Vertically center one of many div inside a container - css

Question

A section consists of a navigation group with elements floated to the sides, a center text group, and a background image. The section height was not manually set to fit the background image.
How do I go about vertically centering the text group? It is div.h1-container.
Plunkr: https://plnkr.co/edit/rSWgdfPQEbIeXbPh4wO1?p=preview
body {
font: 15px/1.5 Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
padding: 0;
margin: 0;
background-color: #f4f4f4;
}
/* Global */
.container {
width: 80%;
margin: auto;
overflow: hidden;
}
.clear {
clear: both;
}
ul {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
}
section h2 {
line-height: 1.0;
}
.button_1 {
height: 34px;
background: tomato;
border: 0;
padding-left: 20px;
padding-right: 20px;
color: #ffffff;
width: 200px;
}
.showcase-nav a {
color: #ffffff;
text-decoration: none;
text-transform: uppercase;
font-size: 16px;
}
.showcase-nav {
padding-top: 30px;
margin-top: 10px;
float: right;
}
.showcase-nav li.social i {
padding: 0 4px;
}
.showcase-nav li {
display: inline;
padding: 0 20px 0 20px;
}
.showcase-branding {
float: left;
}
.showcase-branding h1 {
font-size: 26px;
margin: 0;
padding-top: 30px;
color: #fff;
}
.showcase-branding .highlight {
color: #e8491d;
font-weight: bold;
}
.showcase-nav a:hover {
color: #cccccc;
font-weight: bold;
}
.h1-container {
width: 70%;
margin: auto;
}
.h1-container h1 {
text-transform: uppercase;
text-align: center;
color: #fff;
}
.h1-container p {
width: 81%;
background: tomato;
margin: auto;
border-radius: 10px;
text-align: center;
color: #fff;
}
/* Showcase */
#showcase {
background: url('http://i68.tinypic.com/2j5jho4.png') no-repeat;
background-size: contain;
width: 100%;
display: inline-block;
position: relative;
margin: 0 auto;
}
#showcase:after {
padding-top: 51.46%;
display: block;
content: '';
}
#showcase .container {
position: absolute;
top: 0;
bottom: 0;
right: 0;
left: 0;
}
#showcase .h1-container h1 {
font-size: 55px;
margin-bottom: 10px;
}
#showcase p {
font-size: 20px;
padding: 5px;
}
<link href="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/font-awesome/4.7.0/css/font-awesome.min.css" rel="stylesheet" />
<section id="showcase">
<div class="container">
<div class="showcase-branding">
<h1>Title</h1>
</div>
<nav class="showcase-nav">
<ul>
<li class="current">About</li>
<li>Contact</li>
<li class="social"><i class="fa fa-linkedin-square"></i><i class="fa fa-facebook-official"></i><i class="fa fa-twitter"></i></li>
</ul>
</nav>
<div class="clear"></div>
<div class="h1-container">
<h1>Text on line 1<br>text on line 2</h1>
<p>lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum <i class="fa fa-caret-right"></i></p>
</div>
</div>
</section>

Answer 1

Given the current context there are two simple ways to go about this.
One way would be to give .h1-container display: flex, flex-direction: column, and justify-content: center.
Here is a jsfiddle.
However, if you were to do it this way, each element and every new element placed in .h1-container will end up being stacked vertically and centered vertically in relation to .h1-container, so it will appear as if the children elements are not centered if .h1-container is not properly centered.
Also remember that justify-content always positions the children elements relative to the direction of the flex-box. Therefore, if your flex-box direction is not explicitly set, and since the default is flex-direction: row, justify-content would position the children horizontally. align-items will always be the opposite of the flex-box's direction property.
body {
font: 15px/1.5 Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
padding: 0;
margin: 0;
background-color: #f4f4f4;
}
/* Global */
.container {
width: 80%;
margin: auto;
overflow: hidden;
}
.clear {
clear: both;
}
ul {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
}
section h2 {
line-height: 1.0;
}
.button_1 {
height: 34px;
background: tomato;
border: 0;
padding-left: 20px;
padding-right: 20px;
color: #ffffff;
width: 200px;
}
.showcase-nav a {
color: #ffffff;
text-decoration: none;
text-transform: uppercase;
font-size: 16px;
}
.showcase-nav {
padding-top: 30px;
margin-top: 10px;
float: right;
}
.showcase-nav li.social i {
padding: 0 4px;
}
.showcase-nav li {
display: inline;
padding: 0 20px 0 20px;
}
.showcase-branding {
float: left;
}
.showcase-branding h1 {
font-size: 26px;
margin: 0;
padding-top: 30px;
color: #fff;
}
.showcase-branding .highlight {
color: #e8491d;
font-weight: bold;
}
.showcase-nav a:hover {
color: #cccccc;
font-weight: bold;
}
.h1-container {
width: 70%;
margin: auto;
display: flex;
flex-direction: column;
justify-content: center;
}
.h1-container h1 {
text-transform: uppercase;
text-align: center;
color: #fff;
}
.h1-container p {
width: 81%;
background: tomato;
margin: auto;
border-radius: 10px;
text-align: center;
color: #fff;
}
/* Showcase */
#showcase {
background: url('http://i68.tinypic.com/2j5jho4.png') no-repeat;
background-size: contain;
width: 100%;
display: inline-block;
position: relative;
margin: 0 auto;
}
#showcase:after {
padding-top: 51.46%;
display: block;
content: '';
}
#showcase .container {
position: absolute;
top: 0;
bottom: 0;
right: 0;
left: 0;
}
#showcase .h1-container h1 {
font-size: 55px;
margin-bottom: 10px;
}
#showcase p {
font-size: 20px;
padding: 5px;
}
<body>
<section id="showcase">
<div class="container">
<div class="showcase-branding">
<h1>Title</h1>
</div>
<nav class="showcase-nav">
<ul>
<li class="current">About</li>
<li>Contact</li>
<li class="social"><i class="fa fa-linkedin-square"></i><i class="fa fa-facebook-official"></i><i class="fa fa-twitter"></i></li>
</ul>
</nav>
<div class="clear"></div>
<div class="h1-container">
<h1>Text on line 1<br>text on line 2</h1>
<p>lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum <i class="fa fa-caret-right"></i></p>
</div>
</div>
</section>
</body>
The other way would be to give .container position: relative, and then give .h1-container position: absolute, top: 50%, and transform: translateY(-50%).
Positioning .container as relative allows you to absolutely position .h1-container in relation to .container as opposed to the entire document.
.container {
position: relative;
}
.h1-container {
position: absolute;
top: 50%;
transform: translateY(-50%);
}
Here is a jsfiddle.
The following is an inline version which won't display properly due to the dimensions of everything, but it has at least centered the .h1-container.
body {
font: 15px/1.5 Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
padding: 0;
margin: 0;
background-color: #f4f4f4;
}
/* Global */
.container {
width: 80%;
margin: auto;
overflow: hidden;
position: relative;
}
.clear {
clear: both;
}
ul {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
}
section h2 {
line-height: 1.0;
}
.button_1 {
height: 34px;
background: tomato;
border: 0;
padding-left: 20px;
padding-right: 20px;
color: #ffffff;
width: 200px;
}
.showcase-nav a {
color: #ffffff;
text-decoration: none;
text-transform: uppercase;
font-size: 16px;
}
.showcase-nav {
padding-top: 30px;
margin-top: 10px;
float: right;
}
.showcase-nav li.social i {
padding: 0 4px;
}
.showcase-nav li {
display: inline;
padding: 0 20px 0 20px;
}
.showcase-branding {
float: left;
}
.showcase-branding h1 {
font-size: 26px;
margin: 0;
padding-top: 30px;
color: #fff;
}
.showcase-branding .highlight {
color: #e8491d;
font-weight: bold;
}
.showcase-nav a:hover {
color: #cccccc;
font-weight: bold;
}
.h1-container {
width: 70%;
margin: auto;
position: absolute;
top: 50%;
transform: translateY(-50%);
}
.h1-container h1 {
text-transform: uppercase;
text-align: center;
color: #fff;
}
.h1-container p {
width: 81%;
background: tomato;
margin: auto;
border-radius: 10px;
text-align: center;
color: #fff;
}
/* Showcase */
#showcase {
background: url('http://i68.tinypic.com/2j5jho4.png') no-repeat;
background-size: contain;
width: 100%;
display: inline-block;
position: relative;
margin: 0 auto;
}
#showcase:after {
padding-top: 51.46%;
display: block;
content: '';
}
#showcase .container {
position: absolute;
top: 0;
bottom: 0;
right: 0;
left: 0;
}
#showcase .h1-container h1 {
font-size: 55px;
margin-bottom: 10px;
}
#showcase p {
font-size: 20px;
padding: 5px;
}
<body>
<section id="showcase">
<div class="container">
<div class="showcase-branding">
<h1>Title</h1>
</div>
<nav class="showcase-nav">
<ul>
<li class="current">About</li>
<li>Contact</li>
<li class="social"><i class="fa fa-linkedin-square"></i><i class="fa fa-facebook-official"></i><i class="fa fa-twitter"></i></li>
</ul>
</nav>
<div class="clear"></div>
<div class="h1-container">
<h1>Text on line 1<br>text on line 2</h1>
<p>lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum lorem ipsum <i class="fa fa-caret-right"></i></p>
</div>
</div>
</section>
</body>