Cover photo: Real Products Mfg. – David Showalter

Cover photo: Real Products Mfg. – David Showalter

Cover photo: Real Products Mfg. – David Showalter

“Lately, I’ve been using a lot of white lettering on dark backgrounds,” says David Showalter [David Design, Bryan, Ohio]. “The dark-colored backgrounds help provide the punctuation and emphasis. White on black or another dark color has a lot of impact.”

David has always liked using light lettering on dark backgrounds. A few years back during the pandemic, supply chain issues made it harder to get vinyl film in many colors. He ended up buying more black and white for the lettering and using the background to deliver the color on the sign.

“White lettering on a dark panel always looks better to me,” he says. “It’s more dramatic than color combinations that have less contrast. I sometimes use yellow along with white primary copy. Like white, yellow looks great on black or a dark background though it’s not as powerful as white on black. Yellow is a commanding background color, too. It’s very pleasing but it can shout, too.”

In “Colors that get the point across,” you’ll see how effective these simple, high-impact color combinations can be when used in a clean, powerful layout.

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