diff --git a/docs/todo3.md b/docs/todo3.md
index 258945c..613f9c0 100644
--- a/docs/todo3.md
+++ b/docs/todo3.md
@@ -269,4 +269,6 @@ codesandbox embed
 cva default styles vs default variant, primer
 design transparent logo for default ogImage
 astro 4.10 types and zod for env vars
+CategoryListCard
+small PostItem
 ```
diff --git a/src/components/CategoryCard.astro b/src/components/CategoryCard.astro
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bbf075a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/CategoryCard.astro
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+---
+import { Icon } from 'astro-icon/components';
+
+import { getCategoryIcon } from '@/modules/post';
+import { CATEGORIES } from '@/constants/collections';
+import { ROUTES } from '@/constants/routes';
+import { cn } from '@/utils/styles';
+
+export interface Props extends astroHTML.JSX.AnchorHTMLAttributes {
+  category: string;
+  text: string;
+}
+
+const { category, text, class: className, ...props } = Astro.props;
+
+const categoryIcon = getCategoryIcon(category);
+---
+
+<div class={cn('inline-flex items-center gap-2 border border-base-300 p-4', className)}>
+  <Icon name={categoryIcon} class="h-8 w-8" />
+  <a {...props} href={`${ROUTES.CATEGORIES}${category}`}>{text}</a>
+</div>
diff --git a/src/components/FilterList.astro b/src/components/FilterList.astro
index e0356d1..c163c86 100644
--- a/src/components/FilterList.astro
+++ b/src/components/FilterList.astro
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 ---
 import { getFilterLinks } from '@/modules/post';
+import CategoryCard from '@/components/CategoryCard.astro';
 import Tag from '@/components/Tag.astro';
 import { cn } from '@/utils/styles';
 
@@ -20,11 +21,14 @@ const itemLinks = getFilterLinks(items, pathname);
 {
   itemLinks.length > 0 && (
     <ul {...props} class={cn('flex flex-wrap gap-2', className)}>
-      {itemLinks.map(({ href, text, isActive, type }) => (
+      {itemLinks.map(({ href, text, textWithCount, isActive, type }) => (
         <li class="inline-block">
-          <Tag href={href} size="md" class={cn({ 'underline font-bold text-accent': isActive })}>
-            {text}
-          </Tag>
+          {type === 'tag' && (
+            <Tag href={href} size="md" class={cn({ 'underline font-bold text-accent': isActive })}>
+              {textWithCount}
+            </Tag>
+          )}
+          {type === 'category' && <CategoryCard {href} category={text} text={textWithCount} />}
         </li>
       ))}
     </ul>
diff --git a/src/components/PostMeta.astro b/src/components/PostMeta.astro
index 42545ed..a3e9307 100644
--- a/src/components/PostMeta.astro
+++ b/src/components/PostMeta.astro
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import { CATEGORIES } from '@/constants/collections';
 import { ROUTES } from '@/constants/routes';
 import { formatDate, formatDateIso } from '@/utils/datetime';
 import { cn } from '@/utils/styles';
+import { getCategoryIcon } from '@/modules/post';
 
 interface Props {
   publishDate: Date;
@@ -17,9 +18,6 @@ interface Props {
 
 const { category, publishDate, updatedDate, readingTime, class: className } = Astro.props;
 
-const categoryIcon = CATEGORIES.find((item) => item.name === category)?.icon;
-
-
 const shouldDisplay = Object.values(Astro.props).some(Boolean);
 // add variance authority
 // fix this html
@@ -36,7 +34,7 @@ const shouldDisplay = Object.values(Astro.props).some(Boolean);
         )}
         {category && (  
           <span>·</span>     
-            <Icon name={categoryIcon} />
+            <Icon name={getCategoryIcon(category)} />
             <Link href={`${ROUTES.CATEGORIES}${category}`}>{category}</Link>       
         )}
         {readingTime && (    
diff --git a/src/constants/collections.ts b/src/constants/collections.ts
index 2909456..02a95c5 100644
--- a/src/constants/collections.ts
+++ b/src/constants/collections.ts
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ export const TAGS = [
 
 /** adjust this later */
 export const CATEGORIES = [
+  // add color here
+  // extract find function
   {
     name: 'tutorials',
     icon: 'mdi:teach',
@@ -50,6 +52,8 @@ export const CATEGORIES = [
   },
 ] as const;
 
+export type CategoryIconType = (typeof CATEGORIES)[number]['icon'];
+
 // todo: use imported images here
 export const DEFAULTS_POST = {
   NO_HERO: false,
diff --git a/src/modules/post.ts b/src/modules/post.ts
index 6122738..ed9e3a6 100644
--- a/src/modules/post.ts
+++ b/src/modules/post.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 import { getAllEntries } from '@/modules/common';
-import { COLLECTIONS } from '@/constants/collections';
+import { CATEGORIES, COLLECTIONS } from '@/constants/collections';
 import { ROUTES } from '@/constants/routes';
 import { CONFIG } from '@/config';
 import { renderMarkdown } from '@/utils/markdown';
 
+import type { CategoryIconType } from '@/constants/collections';
 import type { Post, PostCollection } from '@/types/post';
 import type { MarkdownProcessorRenderResult } from '@astrojs/markdown-remark';
 import type { MarkdownHeading } from 'astro';
@@ -144,6 +145,8 @@ export interface Filter {
 export interface FilterLink {
   href: string;
   text: string;
+  count: number;
+  textWithCount: string;
   isActive: boolean;
   type: FilterType;
 }
@@ -156,12 +159,12 @@ export const getFilterLinks = (filterItems: Filter[], pathname?: string): Filter
     const itemText = type === 'tag' ? `#${text}` : text;
 
     const href = `${pathSegment}${text}`;
-    const textWithCount = `${itemText}(${count})`;
+    const textWithCount = `${itemText} ${count}`;
 
     // unused, wont display in category and tag list
     const isActive = href === pathname;
 
-    const link = { href, text: textWithCount, isActive, type };
+    const link = { href, text, count, textWithCount, isActive, type };
 
     return link;
   });
@@ -218,3 +221,13 @@ export const getSortedUniqueCategoriesWithCount = (posts: PostCollection[]): Fil
   const sortedCategoriesWithCount = categoriesWithCount.slice().sort((a, b) => b.count - a.count);
   return sortedCategoriesWithCount;
 };
+
+export const getCategoryIcon = (category: string): CategoryIconType => {
+  // set default to prevent breaking build
+  const defaultIcon = CATEGORIES[0].icon;
+  const foundIcon = CATEGORIES.find((item) => item.name === category)?.icon;
+
+  const categoryIcon = foundIcon ?? defaultIcon;
+
+  return categoryIcon;
+};