Retro / Brutalist Hero Template

Make a bold, unapologetic statement with a hero section inspired by retro brutalist design.

This template is for brands that defy convention, using hard-edged cards, system fonts, and a high-contrast monochrome palette to create a memorable, edgy look.

A hero section with a bold, raw, brutalist or retro design aesthetic.

Get Source Code Preview

About the Retro / Brutalist Hero

This design style intentionally breaks from typical "clean" web design. Brutalism is characterized by raw, blocky elements, a lack of gradients, and a utilitarian feel. This template combines that aesthetic with a retro twist by using a system-level monospace font and a simple, high-contrast color scheme. It's a great choice for zines, alternative fashion brands, music artists, or any project that values a strong, distinctive personality over conventional beauty.

Features

Unconventional Design: A bold, brutalist style that immediately stands out.
Hard-Edged Shadows: Uses box-shadow with zero blur to create the solid, blocky drop shadow effect.
Monospace Font: Leverages a system-native monospace font stack for a retro, computer-terminal feel.
Lightweight & Accessible: Built with simple, semantic HTML and CSS with no dependencies.

Code Breakdown

This component is delivered as a CSS block for your website's head and an HTML block for the body.

The layout uses Flexbox to center a .brutalist-card on the page. A telling brutalist feature is the hard shadow on the card. This is achieved by setting the box-shadow property with x and y offsets, but with 0 for the blur-radius. The template uses a font-family stack that prioritizes monospace fonts commonly available on user systems.

The entire design relies on fundamental HTML and CSS, with all styling controlled by easy-to-edit CSS custom properties. This makes it simple to change the color scheme or font choices to further customize the aesthetic.

Code

<style>
    :root {
        --rbh-padding: 4rem 1.5rem;
        --rbh-bg-color: #fcee07; /* Bright yellow */
        --rbh-card-bg: #ffffff;
        --rbh-text-color: #000000;
        --rbh-card-border-color: #000000;
        --rbh-card-shadow-color: #000000;
        --rbh-cta-bg: #000000;
        --rbh-cta-text-color: #ffffff;
        --rbh-cta-hover-bg: #333333;
        --rbh-max-width: 700px;
    }
    .retro-brutalist-hero {
        box-sizing: border-box;
        /* Using system monospace fonts for a retro feel */
        font-family: 'SF Mono', 'Fira Code', 'Fira Mono', 'Roboto Mono', 'Lucida Console', Monaco, monospace;
        background-color: var(--rbh-bg-color);
        min-height: 450px;
        padding: var(--rbh-padding);
        width: 100%;
        display: grid;
        place-items: center;
    }
    .retro-brutalist-hero * {
         box-sizing: border-box;
    }
    .brutalist-card {
        max-width: var(--rbh-max-width);
        width: 100%;
        padding: 2rem;
        background-color: var(--rbh-card-bg);
        border: 2px solid var(--rbh-card-border-color);
        /* Hard-edged shadow is key to the brutalist style */
        box-shadow: 8px 8px 0 0 var(--rbh-card-shadow-color);
        transition: transform 0.2s ease, box-shadow 0.2s ease;
    }
    .brutalist-card:hover {
        transform: translate(-4px, -4px);
        box-shadow: 12px 12px 0 0 var(--rbh-card-shadow-color);
    }
    .brutalist-card .tagline {
        font-size: 0.9rem;
        font-weight: 600;
        text-transform: uppercase;
        margin: 0 0 1rem 0;
    }
    .brutalist-card .title {
        color: var(--rbh-text-color);
        font-size: clamp(2rem, 5vw, 2.75rem);
        font-weight: 700;
        line-height: 1.2;
        text-transform: uppercase;
        margin: 0 0 1.5rem 0;
    }
    .brutalist-card .description {
        line-height: 1.6;
        margin: 0 0 2rem 0;
    }
    .brutalist-card .cta {
        display: inline-block;
        background-color: var(--rbh-cta-bg);
        color: var(--rbh-cta-text-color);
        border: 2px solid #000;
        padding: 0.8rem 1.8rem;
        text-decoration: none;
        font-weight: 700;
        transition: background-color 0.3s ease;
    }
    .brutalist-card .cta:hover {
        background-color: var(--rbh-cta-hover-bg);
    }
</style>

<section class="retro-brutalist-hero">
    <div class="brutalist-card">
        <p class="tagline">[Error: Style Not Found]</p>
        <h1 class="title">Function Over Form</h1>
        <p class="description">
            We build raw, efficient digital tools that prioritize performance over polish. Unapologetically functional, relentlessly fast. No frills, no fuss.
        </p>
        <a href="#" role="button" class="cta">VIEW PROJECTS</a>
    </div>
</section>

View Output