[Debate] The Grey Skin Look

[pinkslugcat]

I think I'd be less intrested to join a forum with plain colors but then I am just a bright color lover full stop!

[valderra99]

Nov 18, 2009 8:57:54 GMT -8 pinkslugcat said:

I think I'd be less intrested to join a forum with plain colors but then I am just a bright color lover full stop!

Well, you are a rare flower among all these 'need for darkness' members who shy away from brigher colours. I use a couple of lighter skins myself, but keep getting members who moan about them, saying they are too bright.

BTW, I can't believe this thread is already a good 3 years old, and was made by a very good friend of mine who unfortunately, is no longer a member here.

Anyway... I also always add a grey skin to my forum - just in case I or a member likes it darker but not too dark. LOL
But I find that a grey skin can get somewhat depressing if you have to look at it all the time - so I like a variety of skins. Doesn't have to be many, but just 2 or 3 will do.

[SteampunK]

Personally I like gray forums. But they have to have at least some images with color or something. Plain gray is too boring for me. I like at least 3 different colors.
I also think that if you do have a gray forum then you should have (if coding allows) separate skins for members to choose from that are of different colors. So if they do get tired of the gray one then they'd have another set.
I think it also depends on the grays used. Light grays with white, gray text and such with black/white images looks very boring.

[grieves and squick]

Well, i bit the bullet and created an almost grey forum skin. Its earth toned but there are some flat grey tones in there. It's actually hard to tell because they're all rather close and it gives the illusion that the grey areas area actually also greyish browns. It got rave reviews, people are saying they can see things more easily, etc. Now I know why they are so popular. If you give the graphics an interesting twist, too, there's no reason why it has to be boring looking.

[Descent Into Darkness]

I only have one forum that has a dark gray for background and a tad lighter shade overall. But it also has blue gradient and font which makes it pop. It's a brand new site and has 10 members so far and they like the skin and it fits well for the subject matter since it's an RP site that deals with dark subject matter.

On the whole, I try to steer away from all out gray since it is becoming very redundant these days and will stick to the darker pastels on other forums and they flow quite nicely.

[Zesha]

Well, I think it depends on the site it's used on, mostly. If it's a dark sort of site (vampire, other horror) then I think it would be good, or for a medieval kind of board. But for things like chat boards and role play boards dealing with animals and human activity, I like ones that have more color to them. While gray skins usually look good and are fairly easy on the eyes, you do tend to see them everywhere, and that does tend to get a bit dull. But I personally don't think that a gray skin, as long as it is orderly, takes away from a site.

[aaronm]

To me, I've always kinda enjoyed the classic look of a forum. I hardly ever go a long way to make my role-playing boards of the past look pretty spectacular; less is more, as it were - too much design and layouts make me think of the times it's taken to load up friends MySpace pages. All I really like to use is a simple color scheme, one that's easily readable and the so forth, and pretty enough to fit with a background picture. In fact, the only design I like to use are space and forest pictures from Google Images.

The lazy man in me says gray is a good choice. Gives off a nice Macintosh look, or something metallic. But that's just me, though. I've made a few forums in my day over the 10 years I've done the internet... and some of them stuck to the default theme given.

[Professor Ironwood]

Personally, I've never thought it comes down to JUST the color of the site. It's not JUST a gray forum. It's not JUST black or white or red.

The reason I chose to work with gray? It's easy on the eyes. A subdued red or green would have worked just as well (the background image of the forum actually IS a really tame, darkish green) but I hate, and I mean hate all white, white-dominant, or overly bright forums, unless they somehow manage to tone down the intensity of their forum somehow. Whether that's a darker secondary color or what have you, there has to be something to break up the color.

Besides which, white is boring. Gray wins over white for visual appeal just because white is... empty. It's a point where I seem to be at odds with the majority of web designers, but it's a point I'll stand firm on.

At the same time, if your board only features one shade of gray and.. well, that's it, gray with white or black text, then yes, it's visually boring. Still vastly superior to all-white (or all-black, even, because white text on pure black is irritating to read), but there's... nothing to make your forum visually appealing. Darker shades should be used to bring the forum to the front - complementary colors (like red or green or blue, if they aren't too bright) should be used to accent the forum or just break up the background some.

It's not the color you pick as your "main forum color," ultimately. It's the way you use it.

[spiderwickrp]

My forum is gray, but I am thinking about making a new skin because of how many complaints I have received about how dull it is. The only thing is, I happen to like it and really enjoy it. I don't understand why people care so much about a skin when the real point of a site is to do what it says. Now, if it is a design forum I understand what you guys mean.

[victory1]

Grey (silver really) is 1 of my 2 favorite colors. My other favorite color is red so the grey tends to calm things since red is so bold. I have grey all over my site and I don't think it's boring but I do have a pop of red everywhere. If it's just all grey then I can see but if you have a strong accent color then you'll be fine!

[tr3m0n]

My forum is all grey with a black background. I personally don't like a lot of grey, yet on my forums theme grey works like a treat. The all space & science discussion needs some grey and all.

As someone else stated, i like classic forum looks. Yellow-Green-Red skins is what i hate the most! Joining a forum and the homepage is like carnival!

This is what i suggest to all. Use classic looks!

~ Tr3m0n

[Shrike]

I don't mind grey as long as it's either a light or dark grey. I think that, for the sake of readability, the main background colour should be some sort of grey or a heavily desaturated colour like slightly pink 212028 ██ or slightly yellow 0c0701 ██ (yeah, difficult to actually see here ). As for having all grey skins, they really do look quite dull...

May 13, 2010 23:00:17 GMT -8 victory1 said:

I have grey all over my site and I don't think it's boring but I do have a pop of red everywhere. If it's just all grey then I can see but if you have a strong accent color then you'll be fine!

...But I agree that a bright accent colour on a dark/light grey skin makes it stand out. There's no "festival of colour" making your eyes hurt but it looks appealing and is readable.

[Zuki]

While I can see the downsides to grey forums, I'm personally of the opinion that they can be very attractive if properly done. From what I've seen over the years, an all grey forum can be either incredibly blank and lifeless, crisp and clean, or very modern and pretty, depending on the colours used.

Different types of grey forums

Grey + Grey
~Pros
These forums are generally fairly gentle on the eyes, very soft, and very clean. For users with eye-related issues, if done properly, they can increase the amount of time spent on the site because, unlike brighter colours, these are less likely to cause eye strain and headaches. The success, of course, relies on coding and design, as the colour scheme can be considered to be common or boring.

~Cons
The grey/grey colour scheme, if not done properly (and it often is not), can be incredibly boring. The eyes of the users will barely pass over it and the forum won't stand out at all, nor will it be likely to make much of an impression.

Grey + Black/White
~Pros
When the proportion of black-and-white to grey is done correctly, these skins have a beautiful clean look to them that will catch the attention of any guest. Coding on forums like these can be relatively simple as the colour scheme will only compliment the simplicity, and the admin won't necessarily need to deal with a mess of codes to make the forum appealing.

~Cons
People tend to overdo the black-and-white portions of these forums, leading to greyscale images on a stark black-and-white forum. The resulting contrast is enough to make a guest leave with a roaring migraine, especially if the forum's font is fairly small.

Grey + 1-3 Accent Colours
~Pros
I've seen several sites do this with great visual success. The results are both eyecatching and elegant, and the use of different colours can change the entire look of the forum. A dull green will look somewhat elegant while a neon blue looks both cool and modern. It adds just the slightest 'pop' that guests love, and with a good banner it can set a site up for decent success so long as the forum content is as spectacular as the skin

~Cons
This is one of the skins types that is the easiest to both succeed at and to completely screw up on. Many people use the 'more colour' approach and soon the grey is over-run by thirty accent colours, and the result is anything but pretty. Accent colours as well need to match at least passably - neon orange and tomato red are rarely good colour choices, and yet many people choose the 'rainbow barf' approach and just throw colours out there willy nilly. Just as it can look incredible, it can look incredibly tacky.

[niyx]

It all depends on a person's opinion; some people will like it and others won't. It's no big deal, though, because there is no way to please everyone. If your board is grey (or any other widely used color) and you put a lot of time into creating the skin / layout, then that is awesome; you should be proud that you made it!

And personally, I don't think a forum should be judged by its color or layout. It's really about the content

[Former Member]

My current site has a gray skin, black background, and black lettering. I know a lot of people do similar skins, but I have found that it works a lot because it is easy to read. I would make sure that if you use the gray skin, add some color where you can, such as pictures, etc.