10 min read
Why I Standardized on Phosphor Icons Across 15 Repos (And Cut 60% of Icon Bundle Size)
Five icon systems across 15 repos created visual drift and 84KB bundles in the worst Next.js app.
The Lab · Written in the open · Tagged CSS
Lab.
Working notes from the studio. The tools I build, the workflows I keep, the mistakes I paid for.
31 entries · latest 2026-10-02
9 min read
View Transitions API: 5 Patterns I Use Across RAXXO Sites in 2026
Same-document transitions wrap state changes like filter chips and tab switches in a single startViewTransition call.
7 min read
Motion Design Tokens That Actually Compose: Durations, Easings, Choreography
Three-tier motion tokens: primitives like --ms-200 and --ease-out-expo feed semantic and component layers, never the other way around
8 min read
OKLCH-First Color Systems: 5 Patterns and the Wide-Gamut Wins
OKLCH gives you perceptual uniformity, so a 5% lightness change reads as a 5% lightness change at any…
11 min read
CSS Anchor Positioning Is Production-Ready: 5 Patterns
5 production CSS Anchor Positioning patterns: tooltips, dropdowns, inline edit popovers, context menus, follow-cursor labels. When to pick…
11 min read
CSS Subgrid Made My Dashboard Layouts Trivial: 5 Patterns
5 production CSS Subgrid patterns for dashboards, forms, articles, and tables. When to reach for Subgrid vs grid-template-areas…
11 min read
Tailwind v4 Theme: Design Tokens That Actually Scale
Tailwind v4 ships a native @theme directive that replaces tailwind.config.js and makes design tokens first-class CSS.
8 min read
The CSS :has() Patterns That Changed How I Write UI
Six concrete CSS :has() patterns that replaced roughly 400 lines of JavaScript across raxxo.shop.
8 min read
The 4-Tier Dark Mode Color System I Use on Every Project
Dark mode breaks when you use pure black #000 and pure white #fff, so I build every UI…
8 min read
CSS Cascade Layers Finally Made My Design System Predictable
CSS Cascade Layers (@layer) let you control the order of style precedence without specificity wars or !important tags
8 min read
The 8 CSS Properties That Make Dark UIs Feel Premium
Eight CSS properties that turn flat dark themes into polished, layered interfaces with depth, glass effects, and proper…
11 min read
What Happens When 0.0001 Pixels Decide Your Score
Inside the CSS centering game with a 0.0001px threshold, anti-cheat that returns HTTP 418, and why free open…