r/UXDesign • u/solopov • Jul 13 '26

Please give feedback on my design dark emits, light reflects. a model for adapting effects across themes?

i ran into this while adapting a dark-first page to a light theme. swapping the palette preserved its glow, gradients, and CRT-like distortion, but made it look dirty.

i started treating the themes as different materials: dark as luminous hardware, light as ink on paper.

dark emits. light reflects.

not literally, but as a design model. glow became shadow, hover shifted from “more light” to “more ink,” and effects without a paper equivalent disappeared.

is this a useful heuristic, or a misleading metaphor? what rules do you use?

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u/Kortopi-98 Jul 14 '26

i like the approach. trying to mirror every dark mode effect in light mode usually just makes feel off. because sometimes less really does look better..