3 ms·

It’s really unfortunate that the author started with the most controversial of rules, because I find much of the rest of the article to be quite the helpful sum

It’s really unfortunate that the author started with the most controversial of rules, because I find much of the rest of the article to be quite the helpful summary. Particularly padding and margins - I’ve only recently taken the time to study what makes a design look good vs looking off in terms of spacing, and have come to similar conclusions as the author. I suspect if the rule against pure black on pure white were buried in the middle (or omitted) then the response would be warmer.

TAKEMYMONEY 4y ago
I learned about "too much contrast" from a type designer that painted typefaces by hand. We were taught not to use pure black ink on white paper because it's a bit less legible than softer contrast. I'm not sure why it's so controversial among digital designers. The same person taught me that "optical alignment is often better than mathematical alignment" (which is why the bottom of curved letters often falls slightly below the baseline if you look closely).
- Dalewyn 4y ago
  >I'm not sure why it's so controversial among digital designers. Assuming you're talking about the "Give me #000000 on #FFFFFF or give me death!" crowd, it's a kneejerk reaction to the cardinal sin of gray-on-gray content that is fucking impossible to read.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - FullyFunctional 4y ago
    "Kneejerk" is a bit of a down-putting assumption, isn't it? There are many, MANY, reason why someone might disagree with the OP opinion on black and white. I happened to have a few iOS apps where true black is an option (which is desirable on OLED to save battery). A perhaps less common concern is eInk whose dynamic range is quite limited and for which #000000/#FFFFFF greatly enhances readability.
- spiderice 4y ago
  I don't think it is controversial among designers. It seems controversial among a tiny subset of developers who definitely aren't designers.
  - xigoi 4y ago
    Do you design for other designers, or for users?

TAKEMYMONEY 4y ago

I learned about "too much contrast" from a type designer that painted typefaces by hand. We were taught not to use pure black ink on white paper because it's a bit less legible than softer contrast. I'm not sure why it's so controversial among digital designers. The same person taught me that "optical alignment is often better than mathematical alignment" (which is why the bottom of curved letters often falls slightly below the baseline if you look closely).

Dalewyn 4y ago
>I'm not sure why it's so controversial among digital designers. Assuming you're talking about the "Give me #000000 on #FFFFFF or give me death!" crowd, it's a kneejerk reaction to the cardinal sin of gray-on-gray content that is fucking impossible to read.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- FullyFunctional 4y ago
  "Kneejerk" is a bit of a down-putting assumption, isn't it? There are many, MANY, reason why someone might disagree with the OP opinion on black and white. I happened to have a few iOS apps where true black is an option (which is desirable on OLED to save battery). A perhaps less common concern is eInk whose dynamic range is quite limited and for which #000000/#FFFFFF greatly enhances readability.
spiderice 4y ago
I don't think it is controversial among designers. It seems controversial among a tiny subset of developers who definitely aren't designers.
- xigoi 4y ago
  Do you design for other designers, or for users?