Do websites use too much white?

jesusphreak · August 2006

I was showing my friend a mockup of a site design I had. He said, among other things, that it was too white.

It kind of makes me wonder...is white overused in websites? I mean, yeah, its the color of paper, and its neutral, so that's why its probably used so often, but it also produces a ton of glare and is not the most effective way of reading off a computer screen.

It seems that pretty much every web 2.0 site out there is stuck to a purely white color scheme. Do you think that over the next few years we will start to see more of a shift to colored backgrounds?

What other thoughts do you have on this?

strawberries · August 2006

i do agree. some of the biggest blogging scripts are far far too white for my eyes. It's akin to snow blindness for me. I just can't read too long in such places. There is a happy medium - like all things in this life.

deel · August 2006

"white" sites look fresher - that's why i think they have become the norm + it's a no-brainer bg color for images.

mary · August 2006

There are shades of white less harsh than stark white, you know. I tend to use #f1f1f1 - #f8f8f8.

sabina · August 2006

yeah, i like clear color maybe there is too much but i dont like dark site ;) so... nothing's perfect :D

Krak · August 2006

I will give everyone a dollar if you never use the term Web 2.0 again.

jesusphreak · August 2006

Web 2.0. Guess we all lose. :(

Dinoboff · August 2006

yep, web 2.0.beta is maybe better.

prince_of_oreon · August 2006

It's a simple enough task to offer an alternate color scheme, which should be done perhaps anyway for people with light sensitive eyes. In general though I think that sites are shifting to slightly shaded backgrounds. However, I wouldn't give a web site a white background just to appear 'Web 2.0'. There are numerous sites that are definitely Web 2.0 that don't have a white background. However, they typically have either a very dark or light background, so that contrast is high. I think that the days of #CCC colored backgrounds and #999 colored fonts are done.

Bergamot · August 2006

I've always shied away from white designs, but I do sometimes envy how "fresh" they end up looking.

ithcy · August 2006

k4zzy · August 2006

"I've always shied away from white designs, but I do sometimes envy how "fresh" they end up looking."
Me too! I think it takes real talent to make a good-looking white minimalist desing. I certainly can't do it.

Krak · August 2006

evil incarnate.

Blueshark · August 2006

Well without stating the obvious, white bgs offer the most contrast. And one can always physically turn the brightness down on the monitor. I love the shift to low bandwidth usage websites. To me this is the secret of good web design. Let the artists worry about the colours.

prince_of_oreon · August 2006

@ithcy, me likes teh Whitenr. I use Colgate.

blueshark: "Well without stating the obvious, white bgs offer the most contrast."
Actually, in theory #FFF on #000 offers the same contrast any way you slice it.

blueshark: "I love the shift to low bandwidth usage websites. To me this is the secret of good web design. "
Do you YouTube? ahem.

garvin · August 2006

It depends on how corporate I'm going. When you are designing for a small business owned by a "traditional" type, its hard not to design with white. I like using light grays and blues instead of white, but, it all depends on how outside the box the client allows me to go. Currently, I'm not using white on my site, except for where the content goes. Which is a sliver in the screen compared to the light blues that are used. But, I could see that white is starting to annoy people. When you use a lot of white, it reminds me of all those meetings I had when I was the production manager at the local college newspaper. I was always told that white was a good thing. I guess I kept that theory to heart.

jabberwock · August 2006

blueshark: "I love the shift to low bandwidth usage websites. To me this is the secret of good web design. " A lot is being said about the number of broadband connections now exceeding 50%, while ignoring that just under 50% are still use dial-up. I, for one, live in a small pocket where there is no access to a broadband connection, so I appreciate the shift to low bandwidth websites. I hate waiting for pages to load flash components, or a ridiculous number of graphics or animations. Take me to the content. If I want to see a video, I'll click on a link and go and get a coffee while it loads in. Nothing drives me away from a site faster than embedded vids. So until I can run a couple of miles of RG6 cable from the nearest subdivision, I will be thankful that many websites are faster loading, cleaner, and less cluttered. As for colours....we've gone from dark on light to light on dark. Now we're back to dark on light. We've gone from 3D headings to logos that have reflections.... Once most websites have light backgrounds again, designer will return to dark backgrounds to make their sites stand apart from the crowd...

Toivo · August 2006

"A lot is being said about the number of broadband connections now exceeding 50%, while ignoring that just under 50% are still use dial-up...." plus any GPRS mobile is just a modem .... I hate this moment in product development. Phones are too small, laptops are too big, pda-s are too expensive. But I hope it will change.

Toivo · August 2006

any mobile phone in 100$ range that has ... WIFI, GPRS, QWERTY, decent screen?

Blueshark · August 2006

HTC TyTN has 3g, WLAN, GPRS, QWERTY and PDA functions Costs about 500 dollars though :/

litbynature · August 2006

I like the fresh / clean look, but it is not limited to having a white background. at times, it can work perfectly.

i know that if you expect your readers to spend a lot of time on your site, then having a white background is like staring into a light bulb.

personally, i am easy going as long as the content is grabbing me. :-)

Toivo · August 2006

I guess most sites in this list are whitish ... :) http://www.grasscrown.com/2006/08/21/50-websites-for-web-20-design-inspiration/

con · May 2007

first
second

hey mary: these are not bad off-white colours

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Do websites use too much white?

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