Hundevad Productions

 Contrast is the juxtaposition of opposing forces in the same space. In design, contrast could be color, shape, tone, setting, patterns, background, text, font, etc. The biggest and easiest example is the classic black text on a white background. The contrast is stark, simple, and pleasant to the eye.

However, a black background with white text has even more contrast making it pop, yet somehow it tends to seem off-putting. 

So why is this? 

Contrast and design in general is mostly subjective, yet there seem to be a few patterns that we as humans adopted into our collective conscious, like how stripes don’t really fit well with polka dots. Contrast does not have to be opposites of each other, say blue/red, or black/white. They have to juxtapose just enough to “pop”. This is what is pleasant to the eye, what captures the attention and keeps it. Contrast in colors or designs in a work is also what makes something warm and inviting, or chilling and eery. 

I found a website that does use a black background and it is very appealing and functional to their purpose. This is retort to my earlier saying that a black background with white text is odd. Well, it is, but here is this website. 

(https://www.lastpodcastontheleft.com/) 

They are a true crime, comedy podcast specializing in the dark, the cryptic, and the grotesque. 

A completely black background that uses red as the biggest contrast. Red is a very bold color that can quickly grab the eyes attention, it’s vibrant, it’s instinctual, and it fits their bloody horror vibe. The website uses a ‘goosebumps’ style of font to further their design of horror, and provide a small example of contrast in pattern design: a smooth, matte black finish under a jagged and creepy font really captivates the feeling of the dark abyss. Then the paragraphs under the red headers are a cream colored white with a softer font. This is contrast, how the colors can be both appealing to read and keep the chilling attention of the audience throughout the journey of the website.

All of their menu items are in a banner at the top of the screen which provides seamless, easy transition and direction. The banner items are just a quick table of contents though, for the entire website is a scroll down, meaning there are no separate pages. It does not take me to another tab or page, all the content is on the same home screen. I could either quickly navigate via the menu items or scroll down and see everything at my own leisure. This is actually very pleasant as a first time website visitor; I have listened to their podcast for some time now, but never have put a face to their voice nor visited their social pages. So to see their content for the first time was a pleasing experience visually with the website contrast, colors, layout and information. 

In the other corner, I have chosen a local theatre opposing the black background and ghoulish lettering. https://www.dalekoarts.com/home

I know this theatre, Daleko Arts, and they perform wonderful plays. They are located in New Prague, Minnesota. They have a classic white background with vibrant colors and a darker font that is more gray than black. The main colors I could pick out are this fluorescent orange, and this off-black. The contrast with the paragraphs are classic black on white with the occasional orange hyperlink. It is easy to read and quick to navigate, however personally the black background was easier on my eyes than the white, but that could be personal preference of dark mode versus not. 

The menu items are on the left in Daleko Arts’ website with a drop down sub menu on a few. They DO have these cute little emojis on each items which adds a nice personalized touch and provides entertainment rather than so much negative space. That is the thing with white versus black background and perhaps this answers my question previously. White background seems to be so much easier to notice the contrast and media, but also easier to get lost in the openness it emotes. The paragraphs are floating in the white background whereas the black background seems more tight for some reason. 

Daleko arts had a classic layout where the menu items brought you to the specific page be it tickets, merch, or their feedback. In contrast to Last Podcast’s website where it was all on the same home page, Daleko arts has multiple pages you had to load to visit. Last Podcast’s website felt like I was visiting a store, or meeting them at their museum seamlessly meandering through their archives. Daleko arts has blocks of info with multiple links and buttons to lead the viewer anywhere they need to go easily, like a subway train speeding to the different pages.  With more than one way to get somewhere and having all the specific information on a separate page they are able to stay super organized with all their content. There are nineteen menu items so staying organized and clear for the visitor while providing seamless and accessible transportation to other pages is necessary. This website does their job well too. 

Both have their purposes and art form while exemplifying massive amounts of contrast in their design via fonts and texts, layouts and themes, colors and shapes, and their standard and style of navigating their content. Neither one is better than the other, they are simply different, but since they both perform their function and do it well, they are both successful and solid examples of good design. I have experimented with multiple background colors and layouts for this blog including green and white. I want a ‘hygge’ feeling of comfort when viewers visit and meander through the posts. I think pictures and media would be a fun contrast to the paragraphs of texts, but I have to be careful not to flood the page with too many things to look at. I think less is more when navigating, and having an organized structure to traverse the posts and media well will be excellent and preferred in my blog. Let me know how I’m doing. 

Cheers.