In this chapter we've used a broader selection of CSS3's new features. CSS3's background gradients have enabled us to create some great looking background effects with pure code. We even used them to create background patterns. We've also learned how to use text-shadows to create an embossed effect on text and box-shadows to add drop-shadow effects to the outside and inside of elements.

When designing responsively, creating these aesthetic effects with pure CSS3 is a huge bonus; it means elements will not break out of any constraints usually associated with more resource heavy and inflexible images. That said, there are times when the use of images is unavoidable. But CSS3 gives us greater flexibility here too. For example, in this chapter we used CSS3's multiple background images feature to add multiple backgrounds and position them independently on the page; a technique that negates the need for extra markup, as has historically always been required. And remember, we're mostly using these effects to add visual flourishes to our responsive design, the kind of subtleties and niceties that modern browsers, regardless of their viewport size, can enjoy. Whilst tiring older browsers like Internet Explorer can't render them, they equally do them no harm.

So far however, all our forays into CSS3 have been static; elements that sit in place and remain stationary on the page in one state or another. However, CSS3 can do much more. In the next chapter we'll look at ways to transition from one state to another and take our CSS where it's never gone before: the domain of animation.