Object-shaped cards
Where a record stands for a physical thing, the card is drawn as that thing — nine variations in pure gradients.
← All patterns
LayoutUpdated
Hairline stat strip
A row of stat tiles joined by hairlines that are grid gap, not borders — the container paints the border color and the tiles paint the surface, so separators never double up or break when the row wraps — in a reporting form and in a second form where each tile is the filter for the list beneath it.
Reach for it when building
- summary strip at the top of a detail page
- dashboard KPI row
- account usage overview
- report header figures
- profile stats band
Reporting only — the figures are the whole job.
Documents1,482this period
Median time3.2slast 24h
Clean runs98.4%no retries
Quality score—not rated yet
Same strip, working as the filter. Press a tile to narrow the list; press it again to clear.
- Bicycle drivetrain teardownDone
- Kiln firing, part threeDownloading
- Field recording — marsh at dawnQueued
- Lathe restoration, episode 12Done
- Sourdough hydration testsFailed
- Bookbinding: the long stitchQueued
Showing all 6 downloads.
<p class="stage__cap">Reporting only — the figures are the whole job.</p>
<div class="hss-strip">
<div class="hss-tile"><span class="hss-label">Documents</span><span class="hss-fig">1,482</span><span class="hss-sub">this period</span></div>
<div class="hss-tile"><span class="hss-label">Median time</span><span class="hss-fig">3.2s</span><span class="hss-sub">last 24h</span></div>
<div class="hss-tile"><span class="hss-label">Clean runs</span><span class="hss-fig">98.4%</span><span class="hss-sub">no retries</span></div>
<div class="hss-tile"><span class="hss-label">Quality score</span><span class="hss-fig hss-fig--missing" aria-label="not available">—</span><span class="hss-sub">not rated yet</span></div>
</div>
<p class="stage__cap">Same strip, working as the filter. Press a tile to narrow the list; press it again to clear.</p>
<div class="hss-strip hss-strip--5" role="group" aria-label="Filter downloads by status">
<button class="hss-tile" type="button" data-hss-filter="All" aria-pressed="true"><span class="hss-label">All</span><span class="hss-fig">6</span><span class="hss-sub">downloads</span></button>
<button class="hss-tile" type="button" data-hss-filter="Queued" aria-pressed="false"><span class="hss-label">Queued</span><span class="hss-fig">2</span><span class="hss-sub">downloads</span></button>
<button class="hss-tile" type="button" data-hss-filter="Downloading" aria-pressed="false"><span class="hss-label">Downloading</span><span class="hss-fig">1</span><span class="hss-sub">downloads</span></button>
<button class="hss-tile" type="button" data-hss-filter="Done" aria-pressed="false"><span class="hss-label">Done</span><span class="hss-fig">2</span><span class="hss-sub">downloads</span></button>
<button class="hss-tile" type="button" data-hss-filter="Failed" aria-pressed="false"><span class="hss-label">Failed</span><span class="hss-fig">1</span><span class="hss-sub">downloads</span></button>
</div>
<ul class="hss-list">
<li data-status="Done"><span>Bicycle drivetrain teardown</span><span class="hss-status" data-s="Done">Done</span></li>
<li data-status="Downloading"><span>Kiln firing, part three</span><span class="hss-status" data-s="Downloading">Downloading</span></li>
<li data-status="Queued"><span>Field recording — marsh at dawn</span><span class="hss-status" data-s="Queued">Queued</span></li>
<li data-status="Done"><span>Lathe restoration, episode 12</span><span class="hss-status" data-s="Done">Done</span></li>
<li data-status="Failed"><span>Sourdough hydration tests</span><span class="hss-status" data-s="Failed">Failed</span></li>
<li data-status="Queued"><span>Bookbinding: the long stitch</span><span class="hss-status" data-s="Queued">Queued</span></li>
</ul>
<p class="hss-live" id="hss-live" aria-live="polite">Showing all 6 downloads.</p>Colors come from shared theme tokens — --surface, --ink, --border, --accent and friends — so this CSS carries no palette of its own. Use Runnable file to copy the tokens along with it.
.hss-strip {
display: grid;
gap: 1px;
background: var(--border);
border: 1px solid var(--border);
border-radius: var(--radius);
overflow: hidden;
grid-template-columns: 1fr;
}
@media (min-width: 21rem) { .hss-strip { grid-template-columns: repeat(2, minmax(0, 1fr)); } }
@media (min-width: 42rem) { .hss-strip { grid-template-columns: repeat(4, minmax(0, 1fr)); } }
.hss-tile { background: var(--surface); padding: 14px 16px; min-width: 0; }
.hss-label {
font-family: ui-monospace, monospace;
font-size: 0.8125rem;
text-transform: uppercase;
letter-spacing: 0.06em;
color: var(--dim);
overflow-wrap: anywhere;
}
.hss-fig { font-size: 1.6rem; font-weight: 700; font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums; }
.hss-fig--missing { color: var(--dim); }
button.hss-tile[aria-pressed="true"] {
background: color-mix(in srgb, var(--accent) 14%, var(--surface));
}const tiles = document.querySelectorAll('[data-hss-filter]');
const items = document.querySelectorAll('.hss-list li');
const live = document.getElementById('hss-live');
tiles.forEach((tile) => {
tile.addEventListener('click', () => {
const status = tile.dataset.hssFilter;
const wasPressed = tile.getAttribute('aria-pressed') === 'true';
const active = wasPressed || status === 'All' ? 'All' : status;
tiles.forEach((other) => {
other.setAttribute('aria-pressed', String(other.dataset.hssFilter === active));
});
let shown = 0;
items.forEach((item) => {
const visible = active === 'All' || item.dataset.status === active;
item.hidden = !visible;
if (visible) shown += 1;
});
// counts in the tiles come from the unfiltered set and never change
live.textContent = active === 'All'
? 'Showing all 6 downloads.'
: `Filtered to ${active}: ${shown} of 6. Press the lit tile again to clear.`;
});
});Build a strip of statistic tiles that reads as one joined instrument panel rather than a row of floating cards.
The separators between tiles must not be borders. Make the container a CSS grid with gap: 1px and give the container itself the border color as its background; each tile then paints the surface color on top. The 1px of container showing through the gap is the hairline. This is the entire pattern: real borders double where two tiles meet and leave a stray edge when auto-fit wraps the row, and a gap physically cannot do either.
Pin the column counts. One column, then two from 21rem, then four from 42rem. Do not use auto-fit: a row that wraps to three-plus-one leaves an orphan tile and a patch of bare container colour.
Tile anatomy. A mono uppercase label, a large bold figure in tabular numerals, and one line of context underneath.
Two rules of honesty. Render a missing value as a dimmed em dash, never as zero. Keep units with the number.
The filter form. The same strip can drive a list: each tile becomes a toggle button with aria-pressed, not a tab. Compute the counts from the unfiltered set so they never change while filtering, and announce the result in a polite live region.
Ground-scrimmed artwork
Text printed over unreviewed artwork, scrimmed to an alpha that can be written down rather than guessed.
Cork notice board
Pinned paper notes on a cork board where every texture is layered CSS gradients.