Websites that use a lot of dark colours, like black backgrounds and deep purples and blues can be visually very effective. The colour contrast can draw users in, grab attention and even promote sales and sign ups. But they also need to be designed with your users in mind, to avoid some of the most common web design mistakes for dark websites. So if your company branding would suit a website created with a dark colour palette, instead of the popular pastel colours, what should you consider? And how can you create something that will be both visually effective and practical? Here at Pumpkin Web Design Manchester, we are Manchester’s leading web design experts. And we work with companies and businesses across Manchester, and the surrounding region, including Southport and Wigan, to produce high quality, effective, web design solutions. As a result, we have produced this guide to everything you should know about dark website web design mistakes.
Web design mistakes for dark websites
So, what are the most common Web design mistakes for dark websites? And how can you avoid them? Well, some mistakes we frequently see include:
- Not using enough whitespace
- Not sizing the text correctly
- Using the wrong typography
- Not choosing the right colour scheme
Whitespace and web design for dark websites
Whitespace refers to all the space on a website that is not in use. So this would include the space between images and text, and the space around the edges of the page. On a dark website, particularly on smaller screens, it can be a good idea to use more whitespace, especially around text. This will help the text to stand out more effectively and be easier to read on all devices. This is also helpful for image spacing too, as you want to keep equal weights around each element to create a more professional result.
Text size and web design for dark websites
Again, when using dark websites, many companies choose a font size that is just too small. This makes the text much more difficult to read, and could result in a high bounce rate, and a low level of conversions. You should consider making the text larger, even twice as large, as you would on a light background.
Colour schemes and web design for dark websites
All websites should use a colour scheme of no more than 3 colours. And these need to be colours that both complement one another, but also allow elements and features to stand out. For dark website, one of the most common mistakes is to choose three dark colours, and this does not allow any of the website to stand out and leap out from the page. As a result, many dark websites look unappealing or dull. To avoid this, simply make sure to choose at least one bright colour to stand out from the others, and highlight the most important features, or areas of the page.
For more information or professional web design support, get in touch with the team today, here at Pumpkin Web Design Manchester.