Black or White Background poll

[Flying Hippy]

Hi All,

I thought I would do a poll to see if people prefer a Black or White Background on E-Commerce websites. I know there is a lot of debate about which gives more conversions ect.

 

[cmcp]

It depends on your audience. White is easier to present a calm and controlled environment. Black text on white is easier to read.

Black background usually forces the design to use rich colours, with high contrast whites, which may be more suitable for a young vibrant audience. White text no black is harder to read.

 

[drounding]

White is far better for almost all e-commerce sites. Apart from what has already been mentioned, remember that the majority of product photos are taken with a white background and they are therefore better suited to a white background on the site as well.

 

[cmcp]

Conversely, black could make the white pictures stand out clearly.

 

[Baz Watkins]

If its expensive items, black or silver, if its a standard everything else website then white is the way forward.

People percieve quality based on colours, thats why you'll always see darker backgrounds for expensive brands.

Also, the 2nd and 3rd colours need to be appropriate, if its a dark background, light 2 colour greens and oranges always work well. If its a white background, blues can be added to the mix.

 

[13enMids]

White just seems more professional in my eyes.

 

[Oscar Tango]

numerically opposite colours often work well as a colour scheme, e.g. the blue & orange of amazon.

 

[shopintegrator]

I seem to associate design agencies, service based businesses, cinemas, movie and media services with black or dark backgrounds, they want to leave a lasting impression, and as cmcp says, the black allows a striking design with strong contrasting colours.

In my opinion when it comes to selling things, I want the products to draw my attention more than the site itself and think a site design with a white or pale background makes this easier to achieve.

 

[directmarketingadvice]

It depends on your audience. White is easier to present a calm and controlled environment. Black text on white is easier to read.

Yes, because the eye recognises the pattern of the letters.

We're trained to do this for black on white, so it's easy for us. Asking people to read white on black is asking them to do far more work.

David Ogilvy once told Save the Children to change their reverse type (white on black) ad to black-on-white. When they made the change, they raised twice as much money.

Steve

 

[Kelon]

Computer monitors vary widely.. black with white lettering is more prone to issues in my opinion than white with black lettering. I've done this test, have excellent eyesight: the same small white lettering on solid black which appears quite a reasonable readable size in IE on the average PC is awfully small and difficult to read on the newer high resolution Mac screens, god knows what it's like on the shiny mac screens which have been very popular with the newer (expanding market of) buyers of macs... now yes, 80%+ visitors are the former (IE/PC), as a company you're maybe in a position to say "narr, we're getting all the sales we need from the IE/PC people"... if however Mac's are in your target market.. hummm. As PC monitors develop I anticipate the problem experienced by mac users will be experienced by some PC users. Future problem for sites with black backgrounds?

With white lettering on black there is an optimum density (size of lettering to spacing of lines/lettering) which varies according to the size and amount of text.

Black lettering on white is the more widely readable though issues around size and density do exist, there is more room for movement.

This is my advice about what one should think about - as well as whether your target market would 'identify' more with black background or white.

 

[Flying Hippy]

Looks like I will be going with white for our new ladies fashion website design then. Will be interesting to see the result of performance once its live.

 

[cmcp]

Remember it depends on the implementation, it would be wrong to conclude "black backgrounds are bad" because you could have a black site with areas treated in white for the black text.

Most of the replies have touched on readability (and its impact on conversion) but you have to think about your colour palette in the bigger picture. Alongside the actual copy, colour is an incredibly powerful tool for conveying information and subliminal influence. Loads of reading online about colour associations and your design team should be able to guide you with this, rather than it being based on your preference.

 

[HFE Signs]

Tough one to call, I would say it depends more on the general layout and artistic arrangement. A good designer would be able to make both work well. Have to agree with some of the above audience and nature of he site will also dictate the best colours.

 

[BrightIdeas]

I, too, would say white over black. But, this is just one factor in the equation, of course.

 

[Kelon]

Yes, I'd agree with a lot of what has been said above. In case anyone reads my earlier post as being 'agin' white text, black background: I'm not. Handled well in a way appropriate to it's target audience, it can be powerful.

I am observing a great many e-commerce sites seem to me to be becoming indistinct from one another and instantly forgettable due to the "must be a white background" conviction that has emerged. There is a fine balance between distracting the buyer from what you need them to focus on "desiring the thing you're selling enough to buy it" and at the same time making the interaction with your individual selves memorable (for good reasons of course).