High Cardinality
High Cardinality
HighCardinality.com is an educational microsite created by Last9 to simplify and popularize the concept of high cardinality. Which is one of the biggest challenges in the observability space.
01 ABOUT
Role
UI Design
Illustration
Brand Marketing Design
Interaction Design
Framer Development
TIMELINE
jUN 2024 - SEPT 2024
Brief
Last9 wanted to claim the term "High Cardinality" and explain it in a way the industry had never seen before. The site should break down a complex technical topic into something intuitive, visual, and memorable.
The goals were:
Make a notoriously boring/nerdy concept fun
Create a memorable explanation that actually sticks
Use a metaphor (books) to demonstrate how data uniquely identifies items
Drive engagement through a challenge that rewards people who understand the clues
Build virality around a concept that is otherwise very difficult to market
The site had to feel lightweight, fun, intelligent, and instantly shareable.
The brief was to develop a brand identity that captures the joy of writing without feeling too corporate or boring. The website needed to feel:
Creative
Friendly
Light and expressive
Still polished enough for professionals who use the tool
The challenge was finding a style that balances creativity and credibility.to scale across product, marketing, content, merch, and events
The brief was to develop a brand identity that captures the joy of writing without feeling too corporate or boring. The website needed to feel:
Creative
Friendly
Light and expressive
Still polished enough for professionals who use the tool
The challenge was finding a style that balances creativity and credibility. to scale across product, marketing, content, merch, and events
02 USER INTERFACE
Concept
The UI was built around a giant hero bookshelf that invites you to interact.
Key elements:
When a user hovers over animated objects, a clue appears hinting at the real title
The footer contains a hidden link that leads to a quiz form
Users must guess all book titles correctly to win a merch box
Micro-Q&A sections appear within the UI to explain the math behind high cardinality in simple terms
This mix of education + interaction + gamification created a learning environment that doesn’t feel like learning.
The UI was built around a giant hero bookshelf that invites you to interact.
Key elements:
When a user hovers over animated objects, a clue appears hinting at the real title
The footer contains a hidden link that leads to a quiz form
Users must guess all book titles correctly to win a merch box
Micro-Q&A sections appear within the UI to explain the math behind high cardinality in simple terms
This mix of education + interaction + gamification created a learning environment that doesn’t feel like learning.
Branding
The visual style intentionally stays close to Last9’s existing brand. I used the core Last9 color palette green, amber, and red along with the light yellow background, so the project felt clearly connected to the parent brand and not like a separate experiment.
03 LEARNINGS
How illustration style can shift the perceived personality of a writing tool
How color choices strongly influence whether a brand feels enterprise or creative
The importance of consistency across illustration, icons, and color
How subtle textures can make digital products feel more human
That playful elements can still be clean and professional when balanced well
03 LEARNINGS
How illustrations can simplify deeply technical concepts
The power of gamification in driving organic virality
How UI microinteractions can make users curious and willing to explore
That strong visual storytelling can turn even niche engineering concepts into shareable experiences
How to balance education and entertainment without losing accuracy
The project was a major success and helped position Last9 as the company owning and explaining the idea of high cardinality in the observability space.
Have a nice day :)
© 2026 All Rights reserved
Have a nice day :)
© 2026 All Rights reserved
Have a nice day :)
© 2026 All Rights reserved