasteful white particles to provide good contrast.
LottieFiles
LottieFiles is a repository and marketplace for thousands of small, subtle animations that can make a site come to life. Their site is full of these animations and details, as a showcase of what they can do.
Bounce.js
The main use of this effect is creating a “bounce” effect for a site component, occurring either when it’s clicked and dragged, or a cursor passes over it.
This Codepen is a good example of what can be achieved using the Bounce.JS library.
Mo.js
Mo.js is a great example of an open source, modular effects library, allowing users to pull certain effects and ignore others as their needs dictate. The image above, for their Motion effect, is a great example of the kinds of clean, simple animations mo.js can support.
There is a great Codepen article that details usage and examples.
Three.js
Three.js is a cross-browser 3d JavaScript library. It’s a bit more complex than others on this list, so we’ll focus on one easy to use example, Tearable Cloth. It’s possible to alter the size, weight, density and pattern of the cloth using different parameters. Novel effects like this are much more likely to be remembered by site visitors in the long run.
Interactive Particles
In this effect, a particle overlay that covers the text and moves away from the mouse cursor when it comes close enough. The upper layer reforms once the cursor moves far away, with a few straggler particles taking longer to coalesce.
Neon Hexagon Particles
In this effect, these particles follow a hexagonal grid and rapidly pulse between colors as they do so, creating an impression of vibrancy and light.
Conclusion
With these effects, you should be able to animate your website with relative ease. An interactive and animated site can help reduce your bounce rate and increase engagement up to 67%. It can help you retain and engage more customers than a static site. Interactivity is a pillar of good web design, and that’s unlikely to change anytime in the near future. If you enjoyed this article, you can read more about Javascript with these articles.
