Card

OverviewStyleGuidelinesCodeDemos

Usage

Cards are used to display basic content or long paragraphs of text. Secondary and Default calls to action may be used.

For examples of patterns which use or modify Card, see the card patterns page.

Patterns

There are several card patterns that can be used for a variety of use cases. To learn more, visit the Card patterns page.

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

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.

Grouping of a card

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.

Alternative card usage

Variants

Promo

A promo should display content related to the current experience but isn’t tied to the flow which the user is reading. It was established as a variant of card because it is also a container that uses similar patterns.

Standard promo

A standard promo should contain only a heading and a call to action, which allows its content to stay separate from the rest of the page without being too prominent.

A featured promo can contain a heading, additional body copy, call to action, and an image. This allows it to stand out more and give more information than a standard promo.

Full-width promo

A full-width promo is more interruptive than the other configurations. It’s best used on pages that have section bands.

Narrow promo

A narrow promo can be used if the promo content needs to fit in a small area, like in a sidebar.

Best practices

Card width

Three cards in a row

In a 12-column layout, use a minimum width of four columns for a card. The maximum number of cards that should be used in a row is three.

Four cards in a row

Do not make cards narrower than 4 columns. This may not give enough space for content within the card.

Call to action variants in cards

Card with a default call to action

Use secondary or default calls to action in most cards.

Card with a primary call to action

Do not use a primary call to action in any card unless the primary action for the whole page is positioned inside of that card.

Number of calls to actions in cards

Card with a secondary call to action and a default call to action

Use up to two calls to action in a card. They can be two different variants.

Card with three call to actions

Do not use more than two calls to action in a card. This could make it harder for the user to understand what action to take next.

Promo

One featured promo below lorem ipsum text

Because promo is used for special promotional content only, promos should typically appear individually.

Three narrow promos in a group

Do not group multiple promos together as if they were a regular card group.

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.

Card height behavior

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.

Card interaction

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.