How to make arc shapes with CSS3? - html

Question

I'm trying to achieve following look, with pure css:
Where each white arc is a different element, say span. I know we can make round shapes with css, but how can it be turned into arc sort of shape?

Answer 1

With the following HTML:
<div id="arcs">
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
And the CSS:
#arcs div {
border: 2px solid #000; /* the 'strokes' of the arc */
display: inline-block;
min-width: 4em; /* the width of the innermost element */
min-height: 4em; /* the height of the innermost element */
padding: 0.5em; /* the spacing between each arc */
border-radius: 50%; /* for making the elements 'round' */
border-top-color: transparent; /* hiding the top border */
border-bottom-color: transparent;
}
#arcs div {
border: 2px solid #000;
/* the 'strokes' of the arc */
display: inline-block;
min-width: 4em;
/* the width of the innermost element */
min-height: 4em;
/* the height of the innermost element */
padding: 0.5em;
/* the spacing between each arc */
border-radius: 50%;
/* for making the elements 'round' */
border-top-color: transparent;
/* hiding the top border */
border-bottom-color: transparent;
}
<div id="arcs">
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
JS Fiddle demo.

Answer 2

SVG Approach:
I would recommend you to use SVG to draw such shapes:
In the example below I've used SVG's path element to draw an arc. This element takes single attribute d to describe the shape structure. d attributes takes a few commands and corresponding necessary parameters.
I've used only 2 path commands:
M command is used to move the pen to a specific point. This command takes 2 parameters x and y and usually our path begins with this command. It basically defines starting point of our drawing.
A command which is used to draw curves and arcs. This commands takes 7 parameters to draw an arc / curve. A detailed explanation of this command is Here.
Screenshot:
Useful Resources:
Specification
MDN
Working Example:
svg {
width: 33%;
height: auto;
}
<svg viewBox="0 0 300 300" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
<defs>
<g id="arcs" fill="none" stroke="#fcfcfc">
<path d="M80,80 A100,100,0, 0,0 80,220" stroke-width="4" />
<path d="M90,90 A85,85,0, 0,0 90,210" stroke-width="3.5" />
<path d="M100,100 A70,70,0, 0,0 100,200" stroke-width="3" />
<path d="M110,110 A55,55,0, 0,0 110,190" stroke-width="2.5" />
</g>
</defs>
<rect x="0" y="0" width="300" height="300" fill="#373737" />
<use xlink:href="#arcs" />
<use xlink:href="#arcs" transform="translate(300,300) rotate(180)" />
</svg>