Light or Dark module preference?

Development
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Making some modules, should they be light or dark? Any overwhelming preference in the community?

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I donā€™t care but the people that do care seem to prefer dark.

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I predict the overwhelming preference will be to offer a choice for both! :slight_smile:

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4

+1 for both. personally i like a mix of both in my patches. to me some look better light and some better dark. for example, i like to keep my bogaudio modules light while i prefer dark on geodesics. and some additional food for thoughtā€¦ light doesnt necessarily have to be greyscale and dark neednā€™t just be black. for example Rackwindows is dark by default and is green.

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Several people with vision problems have said that they find light modules uncomfortable to use, and prefer dark for that reason. If you have to choose between light and dark, dark would be the kinder choice.

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6

I suffer from a vision problem, which means that high contrast visuals are difficult. I often find that dark themes are better for me.

But:

  1. This is likely because the theme happens to fit better with the contrasts that work for me, rather than specifically because it is dark.
  2. Many people will have other kinds of vision problems for which a dark theme may be worse. But they quite possibly donā€™t complain as much because light themes have historically dominated the ui environment for some time.

I personally tend to get on better with dark themes, but I wouldnā€™t like to go as far as to say that ā€˜dark would be the kinder choiceā€™. Iā€™m not sure thereā€™s sufficient evidence to support that.

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7

I also have problems with light, to do with sensitivity. Dark mode has been my saviour in recent years. Going about the internet back in the days all all white backgrounds was a horror.

That said, Iā€™m always a voter for both if able. Some people would prefer the opposite. Black on white seems to be easier to read than white on black from what I understand.

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8

I would say build in the option for both. I like all (or mostly) dark or all (or mostly) light, they have a different feel but patches with a mix are fugly lol.

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Lights Off by Modular Fungi does the job :sunglasses:

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If thereā€™s a choice (Bogaudio, Count Modula, Valley,ā€¦), I always pick dark.

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If thereā€™s an option i tend to pick light, but maybe more important to me is a more overall ā€˜neutralā€™ colourscheme across all modules from a set.

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A lot of things in the internet i still super light :confused: ā€¦ I personally donā€™t mind light in the day, but early morning, or in the evening after a full work or study day on the computer, yeah dark modes are really easier on the eye. I have the Vcv forum in grey for example, way better for the eyes in my opinion that the default skin :slight_smile:

To answer OPā€™s question, imo you canā€™t go wrong with dark mode since youā€™ll have way less ā€œi wonā€™t touch that module because itā€™s darkā€ than ā€œi wonā€™t touch this module because itā€™s brightā€, but i agree Both are the ideal if its possible !

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13

Dark reader or opera for the rescue. I donā€™t have vision problems, itā€™s just the better fit for me. Sometimes during daytime I switch to light mode. But very rare. Modern OS allows the choice on a system level, if the application supports it. Web is getting there, but does not force, but for simple things an invertion always works, but images.

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Yes a (perhaps picky) issue I have with dark is the lack of a standardā€¦

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I havenā€™t seen people complain that all the ā€œdarkā€ modules have different and somewhat random ā€œblackā€ backgrounds, although you are right that they are. Part of the ā€œcharmā€ of Eurorack (and hence VCV) is the random and sometimes mismatched panels. Iā€™m sure this isnā€™t true for everybody, but I think a lot of people feel that way.

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Dark modules all the way and I like the mismatched vibe.

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I recommend the broswer plugin Stylus for the sites that havenā€™t caught up yet to offer dark modes. Things like wikipedia are an eyesore of blinding white still. So it comes in handy.

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https://darkreader.org/ has been a ā€œgodsentā€ to quickly make sites comply

and as many people above, i strongly prefer dark mode. i have a slight light sensitivity, and prolonged exposure to especially white screens (or strong sunlight) is tiring for my eyes and results in headaches. with dark mode i have no problems.

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19

Just tried it for the first time. Wow, itā€™s good, not perfect but very good.

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20

The little Darth Vader icon is so cute haha. The Star wars fan i am approuves :grin:

1 Like