20 Examples Of Dark & Minimalist Website Designs With Great Typography
Some time ago I published a post where I listed 15 minimalist designs that inspired me to redesign this site. One comment I received on that post was from my friend Tracey Grady asking me why they all had white backgrounds, and if it’s a personal preference or simply a coincidence. Well it definitely was a coincidence.
Of course I like darker designs! In fact, I recently launched a new site called Design-Newz, which definitely falls into the ‘dark designs’ category! Of course after I got the general idea and was done with the wireframing, I had a pretty good idea of what I was going to do and needed some inspiration! This time I figured I’d go with a dark design. So here are some sites I came across while looking for inspiration. Hope you like them! :)
Here we go, in no particular order:
The 99 Percent Conference
Stefan Velthuys
Tweet CC
Tic Toc
Couch Creative
Ole Martin Kristiansen
Brynn Shepherd
Just Dot
LegiStyles
Kurt Gannon
Jarad Johnson
Visual Box
Flush Inc
Marek Levak – Designme
Redworks
Design Junction
deCode
Chris Garrett
Card Observer
Black Estate Vineyard
Your Turn To Talk
So, which ones are your favorites? And why? See ya in the comment section! :)
About the author:
Jon Phillips is the founder and owner of SpyreStudios and the co-founder of MediaLoot. Jon is a designer, developer, typography lover and musician.
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April 1st, 2009
Great list Jon, although I like dark background website, the mayority is light colored which makes the switch between light and black colored websites somethime a bit harsh. Thanks for compiling this great list!
April 1st, 2009
It’s definitely harder to design a website with a dark background than a light/white background (especially where readability is concerned) so it’s great to have a collection of sites which have done this successfully.
One other very interesting thing that many of them have in common is some great typography. Minimalist sites are clearly great places to let loose with some typographical fun because your efforts really stand out.
April 1st, 2009
… and I just went back and read the title of this post again. D’uh!
April 1st, 2009
@Sander: You got a point, dark designs are not for everyone, if the colors and contrast is not set right it can be real hard on the eyes. I like dark though :)
@Tracey: Totally! And again it’s a matter of colors and contrast. Visual Box and The 99 Percent Conference websites are great examples of good contrast and color choices I think.
Cheers
April 1st, 2009
My favoite> black estate vineyard, decode and stefan velthuys
my portflio is dark, single page and I don’t mix typography too :) http://mogdesign.eu/
April 1st, 2009
I would be interested to know if my site ranks up there in peoples opinions as a good example of a dark site or not.
It’s not a homemade site by any means so i can’t claim responsibilty for the design but i like it, i am just curious about everyone elses thoughts!
Cheers!
Grant – Mount Recruitment
April 1st, 2009
Hi Jon. Thanks for including Card Observer.
April 1st, 2009
Here’s mine, another dark web:
http://simmessa.com
I think I could DEFINITELY improve its typography though!
All the Best!
Simmessa.
April 1st, 2009
Thanks for including my site.
You have a great site/resource here as well. Keep up the excellent work.
twitter: @joelmoney
April 1st, 2009
Great list! Delicioused…
April 1st, 2009
Great list! I was looking for some inspiration for a new site I’m working on that needs to have black bg due to the logo. Cheers!
April 1st, 2009
Great list of sites. I am in the middle of a redesign myself and am going minimalist too.
April 1st, 2009
I like the layout on this on this one too:
http://blog.codeninja.co.za
April 1st, 2009
Wow, nice to see a lot of new sites I haven’t come across before! Nice round up!
April 2nd, 2009
Very nice sites, ty
April 2nd, 2009
Mmmmmm… very good list! ;) Well done,.. every website is so special,..
April 2nd, 2009
What do you all think about http://www.ResponseBoatProject.net?
April 2nd, 2009
My favorite is Visual Box!
Everything there just looks match.
April 3rd, 2009
Thank you for featuring our site…
Sinisa,
just.dot
April 3rd, 2009
I absolutely love LegiStyles. One of the best typography based designs I’ve seen in a long time.
April 3rd, 2009
oh boy, I <3 the deCode layout!
dark layouts are great for high contrast design, I love it! ^^,
April 3rd, 2009
Good collection, I hadn’t seen a few of them before. I think dark typography themes always look so elegant
April 3rd, 2009
wow. great list!
April 3rd, 2009
hey u forget my website :P
it’s dark and minimalist ;) hey hey
http://designplougoulm.fr/
April 4th, 2009
Hello,
Please add your site at http://www.sweebs.com. Sweebs.com is a place where other people can find you among the best sites on the internet!
Its just started and we are collecting the best found on the net! We will be delighted to have you in the sweebs listings.
Regards
Kris
April 4th, 2009
Hey, thanks for including my website, it’s an honor! The thing is, I’m switching to a new design today…
April 4th, 2009
hi there.
Thanks for including my portfolio website. I am glad to see that it’s percevied in the design style which i wanted.
April 7th, 2009
oooo this got my creative juices flowing again! k enough messin around. time to finish a portfolio site and get it up!
April 9th, 2009
Really love all that typography. These portfolio sites are a blessing and a curse at the same time. You think you’ve come up with a great design then someone elses design always looks better. Never mind, we get better each day.
May 4th, 2009
@all: Thanks for all the comments guys! I really appreciate it!
@Reddy: Damn! I should’ve waited hehe your new design is great! (I’ll update the screenshot)
May 8th, 2009
i just love black..
u ‘ve given a good list..
even i wish my site is one of these
thanks
May 9th, 2009
I like some of these dark designs – I’m going to give it a try with these ideas.
May 21st, 2009
Hi Jon,
Great list of minimalist dark sites, but is it just me, or do they all look very similar? If so, that must be the drawback of creating a dark site??????
The two that stood out most for me were just.dot and visualbox. Don’t think I will be creating a dark site yet, although minimalism does appeal xxx
May 29th, 2009
and here is mine…www.onemorepixel.com
June 1st, 2009
Today, typography is fast becoming more and more popular than imagery. Designers are now trying to expand their design skills to make a website solely made up of text. For example using white typefaces on a black background can make an impact much more so than a striking image. Looking at the website designs shown above, it is clear to see a pattern emerging. They have all used dark backgrounds to showcase their chosen typography(s). Good article!.
It is important to understand how text will be received by it’s audience. The typefaces used need to be clear, concise and direct – targeting your intended audience. It would be particularly useful to include a follow up article outlining how typefaces differ on different browsers.
June 8th, 2009
‘Black is beautiful’. And I believe in it. Also, sometimes you can achieve so much with so little. All you need is creativity and an eye for the unconventional and an ability to think out of the box. The Black Estate Vineyard is simply great.
August 10th, 2009
Nice links! :D
I personally like these:
http://www.alexafalcone.com/
http://www.thisisrealart.com/
http://www.wearebuild.com/
August 16th, 2009
Hy, the designjunction is recently updated with new design > http://designjunction.in/
Well, it still falls in this category of dark and minimalistic.
September 19th, 2009
nice collection! i’m now designing web template based on these inspirations! thanks! man!
October 3rd, 2009
Dark designs are cool. I like them too. To sad not suitable for all cases.
January 6th, 2010
I love black/ dark grey (#333333) style websites with subtle text (e.g. #333333 colour text against a #000000 background). One comment I have about dark websites though is:
due to the recent growing trend of PCs and Macs having “glossy” screens (and mobile phones having glass screens) the glare and dust or fingerprints can detract from the beauty of the overall web experience.
I guess that’s why companies like teNriA and Apple Inc have white website e.g. http://www.teNriA.com and http://www.Apple.com
Great blog–you have given me some really inspiring ideas for my new website (I think I’ll go for a mid colour e.g. #999999 or #666666 with a #333333 text–clear and crisp typography)!
January 16th, 2010
nice list man, i love most brynn site. is beautiful!
nice postt
January 31st, 2010
The best part is that it is Dark+Minimalist+Great Typography. You cannot be more specific. Great stuff. And as someone mentioned, it is very difficult to create a dark minimalist website.
February 2nd, 2010
Dark minimalism rocks too, some are really very creative
February 4th, 2010
hiho,
I am doing research for my next (own) website and this is the first list that covers black themed minimalistic design. Thanks for this.
July 4th, 2010
Excellent list thanks for sharing. in my view Dark minimalism is excellent
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