Dark Mode Design: Creating Dark Color Palette in CSS

In today’s web design, dark mode design is more than just a trend; it’s a necessary feature for enhancing user experience. With increasing screen time, dark modes help reduce eye strain and conserve energy on OLED screens, creating an aesthetic that appeals to modern users. By implementing a dark color palette in your website’s CSS, you can offer visitors a visually comfortable and stylish alternative to traditional light themes.

In this guide, we’ll explore how to create a dark mode CSS using AI-driven techniques to assist you with coding and design, making the implementation smoother and more efficient.

In this section, we’ll cover the following topics:

Understanding Dark Mode Design

Dark mode isn’t just about flipping a color switch; it involves careful consideration of usability, accessibility, and aesthetics. This section will delve into why dark mode is increasingly becoming a preferred choice and how it impacts user experience.

Why Dark Mode is Essential for Modern Web Design

Dark mode offers significant advantages in modern web design, including reducing eye strain during prolonged use, especially in low-light environments. It also creates a stylish and modern look that can improve the overall aesthetic of websites. Additionally, for devices with OLED screens, dark modes help conserve battery life by displaying fewer illuminated pixels.

User Experience Considerations for Dark Mode

User experience plays a critical role in dark mode design. Not all users will prefer dark mode, so allowing them to toggle between light and dark themes is key. Also, maintaining readability and accessibility standards is crucial—ensuring that text remains legible against darker backgrounds with appropriate contrast levels.

Building a Dark Color Palette for Your Website

Creating a dark color palette requires a balanced approach. The key is to maintain contrast, avoid overly harsh colors, and create a smooth transition between elements. This section will help you understand the right techniques for building a well-rounded dark palette that enhances both functionality and style.

Selecting the Right Colors for Dark Mode

The cornerstone of an effective dark mode CSS lies in choosing the right colors. Avoid using pure black, as it can create a stark contrast that strains the eyes. Instead, opt for darker shades of gray combined with muted, softer tones to ensure your design remains user-friendly and visually appealing.

Maintaining Contrast and Readability in Dark Mode

Contrast is critical in dark mode design. Ensure that text is always easily readable against darker backgrounds. White or light gray text on deep gray or muted dark tones is an ideal combination, offering clear readability without overwhelming the user.

Using Shades of Gray and Muted Colors Effectively

Shades of gray provide flexibility in dark mode CSS by offering depth and contrast without the harshness of pure black. Muted accent colors can also bring visual interest to certain elements, such as buttons and links, while maintaining an overall low-brightness design.

Implementing Dark Mode with AI

Using AI can simplify and speed up the process of implementing dark mode on your website. With AI-driven tools, you can generate CSS, JavaScript, and HTML code for dark mode design in seconds, allowing you to experiment with different palettes and layouts effortlessly.

While this guide focuses primarily on CSS for styling purposes, we’ve introduced some JavaScript for the dark mode toggle to give you a glimpse of how dynamic functionality can enhance your designs. JavaScript is not the main purpose of this guide, but understanding how to incorporate it can be valuable for expanding your knowledge in the future. As you continue to develop your skills, integrating JavaScript will allow you to create more interactive and dynamic websites, enhancing the user experience even further.

/your-project-folder/
    ├── 07-02-dark-mode-design/ (<- sub-folder)
        ├── example-1.css
        ├── example-1.html
        ├── example-1.js
        ├── example-2.css
        ├── example-2.html
        ├── example-2.js

AI Case 1: Creating a Dark Mode Toggle with CSS and JavaScript

In this case, we’ll create a dark mode toggle that allows users to switch between light and dark modes on your website. The toggle will be designed with a modern, aesthetically pleasing style, improving the user experience. The implementation uses CSS for styling the toggle switch and JavaScript to apply the dark mode.

Sample AI prompt:

Sample code output:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
    <title>Dark Mode Toggle Example</title>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="example-1.css" />
  </head>
  <body>
    <header>
      <h1>Dark Mode Toggle Example</h1>
      <div class="theme-toggle">
        <input type="checkbox" id="dark-mode-toggle" />
        <label for="dark-mode-toggle" class="toggle-label">
          <span class="toggle-button"></span>
        </label>
      </div>
    </header>

    <main>
      <p>
        This is an example of how to implement a dark mode toggle with CSS and
        JavaScript.
      </p>
    </main>

    <script src="example-1.js"></script>
  </body>
</html>

/* Light and Dark Mode Colors */
:root {
  --background-light: white;
  --text-light: black;
  --background-dark: #121212;
  --text-dark: #e0e0e0;
}

body {
  background-color: var(--background-light);
  color: var(--text-light);
  font-family: Arial, sans-serif;
  transition: background-color 0.3s ease, color 0.3s ease;
}

body.dark-mode {
  background-color: var(--background-dark);
  color: var(--text-dark);
}

header {
  display: flex;
  justify-content: space-between;
  align-items: center;
  padding: 1em;
}

/* Toggle Switch Styling */
.theme-toggle {
  position: relative;
}

.theme-toggle input {
  display: none;
}

.toggle-label {
  width: 60px;
  height: 30px;
  background-color: #ccc;
  border-radius: 30px;
  position: relative;
  display: inline-block;
  cursor: pointer;
  transition: background-color 0.3s ease;
}

.toggle-label .toggle-button {
  width: 26px;
  height: 26px;
  background-color: white;
  border-radius: 50%;
  position: absolute;
  top: 2px;
  left: 2px;
  transition: transform 0.3s ease;
}

input:checked + .toggle-label {
  background-color: #4caf50;
}

input:checked + .toggle-label .toggle-button {
  transform: translateX(30px);
}

main {
  padding: 2em;
}

const toggleSwitch = document.getElementById("dark-mode-toggle");
const currentTheme = localStorage.getItem("theme");

if (currentTheme === "dark") {
  document.body.classList.add("dark-mode");
  toggleSwitch.checked = true;
}

toggleSwitch.addEventListener("change", function () {
  if (toggleSwitch.checked) {
    document.body.classList.add("dark-mode");
    localStorage.setItem("theme", "dark");
  } else {
    document.body.classList.remove("dark-mode");
    localStorage.setItem("theme", "light");
  }
});

Instructions to see the results:

1. Save the code above in example-1.html, example-1.css, and example-1.js in the 07-02-dark-mode-design folder.
2. Open example-1.html in your browser to view the dark mode toggle feature on the webpage.

Watch this video to see what it looks like.

Visit this link to see how it looks in your web browser:
Demo Web Page 112

AI Case 2: Enhancing Dark Mode Web Design with a Rich Dark Mode Color Palette

In this case, we will build upon the dark mode toggle from Case 1 and enrich the dark mode design by adding more content and colors to the webpage. The goal is to demonstrate how you can enhance the visual appearance of both light and dark modes with a more refined color palette and additional content.

Sample AI prompt:

Sample code output:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
    <title>Enriched Dark Mode Design Example</title>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="example-2.css" />
  </head>
  <body>
    <header>
      <h1>Enriched Dark Mode Design Example</h1>
      <div class="theme-toggle">
        <input type="checkbox" id="dark-mode-toggle" />
        <label for="dark-mode-toggle" class="toggle-label">
          <span class="toggle-button"></span>
        </label>
      </div>
    </header>

    <main>
      <section>
        <h2>Welcome to the Enhanced Design</h2>
        <p>
          This section demonstrates how you can use colors and design elements
          to create a visually appealing light and dark mode web design.
        </p>
        <button class="cta-button">Call to Action</button>
      </section>

      <section>
        <h2>Features of Dark Mode Design</h2>
        <ul>
          <li>Reduces eye strain</li>
          <li>Saves energy on OLED screens</li>
          <li>Improves aesthetics in low-light environments</li>
        </ul>
      </section>
    </main>

    <script src="example-2.js"></script>
  </body>
</html>

/* Light and Dark Mode Colors */
:root {
  --background-light: white;
  --text-light: black;
  --button-light: #4caf50;
  --button-text-light: white;

  --background-dark: #121212;
  --text-dark: #e0e0e0;
  --button-dark: #bb86fc;
  --button-text-dark: black;
}

body {
  background-color: var(--background-light);
  color: var(--text-light);
  font-family: Arial, sans-serif;
  transition: background-color 0.3s ease, color 0.3s ease;
}

body.dark-mode {
  background-color: var(--background-dark);
  color: var(--text-dark);
}

header {
  display: flex;
  justify-content: space-between;
  align-items: center;
  padding: 1em;
}

/* Toggle Switch Styling */
.theme-toggle {
  position: relative;
}

.theme-toggle input {
  display: none;
}

.toggle-label {
  width: 60px;
  height: 30px;
  background-color: #ccc;
  border-radius: 30px;
  position: relative;
  display: inline-block;
  cursor: pointer;
  transition: background-color 0.3s ease;
}

.toggle-label .toggle-button {
  width: 26px;
  height: 26px;
  background-color: white;
  border-radius: 50%;
  position: absolute;
  top: 2px;
  left: 2px;
  transition: transform 0.3s ease;
}

input:checked + .toggle-label {
  background-color: #4caf50;
}

input:checked + .toggle-label .toggle-button {
  transform: translateX(30px);
}

main {
  padding: 2em;
}

/* Button Styling */
.cta-button {
  background-color: var(--button-light);
  color: var(--button-text-light);
  border: none;
  padding: 10px 20px;
  cursor: pointer;
  border-radius: 5px;
  transition: background-color 0.3s ease, color 0.3s ease;
}

body.dark-mode .cta-button {
  background-color: var(--button-dark);
  color: var(--button-text-dark);
}

/* Section Styling */
section {
  margin-bottom: 2em;
  padding: 1em;
  border-radius: 5px;
}

section:nth-child(odd) {
  background-color: #f7f7f7;
}

body.dark-mode section:nth-child(odd) {
  background-color: #2c2c2c;
}

const toggleSwitch = document.getElementById("dark-mode-toggle");
const currentTheme = localStorage.getItem("theme");

if (currentTheme === "dark") {
  document.body.classList.add("dark-mode");
  toggleSwitch.checked = true;
}

toggleSwitch.addEventListener("change", function () {
  if (toggleSwitch.checked) {
    document.body.classList.add("dark-mode");
    localStorage.setItem("theme", "dark");
  } else {
    document.body.classList.remove("dark-mode");
    localStorage.setItem("theme", "light");
  }
});

Instructions to see the results:

1. Save the code above in example-2.html, example-2.css, and example-2.js in the 07-02-dark-mode-design folder.
2. Open example-2.html in your browser to view the enriched design with additional content and a richer color palette for both light and dark modes.

Watch this video to see what it looks like.

Visit this link to see how it looks in your web browser:
Demo Web Page 113

Best Practices for Dark Mode Design

Designing for dark mode involves more than just swapping colors; it requires careful attention to user comfort and visual appeal. Follow these best practices to create an effective and user-friendly dark mode experience.

• Avoid Pure Black Backgrounds: Opt for dark shades of gray instead of pure black. Black can create high contrast, which can be harsh on the eyes. Dark gray provides a softer, more visually appealing background that’s easier to read against.
• Ensure Sufficient Contrast: Maintain readable text by ensuring high contrast between text and background colors. Light gray or white text on dark gray backgrounds is a commonly effective combination for readability.
• Incorporate Muted Colors: Use muted tones for highlights and accents, as bright colors can appear intense against a dark background. This helps maintain a soothing visual balance without overwhelming the viewer.
• Provide a Toggle Option: Not all users prefer dark mode, so always provide a toggle switch to let users switch between light and dark themes seamlessly.
• Consider Accessibility Standards: Check that your dark mode meets Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) for color contrast. This ensures that users with visual impairments can comfortably read the content.

By following these best practices, you can create a dark mode experience that is visually appealing, comfortable, and accessible for a wide range of users.