Most websites use a light color scheme in their designs because it’s easier for them to communicate with their customers. But that doesn’t mean that dark website designs can’t work. There are many dark designs that strike the right chord with visitors. It’s a matter of finding the right balance, using the right color schemes and making sure that the message shines through. Here is a list of 20 beautiful websites that use darker color schemes for their designs.
1. Apple Mac Pro
Do you have a sleek and dark colored product? If so, you can play into this theme like Apple. The design of their site really sets the tone for their top tier product – the Apple Mac Pro.
2. Designers MX
Designers MX highlights creative work by designers. While white is usually the preferred color to create contrast, Designers MX does a great job here by using a softer black that doesn’t get in the way of the portfolios.
3. Rook
Rook uses a deep navy blue and makes their messaging stand out with bold yellow fonts. They transition back to whites and the same yellows in their backgrounds to find a good balance of colors that draws the eyes.
4. More Sleep
More Sleep uses black and white photography in the background and uses bold red colors throughout their design. This creates a classic vintage style look while adding emotion and personality to keep the design lively.
5. Cross Media
Neon is a color scheme that reminds you the amateur sites that were built on the Geocities web hosting service. Cross Media deletes that memory by using neon set on a city sidewalk. It creates a nightlife feel and helps makes their message stand out.
6. Common Ninja
While grey is a fairly boring color, Common Ninja manages to keep it interesting by adding many graphic elements and integrating a wide range of colors in the design. The grey creates contrast for the colors which is what makes it work.
7. The Butter Source
The Butter Source is a men’s grooming product that plays into the masculine theme by using dark colors and using photography with lots of shadows and minimal lighting. The site also does double duty by using the brand colors very well with its bright yellow font.
8. Valaire
This is a beautifully designed site for a band called Valaire. It uses black as the backdrop but focuses in on each album’s artwork to set up different design themes. It also uses black and white photography to capture the live feel of their shows. This is one of the most awe-inspiring designs you’ll ever see.
9. The Makers
This website is set on a deep purple background and uses bold white fonts. It uses retro styled fonts and neon colors to complete the 80’s look. It does a great job tying past technology design trends and connecting it to the present.
10. Radolo
Sometimes, a simple design theme and a reliable web hosting service is all you need get up and running. Radolo alternates between a black background using white font and a white background using black font for a simple layout that works.
11. Agency Forty
This is a well-designed minimalist site that uses arrows to lead the user down further into the page. It uses a simple navy blue background with a light blue visual cue that helps you find the next block of content and images.
12. Ambassador
One of the best times to use a darker color scheme for your design is when the product or service is the right fit. In this case, Ambassador is a company that sells watches so they decided to use shades of black and brown for their background. They balance that with high quality photos of their products and models to create a classic and elegant look.
13. Dfi Hair
Dfi Hair uses a blue tint instead of what would normally be black and white photography reel for their background. It does a great job in capturing your attention and drawing as much focus on the visual design as the content and headline.
14. Lambert’s Restaurant
A restaurant is another great theme for dark color schemes. It reminds users of having a nice dinner in a great restaurant. Lambert’s uses large close up photos to sell their restaurant while using a dark backdrop to recreate this feeling.
15. The Kennedys
This funky design is made up of cool icons on a black wall. It uses neon lighting to deliver the message and engage the user. This is the same kind of lighting that’s used in many local businesses (particularly bars) and works great as a theme.
16. Arc Design Lab
Arc Design Lab starts out their design with dark blue background with interesting icons and transitions into a white background. You don’t have to use a dark background throughout your entire site. Sometimes, starting out with dark color schemes can help generate the necessary interest and engagement.
17. DonQ
This website uses a gold font set on a black background to create a royal theme. It features beautiful typography, smart uses of the logo and is a great example of how to create a brand experience through your website.
18. War Child
Smart designers know that the right colors used with the right message can create all the right emotions. War Child is a perfect example of this. It’s a charity organization that aims to get donations to help children in war zones. The colors do a great job in helping to describe their cause.
19. Visual Box Site
While this website uses a white background for their content section, they use a dark tiled design for their background. So if you want to make sure your content is crystal clear but want to integrate a darker color scheme, this is another way to pull it off.
20. Ryan Hwang
This designer uses a dark background with sketch style animations and a faded chalk-like finish for a beautiful look. There are lots of bright colors used here. It seems that bright colors on a dark background seem to do a better job in standing out compared to a white background more often than not.
Don’t count out dark color schemes. There are many ways to come up with darker designs that are also beautiful. Dark color schemes also work well with certain products and services, so make sure you explore this approach if that fits your situation.