I don't have an extensive design background, but took art classes through out high school and college. What he is saying as absolutely true for painting and dra

I don't have an extensive design background, but took art classes through out high school and college. What he is saying as absolutely true for painting and drawing images - pure black or even mixing with black puts a hole in the page that is almost never the effect you are going for. But when we moved on to graphic design, that advice changed. Pure black ink on white has been used as an art form for centuries. The sharp lines and contrast create an effect that really pops which is often what you want. And the gamut of (non-HDR) monitors isn't wider than what you would get in these mediums, so that isn't a concern. You don't want to use it everywhere, but it absolutely has its place. If anything, the trend towards low-contrast design is worse than over-use of high contrast elements these days.