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G-005
Title
Specimens
Rev
843d87c

Design atlas

Live specimens of web techniques, each with a prompt starter, references and the specimens it mixes well with. Pick a few and copy one brief.

  • 29 specimens
  • 6 families

Hover, drag and click them

Every preview is running code

  1. MO-01MotionStrong fitWeight:Light

    Scroll-driven story

    The page is a sequence of scenes. Scrolling scrubs each scene, so the reader sets the pace.

    • CSS scroll-timeline
    • GSAP ScrollTrigger
    • sticky
    Prompt starter

    Build [subject] as a scroll-driven story in 5 pinned scenes. Use CSS scroll-timeline / view-timeline, with GSAP ScrollTrigger as fallback. Each scene carries one idea and one animation scrubbed by scroll. Add a progress rail, and keep a readable static layout under prefers-reduced-motion.

    Pairs with your mix
  2. MO-02MotionStrong fitWeight:Light

    Morphing layouts

    Elements glide between layouts instead of jumping when you filter, sort or open something.

    • View Transitions API
    • FLIP
    Prompt starter

    Build [subject] so every state change morphs: filtering a grid, opening a card into a detail view, switching pages. Use the View Transitions API with a view-transition-name per item and a FLIP fallback. Keep each transition under 400ms.

    Pairs with your mix
  3. MO-03MotionStrong fitWeight:Light

    Kinetic typography

    Type is the visual. Variable font axes stretch, gain weight and wave with time, scroll or cursor.

    • variable fonts
    • font-variation-settings
    Prompt starter

    Make the hero of [subject] pure kinetic type: a variable font with width and weight axes, each letter reacting to cursor distance and scroll velocity. No images. Split letters into spans, animate font-variation-settings, and keep the text selectable and readable at rest.

    Pairs with your mix
  4. MO-04MotionGood fitWeight:Light

    Character animation

    A small mascot with squash, stretch and blinks gives the page a personality.

    • SVG
    • CSS keyframes
    • Rive / Lottie
    Prompt starter

    Design an original SVG mascot for [subject] and animate it: squash-and-stretch idle bounce, random blinks, and a reaction when the user hovers the main button. Pure SVG plus CSS/WAAPI, no external assets.

    Pairs with your mix
  5. MO-05MotionStrong fitWeight:Light

    Micro-interactions

    Toggles, likes and buttons that answer every click with a tiny, specific motion.

    • WAAPI
    • spring easing
    • CSS transitions
    Prompt starter

    Give every control in [subject] a micro-interaction: button press depth, submit morphing into a checkmark, toggle with spring overshoot, like-burst. Use CSS + WAAPI with spring-like easing via linear(), each under 300ms.

    Pairs with your mix
  6. GN-01GenerativeNeeds tuningWeight:Heavy

    Shader art

    A GPU fragment shader paints a living, domain-warped noise field. The cursor steers it.

    • GLSL
    • WebGL
    • fbm noise
    Prompt starter

    Create a full-bleed WebGL fragment shader background for [subject]: domain-warped fbm noise in [palette], drifting slowly and reacting to cursor position. Cap DPR at 1.5, pause offscreen, and show a static gradient when WebGL is unavailable.

    Pairs with your mix
  7. GN-02GenerativeNeeds tuningWeight:Heavy

    Liquid distortion

    Ripples bend the surface under the cursor, like a finger dragged through water.

    • WebGL
    • displacement
    • ripples
    Prompt starter

    Add a liquid hover distortion to the hero of [subject]: a WebGL plane that ripples outward from the cursor and settles back, with the hero typography or pattern as its texture. Include a non-WebGL fallback.

    Pairs with your mix
  8. GN-03GenerativeStrong fitWeight:Medium

    Cellular automata

    Simple rules grow complex patterns. Hover to plant new cells.

    • Canvas 2D
    • Game of Life
    • reaction-diffusion
    Prompt starter

    Use a cellular automaton as the living background of [subject]: Conway’s Life or reaction-diffusion on a coarse grid, fading trails, reseeding when it stagnates, and the cursor planting cells. Canvas 2D, ~10 simulation steps per second, 60fps drawing.

    Pairs with your mix
  9. GN-04GenerativeStrong fitWeight:Medium

    Flow fields

    Hundreds of particles trace an invisible current that bends toward the cursor.

    • Canvas 2D
    • noise
    • particles
    Prompt starter

    Draw a flow-field particle system behind [subject]: 500–1500 particles following a time-varying noise field, leaving fading trails in [palette], gently attracted to the cursor. Canvas 2D, paused when offscreen.

    Pairs with your mix
  10. GN-05GenerativeStrong fitWeight:Medium

    ASCII rendering

    Everything is drawn with characters. A plasma field turns into living text.

    • Canvas text
    • monospace
    • density ramp
    Prompt starter

    Render the hero of [subject] in ASCII: a monospace character grid where a plasma/noise field maps to a density ramp, the cursor sends a ripple, and the headline is carved out of the field. Draw with Canvas fillText one row at a time.

    Pairs with your mix
  11. GN-06GenerativeStrong fitWeight:Light

    Generative identity

    The logo is an algorithm. Tiles rotate and recolor, so every visitor sees a different variant.

    • Truchet tiles
    • seeded random
    • SVG
    Prompt starter

    Design a generative identity for [subject]: a 4×4 Truchet-tile mark from a seeded RNG in two brand colors that slowly mutates. Map seed to variant so stickers and social images can reuse an exact variant, and export it as SVG.

    Pairs with your mix
  12. GN-07GenerativeStrong fitWeight:Medium

    Dithering

    1-bit ordered dithering turns smooth light into a crunchy, printed texture.

    • Bayer matrix
    • ImageData
    • pixel art
    Prompt starter

    Give [subject] a 1-bit dithered look: render a lit sphere (or the hero image) at low resolution, apply a 4×4 Bayer ordered dither in two ink colors, and upscale with nearest-neighbor. The light follows the cursor.

    Pairs with your mix
  13. PH-01Physics & playGood fitWeight:Heavy

    Physics UI

    Navigation items are real objects. Throw them around and they bounce. Double-click to drop them again.

    • Matter.js
    • Rapier
    • collisions
    Prompt starter

    Turn the navigation of [subject] into physics objects: labeled circles that drop into a box, collide, and can be thrown with mouse or touch, using Matter.js. Clicking a body still navigates. Provide a normal link list for keyboard users and reduced motion.

    Pairs with your mix
  14. PH-02Physics & playGood fitWeight:Medium

    Gamified page

    The page hides a tiny game. Catch the stars to raise your score.

    • Canvas
    • game loop
    • particles
    Prompt starter

    Hide a mini-game in [subject]: collectible items drift up, clicking pops them with particles, and the score unlocks something real (a discount code, a hidden section). Canvas game loop, works on touch, never blocks the main content.

    Pairs with your mix
  15. PH-03Physics & playStrong fitWeight:Medium

    Playable explainer

    A concept you poke instead of read. Change the stiffness and watch the spring answer live.

    • simulation
    • sliders
    • live plot
    Prompt starter

    Explain [concept] as a playable explainer: a live simulation with 2–3 sliders, a plot that updates in real time, and short text beside each step, in the spirit of Bartosz Ciechanowski and Nicky Case. Every number on screen is computed, never faked.

    Pairs with your mix
  16. PH-04Physics & playStrong fitWeight:Medium

    Elastic cursor

    A verlet rope hangs from the cursor and swings with momentum.

    • verlet integration
    • Canvas
    Prompt starter

    Attach an elastic verlet rope to the cursor in [subject]: 20–30 segments with gravity and damping, a tapered stroke in [palette]. Hide it on touch devices and under reduced motion.

    Pairs with your mix
  17. SP-01Spatial & 3DStrong fitWeight:Medium

    Infinite canvas

    No pages, just a board you pan around. Content lives in space, connected by lines.

    • pan & zoom
    • inertia
    • Canvas
    Prompt starter

    Lay out [subject] as an infinite canvas: content cards placed in 2D space and joined by curved lines, drag to pan with inertia, wheel or pinch to zoom, a minimap, and a “back to center” button. Keep a linear list for screen readers.

    Pairs with your mix
  18. SP-02Spatial & 3DStrong fitWeight:Light

    Desktop OS metaphor

    The site is a fake operating system. Sections open as windows you can drag around.

    • draggable windows
    • retro UI
    • z-order
    Prompt starter

    Build [subject] as a fake desktop OS: icons on a desktop, sections opening as draggable, focusable windows with title bars, and a taskbar with a live clock. Use an original retro style without real OS branding. On phones, windows become full-screen sheets.

    Pairs with your mix
  19. SP-03Spatial & 3DGood fitWeight:Heavy

    Procedural 3D

    Geometry built from math, spinning over a synthwave floor. The cursor steers the camera.

    • Three.js
    • WebGPU
    • procedural meshes
    Prompt starter

    Create a procedural 3D hero for [subject] with Three.js: an object generated from code (no model files), lit and slowly rotating, camera steered by the cursor, light post-processing. Pause offscreen, cap DPR, static poster fallback.

    Pairs with your mix
  20. SP-04Spatial & 3DStrong fitWeight:Light

    Tilt & holo cards

    Cards lean toward the cursor and catch a glare that slides across them.

    • CSS 3D transforms
    • perspective
    Prompt starter

    Make the cards of [subject] tilt in 3D toward the cursor with a holographic glare that follows the pointer. CSS perspective and transforms driven by pointer position, smoothed with lerp, flat on touch and reduced motion.

    Pairs with your mix
  21. AE-01AestheticsStrong fitWeight:Light

    Neo-brutalism

    Thick borders, hard shadows, loud color, zero polish, all on purpose.

    • hard shadows
    • marquee
    • system fonts
    Prompt starter

    Design [subject] in neo-brutalist style: one loud background color, 3px black borders, hard offset shadows, oversized system type, a ticker marquee, and buttons that physically press in. Keep contrast at WCAG AA.

    Pairs with your mix
  22. AE-02AestheticsStrong fitWeight:Light

    Y2K chrome

    Liquid chrome type, sparkles and candy gradients, straight out of 2001.

    • background-clip text
    • gradients
    • blur blobs
    Prompt starter

    Style [subject] with Y2K energy: an animated liquid-chrome headline (gradient + background-clip), candy-colored blurred blobs, sparkle glyphs and rounded pill UI. Fun but legible, no stock clipart.

    Pairs with your mix
  23. AE-03AestheticsGood fitWeight:Light

    Collage & texture

    Torn paper, tape, halftone dots and grain. It looks handmade even though it is code.

    • SVG filters
    • feTurbulence
    • halftone
    Prompt starter

    Give [subject] a collage look: torn-paper shapes, tape strips, halftone dots and film grain made with SVG filters and patterns, plus slightly rotated cut-out letters for headlines. All procedural, no scanned assets.

    Pairs with your mix
  24. AE-04AestheticsGood fitWeight:Medium

    Liquid glass

    Frosted panels float over moving color, with bright edges like real glass.

    • backdrop-filter
    • layered blur
    Prompt starter

    Build the UI of [subject] as liquid glass: translucent panels with backdrop-filter blur and saturation over slowly moving color blobs, bright 1px edge highlights, and readable text contrast at every position. Check it on a low-end GPU.

    Pairs with your mix
  25. AE-05AestheticsStrong fitWeight:Light

    Swiss editorial

    Strict grid, giant numerals, one red block. Order is the aesthetic.

    • CSS grid
    • display type
    • asymmetry
    Prompt starter

    Design [subject] in modern Swiss style: a strict 12-column grid, huge numerals and flush-left type, one red accent block that wipes in on scroll, generous white space, no decoration.

    Pairs with your mix
  26. AE-06AestheticsStrong fitWeight:Light

    Terminal / CRT

    Glowing phosphor text types itself out behind scanlines.

    • monospace
    • glow
    • scanlines
    Prompt starter

    Make [subject] feel like a CRT terminal: phosphor-green monospace text that types itself, scanlines, slight flicker and curvature, and real commands the visitor can type (help, posts, contact). Turn the flicker off under reduced motion.

    Pairs with your mix
  27. SN-01Senses & inputGood fitWeight:Heavy

    Sound-reactive

    Tap a column to play a note. The visuals respond to what you hear.

    • Web Audio
    • Tone.js
    • audio-reactive
    Prompt starter

    Add a sound layer to [subject]: tapping regions plays notes from a pentatonic scale via Tone.js or Web Audio, and visuals pulse with each note. Sound stays off until the visitor turns it on, with a visible mute toggle.

    Pairs with your mix
  28. SN-02Senses & inputNeeds tuningWeight:Medium

    Device tilt

    On a phone you tilt to roll the marble. Here the cursor stands in for the gyroscope.

    • DeviceOrientation
    • mobile
    • permissions
    Prompt starter

    Make [subject] respond to phone tilt: DeviceOrientation drives a parallax scene or a rolling marble, with an explicit “Enable motion” button for the iOS permission and pointer control as the desktop fallback. Test on a real device.

    Pairs with your mix
  29. SN-03Senses & inputStrong fitWeight:Light

    Cursor spotlight

    The cursor is a flashlight. A second layer appears only where you point.

    • CSS mask
    • radial-gradient
    • pointer vars
    Prompt starter

    Hide a second layer in the hero of [subject] that only shows through a soft circular mask at the cursor (CSS mask-image driven by --x/--y variables). On touch, the spotlight follows the finger. Never put essential information only in the hidden layer.

    Pairs with your mix

How a mix is built

One idea, held up by the rest

A good page carries one big idea. Pick it first, add one or two specimens that support it, finish with one look, and keep every word readable without the effects.

ContentAestheticSupportHero1234
Parts of a mix
ItemPartQty
1HeroOne specimen carries the page's idea.1
2SupportOne or two more add depth without competing.1–2
3AestheticOne look ties everything together.1
4ContentReal words and links, readable without any effect.All

Specimens per family

  • Motion5
  • Generative7
  • Physics & play4
  • Spatial & 3D4
  • Aesthetics6
  • Senses & input3

Fit

Strong fit
usually right in one pass
Good fit
may need a styling round
Needs tuning
expect one tuning pass

Weight

Light
CSS or SVG only
Medium
a canvas loop or a small library
Heavy
WebGL, physics or audio

For agents

Read it, extend it

The catalog is also served as JSON. Every specimen is one file in the template's source, with its preview beside it: adding a design is adding a file.