Definition

Onioncore is a web/UI aesthetic created by Onion Madder (Kellye Strickland): electric neon on deep glossy black, playful menace, and hand-coded interfaces that feel alive. It blends CRT scanlines, glitch shadows, and accessible motion with strict readability and real performance.

Practically, Onioncore favors: mono fonts, high-contrast color pairs (teal/cyan & pink/magenta), soft glows, layered text shadows, and CSS-only effects before any JavaScript. It's fast, audible when needed, and always keyboard-navigable.

Core Traits

Deep-black canvas with neon edges and subtle VHS/scanline texture.

Glitch shadows offset by 1-2px; readable at all sizes.

Motion is purposeful and opt-out friendly; prefers reduced-motion honored.

HTML first, CSS second, JS last. Performance as an aesthetic choice.

Origins

Onioncore grew from years of building games, archives, and accessibility tools by hand, then shaping those constraints into a look. It's the visual house style across onionmadder.xyz, onionmadder.com, and experimental projects like The Bala Files.

Visual examples