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