Thread by @pearsonified

This new "dark mode" design trend is quite literally the worst trend of the last 18 years.

Light text on dark backgrounds highlighted the early web as coder types latched onto that aesthetic.

But we quickly learned that a high contrast environment puts major strain on the eyes.

As a result, we saw a major pendulum swing toward the more natural black-on-white palette that dominates in digital environments.

(As a rule, you want the object of interest to be effortless to focus on. B on W achieves this, W on B achieves the opposite.)

But this time, Apple is leading the charge (while somewhat ironically revealing how the company has indeed lost its way with design).

And the copycatters have been busy, much to the detriment of our retinas.

Check out the lickspittle from MacRumors 👇🏿

This is what happens when you operate in the absence of principles.

You end up repeating old mistakes just to "stir things up" or to create a new trend that makes you feel like you started something significant.

But all you did was screw everybody else over.

The point of a "dark mode" should not be to force you into high contrast environments where the object of interest is also the hardest thing to focus on.

The point should simply be to de-emphasize everything else BEHIND the object of interest.

An example of this might be your browser tabs.

They can be dark, as this emphasizes the favicons while de-emphasizing the tabs themselves.

Overall effect is greater clarity—better ability to focus on the item of interest OR on tab decisions.

But this thoughtful, nuanced approach is not how dark mode has been implemented.

Now, every a$$hole who knows CSS is simply setting up high contrast environments and declaring themselves compliant with the latest "sh*tty future" trend to come out of Cupertino 🤷🏾‍♀️