If you were designing a site which had large amounts of text to be read which colours would you use. I find a dark background with white text is easy to read but am I unusual?
if it doesn't have to be super super pretty...a light background with dark text is easiest on the eyes...white and black ...if a little prettiness is required...i'd use the light background/dark text approach... dark background and light text is easy to read as well..but it makes your eyes tired after a while...
A much debated subject ... have a read of this >> http://www.456bereastreet.com/archive/200608/light_text_on_dark_background_vs_readability/ Personally I also like light on dark, but the majority of people prefer dark on light (as you'll see in that article)
For text, make sure there is a stronge contrast between the text and background, so they're legible. Basically the font should be a dark shade and the background should be a light shade or vice versa.
You have to find the opposite colors, we did it in school but i forgot heres the website http://www.colortools.net/color_complementary.html put in the colors, ad it shows what goes best with it
someone told me about a website - originally white on black but changed to black on white and experienced increase in effectiveness of 60%. Does anyone know of similar stories and could thet supply details of similar increases or decreases?
Depending on the theme and the subject you may want to go for darker background and lighter text. Some graphic design forums like http://www.witchhunter.co.uk/forum/ use dark background on white text. This logo & design blogging site uses a lighter background and darker text to make its Theme visible. It all depends upon your subject and your requirement. What is your marketing tactic? What are you trying to sell to the people? And how do you want them to remember you? Take your website theme as cloths. Depending on the event and the audience you choose your outlook. Thank you
If you study professional reports on legibility, attention span and comprehension you'll find the best results come from black on white. However that's not to say that's the only way text can be portrayed. The Reversed text out of dark background can be effective in helping the design but large amounts of reading in this environment tires the eye quicker than if the cols were visa versa. In print you'll find this argument supported as you'll rarely find material with large amounts of reversed text. So, use it sparingly unless you wish your design to over-rule your message or your message isn't pages long. If you insist on going "against the grain" then use design features to provide the eye areas of rest eg. hori rules and different font sizes/spacing to break up the text.