Card
Usage
Variants
There are several card variants that can be used for a variety of use cases.
Basic
Use to display basic content or long paragraphs of text. Secondary and Default calls to action may be used.
List
Use to display a short amount of content using various list styles. Secondary and Default calls to action may be used.
Data
Use to display quick facts or short data points under a label. A Secondary call to action may be used or not.
Logo
Use to display a customer logo in a variety of arrangements. A call to action is required, otherwise use a logo wall.
Bar
Use to add a small icon and a label group to the header section. A larger icon or a logo may be used.
Icon
Use to add an icon to the basic style above the text. Secondary and Default calls to action may be used.
Image
Use to add an image to the basic style above the text. Secondary and Default calls to action may be used.
Asset
Use to display that an asset can be downloaded. An icon and label group or text may be used to describe the asset.
Quote
Use to display a short quote with attribution text. Logos, images, and a Secondary call to action may be used or not.
Avatars
Use to highlight a group of people who engage in an event. A label should be included, but including text is optional.
Video
Use to trigger a video that will play in a [Modal dialog](/elements/dialog). Different layout configurations may be used.
Pricing
Use to outline the pricing and benefits of something. Elements may be removed or rearranged depending on content needs.
Logo slider
Use to display more content about a company when expanded on hover or tap. A title and text should be included.
Name slider
Use to display more content about a person when the tray expands. A title and text should be included.
Content
Cards have the potential to contain lots of content, like a combination of text, links, images, multimedia, etc. Ensure content serves the use case, but keep things simple at the same time. Don’t use too much content in one card, distribute extra content to other cards or somewhere else on the page. A Sticky card is a kind of card that can contain similar content, but it sticks to the side of a page and it’s always present until a user dismisses it.
Character count
The recommended maximum character count for the elements of a card are listed below and include spaces.
| Element | Character count |
|---|---|
| Title | 20 |
| Headline | 50 |
| Body text | 165 |
| Footer | 55 |
Grouping
Different card styles can sometimes be grouped together. They can be arranged in a grid horizontally or vertically, depending on available space or screen size. Be sure to only group cards together that have similar styles or content. For example, grouping a basic card with a pricing card will look bad because they’re not very similar.
These cards can be grouped together because they have similar styles and content
Layout
Cards are small layouts that should be arranged on a grid and not float randomly in larger layouts. Cards have a minimum width of four columns and a maximum width of six columns.
Other components
Cards can include complex components if necessary. For example, the Filter pattern requires an Accordion or a Disclosure to sort a content set. Don't place any other complex components in card layouts.
Best practices
The minimum width of a card in any layout is four columns and the maximum number of cards that can be used in a row is three.
Don’t use a primary call to action in any card unless the primary action of a page is positioned inside of that card.
Don’t use multiple calls to action in one card. Instead, distribute them to other cards.
Behavior
Vertical height
The vertical height of cards depends on how much content is placed inside. If there are multiple cards in a row, the vertical height of each of them will be determined by the tallest card. Don’t place inconsistent amounts of content in cards, as this will impact how scannable the group will appear to users.
Interactivity
If a card contains only one link destination, the entire container and any elements inside should all be interactive. Otherwise, each interactive element should continue to be interactive, but not the card container.
Interaction states
Since cards can consist of a variety of elements, refer to the specific interaction states that are assigned to each style and component for more information.
Other libraries
To learn more about our other libraries, visit this page.
Feedback
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