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! :)
Author: Jon
http://www.24alta.ru
Online roulette Canada.
Sander says
April 1, 2009 at 5:35 amGreat 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!
Tracey Grady says
April 1, 2009 at 5:38 amIt’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.
Tracey Grady says
April 1, 2009 at 5:40 am… and I just went back and read the title of this post again. D’uh!
Jon Phillips says
April 1, 2009 at 5:49 am@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
jojo toth says
April 1, 2009 at 6:40 amMy favoite> black estate vineyard, decode and stefan velthuys
my portflio is dark, single page and I don’t mix typography too :) http://mogdesign.eu/
Grant Bodie says
April 1, 2009 at 7:37 amI 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
Henry Jones says
April 1, 2009 at 8:26 amHi Jon. Thanks for including Card Observer.
Simmessa says
April 1, 2009 at 8:31 amHere’s mine, another dark web:
http://simmessa.com
I think I could DEFINITELY improve its typography though!
All the Best!
Simmessa.
Joel fisher says
April 1, 2009 at 8:35 amThanks for including my site.
You have a great site/resource here as well. Keep up the excellent work.
twitter: @joelmoney
Timothy says
April 1, 2009 at 8:40 amGreat list! Delicioused…
Chris says
April 1, 2009 at 10:46 amGreat 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!
@jeffrainey says
April 1, 2009 at 12:10 pmGreat list of sites. I am in the middle of a redesign myself and am going minimalist too.
Gerhard says
April 1, 2009 at 1:45 pmI like the layout on this on this one too:
http://blog.codeninja.co.za
Heather says
April 1, 2009 at 2:48 pmWow, nice to see a lot of new sites I haven’t come across before! Nice round up!
Daniel says
April 2, 2009 at 1:42 amVery nice sites, ty
Creamy CSS says
April 2, 2009 at 10:01 amMmmmmm… very good list! ;) Well done,.. every website is so special,..
Leroy Hurt says
April 2, 2009 at 2:47 pmWhat do you all think about http://www.ResponseBoatProject.net?
Bicycle Wallpaper says
April 2, 2009 at 11:51 pmMy favorite is Visual Box!
Everything there just looks match.
Sinisa says
April 3, 2009 at 3:07 amThank you for featuring our site…
Sinisa,
just.dot
Brendon Grobler says
April 3, 2009 at 8:43 amI absolutely love LegiStyles. One of the best typography based designs I’ve seen in a long time.
joão says
April 3, 2009 at 9:39 amoh boy, I <3 the deCode layout!
dark layouts are great for high contrast design, I love it! ^^,
Kayla says
April 3, 2009 at 10:52 amGood collection, I hadn’t seen a few of them before. I think dark typography themes always look so elegant
aravind says
April 3, 2009 at 1:58 pmwow. great list!
diavd says
April 3, 2009 at 4:12 pmhey u forget my website :P
it’s dark and minimalist ;) hey hey
http://designplougoulm.fr/
Kris says
April 4, 2009 at 11:59 amHello,
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
Reddy says
April 4, 2009 at 12:00 pmHey, thanks for including my website, it’s an honor! The thing is, I’m switching to a new design today…
Nitin Garg says
April 4, 2009 at 12:42 pmhi there.
Thanks for including my portfolio website. I am glad to see that it’s percevied in the design style which i wanted.
Grant Lucas says
April 7, 2009 at 9:04 amoooo this got my creative juices flowing again! k enough messin around. time to finish a portfolio site and get it up!
david says
April 9, 2009 at 6:32 pmReally 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.
Jon Phillips says
May 4, 2009 at 1:42 am@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)
Naga says
May 8, 2009 at 7:15 ami just love black..
u ‘ve given a good list..
even i wish my site is one of these
thanks
DoFollow Social Bookmarking says
May 9, 2009 at 4:32 pmI like some of these dark designs – I’m going to give it a try with these ideas.
Carol says
May 21, 2009 at 7:29 amHi 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
onemorepixel says
May 29, 2009 at 8:15 amand here is mine…www.onemorepixel.com
Laura Godfrey says
June 1, 2009 at 4:08 amToday, 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.
Ashely Adams says
June 8, 2009 at 3:08 am‘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.
Shen says
August 10, 2009 at 8:36 pmNice links! :D
I personally like these:
http://www.alexafalcone.com/
http://www.thisisrealart.com/
http://www.wearebuild.com/
Nitin Garg says
August 16, 2009 at 3:20 amHy, the designjunction is recently updated with new design > http://designjunction.in/
Well, it still falls in this category of dark and minimalistic.
lhoylhoy says
September 19, 2009 at 11:16 amnice collection! i’m now designing web template based on these inspirations! thanks! man!
Kate says
October 3, 2009 at 5:54 amDark designs are cool. I like them too. To sad not suitable for all cases.
Max Hugh says
January 6, 2010 at 12:54 pmI 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)!
lektira says
January 16, 2010 at 5:07 amnice list man, i love most brynn site. is beautiful!
nice postt
Tuhin Kumar says
January 31, 2010 at 6:48 amThe 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.
Max says
February 2, 2010 at 10:45 amDark minimalism rocks too, some are really very creative
Stephan says
February 4, 2010 at 11:02 amhiho,
I am doing research for my next (own) website and this is the first list that covers black themed minimalistic design. Thanks for this.
neel says
July 4, 2010 at 6:14 amExcellent list thanks for sharing. in my view Dark minimalism is excellent
Libby says
August 13, 2010 at 3:57 pmHere’s another good one – http://www.shobestudios.com. Personally, I have always loved dark/black themed websites!
Puneetgoyal08 says
December 23, 2010 at 12:53 pmdo you have more wallpapers like these???
Jarad Johnson says
March 22, 2011 at 7:12 amThank you for the feature, Jon! Much appreciated.