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Masonry testimonial wall

CSS columns that pack quotes of different lengths without gaps.

Marketingintermediatetestimonialsmasonrycolumnswall

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import { Container } from '@/components/ui/layout'
import { Avatar } from '@/components/ui/avatar'
import { testimonials } from '@/content/demo'

/**
 * Masonry testimonial wall
 *
 * CSS columns rather than a grid, so quotes of different lengths pack without
 * gaps. `break-inside: avoid` on each card is what stops a quote splitting
 * across two columns — the one thing that always goes wrong with a column
 * layout.
 */
export default function MasonryTestimonials() {
  return (
    <section className="border-b border-line bg-canvas py-section">
      <Container>
        <div className="max-w-2xl">
          <h2 className="display-type text-2xl font-semibold text-ink-strong sm:text-3xl">
            Six teams, six different reasons.
          </h2>
        </div>

        <div className="mt-12 gap-4 sm:columns-2 lg:columns-3">
          {testimonials.map((quote) => (
            <figure
              key={quote.name}
              className="mb-4 break-inside-avoid rounded-xl border border-line bg-surface p-5"
            >
              <blockquote className="text-sm leading-relaxed text-ink">“{quote.quote}”</blockquote>
              <figcaption className="mt-5 flex items-center gap-2.5">
                <Avatar name={quote.name} size="sm" decorative />
                <div className="min-w-0">
                  <p className="truncate text-xs font-semibold text-ink-strong">{quote.name}</p>
                  <p className="truncate text-xs text-ink-muted">{quote.company}</p>
                </div>
              </figcaption>
            </figure>
          ))}
        </div>
      </Container>
    </section>
  )
}

components/blocks/sections/testimonials/masonry.tsx

import { Container } from '@/components/ui/layout'
import { Avatar } from '@/components/ui/avatar'
import { testimonials } from '@/content/demo'

/**
 * Masonry testimonial wall
 *
 * CSS columns rather than a grid, so quotes of different lengths pack without
 * gaps. `break-inside: avoid` on each card is what stops a quote splitting
 * across two columns — the one thing that always goes wrong with a column
 * layout.
 */
export default function MasonryTestimonials() {
  return (
    <section className="border-b border-line bg-canvas py-section">
      <Container>
        <div className="max-w-2xl">
          <h2 className="display-type text-2xl font-semibold text-ink-strong sm:text-3xl">
            Six teams, six different reasons.
          </h2>
        </div>

        <div className="mt-12 gap-4 sm:columns-2 lg:columns-3">
          {testimonials.map((quote) => (
            <figure
              key={quote.name}
              className="mb-4 break-inside-avoid rounded-xl border border-line bg-surface p-5"
            >
              <blockquote className="text-sm leading-relaxed text-ink">“{quote.quote}”</blockquote>
              <figcaption className="mt-5 flex items-center gap-2.5">
                <Avatar name={quote.name} size="sm" decorative />
                <div className="min-w-0">
                  <p className="truncate text-xs font-semibold text-ink-strong">{quote.name}</p>
                  <p className="truncate text-xs text-ink-muted">{quote.company}</p>
                </div>
              </figcaption>
            </figure>
          ))}
        </div>
      </Container>
    </section>
  )
}

components/ui/avatar.tsx

import type { ReactNode } from 'react'
import { cn } from '@/lib/cn'
import { initials as toInitials } from '@/lib/format'

/**
 * Avatar / AvatarGroup
 *
 * Foundry ships no photography, so avatars render deterministic initials on a
 * tinted surface. The tint is derived from the name's character codes, which
 * keeps the same person the same colour on every page without a colour field
 * in the data.
 *
 * A decorative avatar next to a visible name is `aria-hidden`; a standalone
 * one exposes the name as its label.
 */
export interface AvatarProps {
  name: string
  size?: 'xs' | 'sm' | 'md' | 'lg' | 'xl'
  /** Suppresses the accessible name when the name is already on screen. */
  decorative?: boolean
  /** Small badge anchored bottom-right, e.g. a presence dot. */
  indicator?: ReactNode
  shape?: 'circle' | 'square'
  className?: string
}

const sizes = {
  xs: 'size-5 text-2xs',
  sm: 'size-7 text-2xs',
  md: 'size-9 text-xs',
  lg: 'size-12 text-sm',
  xl: 'size-16 text-lg',
} as const

const tints = [
  'bg-accent-soft text-accent-soft-ink',
  'bg-success-soft text-success',
  'bg-warning-soft text-warning',
  'bg-info-soft text-info',
  'bg-danger-soft text-danger',
  'bg-surface-sunken text-ink-muted',
] as const

function tintFor(name: string): string {
  let hash = 0
  for (let i = 0; i < name.length; i += 1) hash = (hash * 31 + name.charCodeAt(i)) % 997
  return tints[hash % tints.length] ?? tints[0]
}

export function Avatar({
  name,
  size = 'md',
  decorative = false,
  indicator,
  shape = 'circle',
  className,
}: AvatarProps) {
  return (
    <span className={cn('relative inline-flex shrink-0', className)}>
      <span
        role={decorative ? undefined : 'img'}
        aria-label={decorative ? undefined : name}
        aria-hidden={decorative || undefined}
        className={cn(
          'inline-flex items-center justify-center border border-line font-semibold select-none',
          shape === 'circle' ? 'rounded-full' : 'rounded-md',
          sizes[size],
          tintFor(name),
        )}
      >
        {toInitials(name)}
      </span>
      {indicator ? <span className="absolute -right-0.5 -bottom-0.5">{indicator}</span> : null}
    </span>
  )
}

export interface AvatarGroupProps {
  names: string[]
  size?: AvatarProps['size']
  /** Names beyond this count collapse into a "+n" chip. */
  max?: number
  className?: string
  label?: string
}

export function AvatarGroup({ names, size = 'sm', max = 4, className, label }: AvatarGroupProps) {
  const visible = names.slice(0, max)
  const overflow = names.length - visible.length

  return (
    <span
      className={cn('flex items-center', className)}
      role="group"
      aria-label={label ?? `${names.length} people`}
    >
      {visible.map((name) => (
        <span
          key={name}
          className="-ml-2 first:ml-0 ring-2 ring-[var(--color-surface)] rounded-full"
        >
          <Avatar name={name} size={size} decorative />
        </span>
      ))}
      {overflow > 0 ? (
        <span
          className={cn(
            '-ml-2 inline-flex items-center justify-center rounded-full border border-line bg-surface-sunken font-semibold text-ink-muted ring-2 ring-[var(--color-surface)]',
            sizes[size],
          )}
        >
          +{overflow}
        </span>
      ) : null}
      <span className="sr-only">{names.join(', ')}</span>
    </span>
  )
}

Demo source — adapt to your project. Foundry is not published as a package.

Usage

break-inside: avoid on each card is what stops a quote splitting across two columns — the one thing that always goes wrong with a column layout.

  • Vary quote length deliberately; a masonry of equal-length quotes is just a grid with worse reading order.
  • Six to nine quotes. Fewer looks accidental, more becomes wallpaper.

Variants and states

Every entry below is a genuine difference in behaviour or layout, and every one of them is visible in the preview above.

  • Three columns at lg
  • Break-inside avoid
  • Six quotes

Accessibility

Reading order
CSS columns preserve DOM order, so the announced sequence matches the source.
Card integrity
Cards never split across a column boundary.

Foundry implements published ARIA patterns and is tested against them. No WCAG certification is claimed — see the accessibility documentation for what is and is not covered.