Dark Mode Web Design: 2021 Guide

Dark mode web design can convey several forms of emotions and feelings towards your visitors. Modernity, elegance, edginess – all these are a handful of things, which can be related to dark colours. In professional web design, the choice should reflect your content, audience and brand. This style can help improve the appearance and ultimately, the UX of your website.

An app or website that features dark mode uses a dark background with lighter foreground content. However, this style feature alone is not sufficient to comprise this interface. There is a considerable disparity in the designs that utilise dark mode in a highly usable and extremely appealing way, opposed to a website that only comes with a dark aesthetic.

A considered dark mode involves more than reversing colours. Text, imagery, controls and interactive states need to remain clear and consistent, so users can complete the same tasks in either appearance.

What is dark mode?

Dark mode refers to an interface that uses dark colours, often grey or black, for its main background. It provides an alternative to a light appearance rather than a universally better experience. Some users prefer lower overall brightness, while others find dark text on a light background easier to read. This guide was first published in 2021; the design considerations below focus on clear content and user choice.

What Makes This Theme Work?

This theme may be most attractive to users as it is very different. Through flipping the colour format, you get instant access to a calm new aesthetic. Moreover, this also provides control on how you utilise your app and website. It may be a minor tweak, but the capability to set this inclination can improve users’ connection to your design as well as an affinity for utilising it.

Potential benefits and limitations

Battery savings depend on the device, screen and brightness. Purdue’s OLED display research found that savings vary substantially with viewing conditions; a dark theme does not guarantee a large improvement.

Visual comfort and user preference

Avoid presenting dark mode as a treatment for eye strain or a guarantee of fewer headaches. Users’ needs differ: W3C’s work on low-vision accessibility requirements describes the importance of adjustable brightness and colour combinations. For graphs and charts, test labels, legends and data series in both themes, rather than assuming a dark background makes them easier to interpret.

Visibility in different lighting

Check the interface in bright and dim surroundings as well as on different displays. A palette that looks clear on a designer’s screen may be harder to read elsewhere. Keep important content distinct from its background and let people choose the appearance that works for them. Test small labels and secondary text alongside the main headings.

Accessibility and contrast

A dark palette is not automatically accessible. Check the contrast between text and its actual background in each theme. WCAG’s minimum text contrast guidance sets a ratio of 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for qualifying large text, with specified exceptions such as logotypes.

Treat the appearance switch as part of the interface: give it a clear label and ensure it remains usable by keyboard. Check links, form labels, errors and focus indicators in both themes. Users should still be able to identify actions and understand feedback after the palette changes.

Offering a choice of theme can support individual preferences, but it does not replace wider accessibility work. Review structure, navigation, text size and interaction as part of the same design process.

Brand character and visual tone

A dark UI, whether the dark interface or dark mode- sets a specific emotional tone. Dark hues convey a diverse form of emotion than bright or light hues.

When thinking of dark mode for UI design, consider the sense behind black for a moment. Does it match your brand, or does it convey the emotion you want to show to clients? Also, it is vital to keep in mind that while you may not utilise 100% black in the dark user interface, and perhaps you should not – dark colours do not carry identical associations for every audience. Possible impressions include:

• Authoritative
• Sombre
• Elegant or luxurious
• Strong or powerful
• Simple
• Formal
• Intimidating
• Dramatic or mysterious
• Modern
• Sophisticated

When developing the palette, consider how a dark colour palette may need some warm, light, or bright accents in order to keep the emotion and feel optimistic or cheery. However, a sombre style can be gained from a dark mode with calm and cool accent colours. It is vital to design as well as make a colour scheme for a dark theme that doesn’t have a different impact on a user emotionally. The aim is to preserve a recognisable brand and a consistent hierarchy across light and dark appearances, while testing how the palette works with real content.

Using dark mode in design

Dark mode theme works anywhere from TV interfaces, smartwatches, Facebook, Gmail, etc. The approach needs to suit the tasks and content of each interface. Here are tips to follow when you are designing a dark mode website or app interface.

Highlight Your Business

A dark mode user interface is valuable in improving specific businesses or brands. For instance, a brand focused on entertainment and nightlife is an ideal match for this theme as the high-energy content is paired with a dark setting in real life.

Minimalist and Simple

Once you have a minimalist design with limited content, this case is ideal for dark mode. In a case where text is the main content, a dark user interface is able to make legibility a problem. Typically, a dark mode intensifies visual mess, making a messy screen more chaotic.

Generate Emotion and Feeling

Are you trying to make a specific emotional response? Like a bit of drama? A dark palette may support a dramatic atmosphere, but low visibility should never be the objective. Keep the content and actions clear while exploring that visual direction.

Planning a dark mode website

Dark mode can be a useful option when it supports the audience and the content. Plan both appearances together, covering typography, images, forms and interactive states, and test them before release. Discuss how the website should respond to a visitor’s preferred appearance and whether it should also offer a manual choice. Operating-system settings alone do not design the page for you: the site still needs suitable colour choices and working controls. A successful implementation comes from checking real tasks with representative content and users.

If you would like to discuss a project with me regarding a new website design or perhaps a revamp of your old website, please contact Dreamkatcha to discuss the requirements.

For broader planning advice, read our guide to website usability.