well designed sites with black backgrounds?

[Sparkie]

Jackman,

This isn't meant to be a website review, but I wanted to point out that you have a dark blue CSS link color on a dark blue background..so you can't read the links!

[hawker]

I have a black background on my site, and I think it looks nice, but there are problems with browsers that don't support CSS.

http://www.templeoftech.com

[Anarchos]

Jackman, your useability testing could use an overhaul, because the tables only work correctly when the website is maximized at 800x600 resolution.

[Jackman]

Thanks Sparkie and Anarchos for your input.

I appreciate it. I'm sure you also noticed the corners aren't smooth (some have extra lines), the site is awful in Netscape, text needs lining up, Use & care instructions (in "the data") is the only one without a heading of "The data", and a few other things.

We still have a bit to do prior to launch of this one (Jan 15). Apart from giving away jackets they haven't launched as yet.

Thought I would toss it up there for jer to review as I quite like the dark background with the orange (even though it sounds awful).

Thanks again guys.

Regards

Jackman

[Jackman]

Thanks Sparkie and Anarchos for your input.

I appreciate it. I'm sure you also noticed the corners aren't smooth (some have extra lines) especially down the bottom of the page, the site is awful in Netscape, text needs lining up, Use & care instructions (in "the data") is the only one without a heading of "The data", and a few other things.

We still have a bit to do prior to launch of this one (Jan 15). Apart from giving away jackets they haven't launched as yet.

Thought I would toss it up there for jer to review as I quite like the dark background with the orange (even though it sounds awful).

Thanks again guys.

Regards

Jackman

[hoowoo]

I too design most of my sites with a white background BUT it concerns me!

I used to own a webtv and I'm telling you I thought it was just MY eyes, but sitting in a dark room at night, loading a page with a white background was like looking right into the sun!

I have since found a site written for designers to make pages webtv compatible and it states right on it that white backgrounds are NOT recommended as the t.v. processes the color differently than a monitor.

Do you realize how many people surf the internet with webtv now? Millions!

Just a little FYI

I however still use white because it looks better to me but I wonder how many webtver's I am blinding each day hehehe

[jfiliss]

Earlier statements about tendencies in webdesign are pretty good, but shouldn't be adhered to so much as used as a starting point for where you want to go. Sites for bars, bands, djs, and many other businesses and projects could probably do well with a black background. A higher proportion of Flash sites and cutting edge design sites also tend to use black backgrounds and darker colors in general, I've noticed. Not all, but a higher proportion.

[CryingWolf]

Originally posted by hoowoo
I too design most of my sites with a white background BUT it concerns me!

I used to own a webtv and I'm telling you I thought it was just MY eyes, but sitting in a dark room at night, loading a page with a white background was like looking right into the sun!

I have since found a site written for designers to make pages webtv compatible and it states right on it that white backgrounds are NOT recommended as the t.v. processes the color differently than a monitor.

Do you realize how many people surf the internet with webtv now? Millions!

Just a little FYI

I however still use white because it looks better to me but I wonder how many webtver's I am blinding each day hehehe

Yep just like looking into the sun... I don't have webtv but I have a laptop and sometimes while laying in bed at night i browse, lights off the whole bit... I am trying to read something and it is late and I will be going to sleep soon. What can I say "BRITE LIGHT!!! BRITE LIGHT!!!"

What gets me is you can't even change some of this anymore... I try to set my browser to display a nice cool grey background and NO it doesn't work

[SandraT]

I use a black background on my site because black and white photos don't blend in well when used as backgrounds.

Have a look:
http://www.greyhoundmusic.com/greyhound_music_flash.htm

[jfiliss]

You can set your Windows color preferences so that default white can be set to cream or beige. It is much easier in appearance, believe me. It obviously won't turn sites that have a defined white background cream, but many sites such as Yahoo don't define the color, they just let it set to your system default.

[exbabylon]

how about a church youth group site?

It's under construction, and no i haven't had time to put a link to bypass the flash intro, so..

With flash- http://www.hotl.net/thecause
Skip Flash- http://www.hotl.net/thecause/main.html

Well, I happen to like site with a black background for youth and entertainment. But for the really professinal side of things, I think that white, light blue, washed out orange, and the like are the best.

God Bless

[ANETEK]

Just tripped over this site:
http://www.edelights.com/default.asp

Elton

[ANETEK]

CNet's Site of the Week:
http://www.artworksstudio.com/

Elton

[TheChill_com]

my site http://www.thechill.com it's a net radio station. "technically" it's a blue background but that's really just the outline--it's really black as far as I'm concerned.

[lynlimz]

Well..Basically, from what I've found out from my aunts and family members..

people not inclined to the web, or uses it only for information etc. dislike sites with black background.

For one, the outcome is its too dark but the text is readable.

Notice that? they say its dark because the backgorund is black. however, all information can be viewed as the colors for fonts, images are contrasting.

Hence, I'll put a halt to all sites with black backgrounds and work to a brighter future. =)

[cckrocks]

Not to beat a dead horse, but my sites black...
http://www.jaggedknife.com

[mr_than]

I think that a site with a black bg when done well "draws you in" more, if you get what I mean... it "feels" like more of a web experience... I'm not talking porn sites here either (and it doesn't really suit many businesses I must admit).

zdnet's gamespot is a good example... several consistent colours are used to contrast nicely aginst the black and draw attention to specific areas. To divide areas and sections off low contrast blue, gray and purple is used. This especially works well as it doesn't get cluttered with lots of high contrast lines all over it. Overall these colours give the site a good "feel" that draws you in.Too many high contrast titles/dividers on a page make it virtually impossible to read.

Of course don't go overboard with the contrasting as it can become hard to look at and irritating... take alpine.com.au (not that it's really bad, it doesn't quite pull of the look with the green, sorry).

I think when it comes down to it a black background works best when accompanied by limited numbers of colourful graphics to give interest by allowing you to break the "no more than 3 colours" rule without it looking yuck.

Melbourne IT's home page is good too http://www.melbourneit.com.au/

My 2 cents
- Nathaniel

[mingham]

When you are making a site, it doesn't matter what sites before you did. Just do whatever and if people like it then other websites will start copying off of you. Go skins!

[FriedCPU]

<snip>

Originally posted by aspen

In the professional world black backgrounds are only appropriate for entertainment or techie(nerd) sites.

</snip>

I don't think black backgrounds are only appropriate for those types of sites, but most of the examples given by the other posters seem to fall under these categories. There were a few businesses, but I think they may have been better off with a white or lighter background.

My personal site has a black background but that may change real soon.

[webmaster2000]

I've seen a few web design sites that managed to pull it off, barely.

But, I agree with many previous posters on this issue: black backgrounds are for sites with a darker purpose, white backgrounds are for business or content-based sites (other than the entertainment and nerd information portals). Stick to white, as it is easier to read. I will commend you if you create a good webpage that is black backgrounded, but it is difficult to do and *some* visitors find that reading text on such pages is frustrating. Good luck though.