Things to remember when creating a dark mode website

Dark Mode In Web Design

Dark mode within web design is now so accessible, it is a trend among users on mobile and desktop. Dark theme is one of the most requested features over the past few years, both Apple and Google have made dark mode an essential part of user interaction. Dark theme’s reduced luminance provides safety in dark environments and can minimize eye strain.

Our own website designers in Stockport have created a few websites with a dark theme as it enhances their designs and gives prominence to the content of the site. 

Emphasize Visual Content

A dark theme is ideal for making websites stand out. The deep, heavy backgrounds provide a perfect backdrop for images, graphics, videos, and visuals elements of the website. Since the lighter visual content stands out against the background, the website will gain a strong visual hierarchy.

Enhance Emotional Branding

A dark theme evokes stronger emotions than light ones; colour psychology also impacts the emotional appeal. Black and other dark colors are strongly associated with power, mystery, drama, and elegance. When a dark background is paired with large, high-contrast images, the final result will look stunning.

Improve Usability

Sometimes, your website has to be dark in order to be user-friendly. The trend is especially noticeable in entertainment apps and websites like Netflix and Prime Video. However, the time of day isn’t the only usability factor to consider. If your website is to be used for hours without rest, a dark theme may minimise eye strain.

The contrast between dark background images and text

Readability is all about typography and the right use of elements on your site, with a dark themed website text formatting, could be an issue. The idea behind it is that having too much or too little contrast between the text and the background could cause eye-strain. This is the number one reason for visitors closing the page immediately.

Make the text readable

To achieve readability on dark websites you’ll need to increase the font size. Small fonts are easily readable on a light website, but reading small light text on dark backgrounds can strain the eyes. To overcome this, increase the font size until you find the text perfectly readable.

Use visible color fonts for Headings, Titles, and Labels

Readability is the number one concern for dark themes within websites. Using bold and visible colour fonts on headings, titles, and labels is an easy way to attract people’s attention and get them to focus on the sites’ content. Against dark backgrounds, white is always the first choice for many designers here. However, grey fonts work much better for longer paragraphs or blocks of text.

Each website design is based on a unique set of requirements and specifications. Every page element needs to be carefully considered to achieve elegance in your dark-themed website design. In the end, the kind of design you should use for your business depends on your personal preference, the brand, service, or product in question and your target market.