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Reverse-engineering Stripe's themes with CSS custom props

BY a4gqz
August 25, 2025
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Blog Article: Reverse Engineering CSS Themes

Introduction

Discover how a small change in class names can transform a website's appearance by utilizing CSS custom properties. This approach, inspired by the Stripe website, offers a streamlined method for implementing themes.

Reverse Engineering CSS Themes

  • CSS Custom Properties: Utilize custom properties to define themes, making code cleaner and faster to implement.
  • Theme Implementation: Implement different style themes by applying descriptive class names that define background, text, and accent colors.

Case Study: Stripe Website

  • Dark and Light Themes: Stripe uses dark and light-themed sections with consistent style elements like fonts and spacing.
  • Utility Classes: Efficient reuse of styles by attaching utility classes such as theme-dark, accent-teal, etc.

Inspecting Elements

  • Inspecting Code: Using Firefox's inspector to look at Stripe's CSS implementation.
  • Observations: Classes are descriptive, making it easier to understand theme implications, such as background color and link color settings.

Implementing Themes Yourself

  • Basic Setup: Start with HTML boilerplate in VS Code and link CSS files.
  • Structuring Markup: Use section tags and wrapper divs to define page structure.
  • Styling with CSS: Control style and layout using CSS custom properties and utility classes.

CSS Custom Properties Example

:root {
  --text-color: #ffffff;
  --background-color: #002233;
  --accent-color: #00ccff;
}

.dark-theme {
  background-color: var(--background-color);
  color: var(--text-color);
}

.accent-teal {
  color: var(--accent-color);
}

Applying CSS Properties in HTML

<section class="dark-theme accent-teal">
  <div class="wrapper">
    <h2>Headline</h2>
    <p>Description text here.</p>
    <a class="button" href="#">Call to Action</a>
  </div>
</section>

Conclusion

By reverse engineering CSS from existing websites, you can learn efficient methods to implement scalable and flexible themes. This approach enhances your ability to streamline your web projects, allowing for easy style adjustments through minimal changes in class names.

Additional Skills for Success

In addition to technical abilities, cultivating soft skills such as teamwork and communication is crucial for succeeding as a web developer. Explore resources to bolster these competencies in tandem with technical proficiency.