Member-only story

Using gray, shade, and tint in UI design

Mohammed Ibrahim
Prototypr
Published in
8 min readJul 25, 2019

Tint and shade are areas of color theory which focus on the combining of colors with white and black. When these principles are correctly applied to pigment color like in paintings or fabric, the result can be very appealing. The art appears balanced and integrated, attention is directed easily, and the observer is delighted.

The principles of tint and shade in the world of light, however, have a more critical purpose. We experience our reality through light; the interaction of light with our physical surroundings guides our every movement. The way light bends and fades around objects alerts us to smoothness, roundness, depth, distance, and our brains process this information in real time, syncing us to our ever-changing reality.

It is this subconscious rhythm which we as designers hope to tap into by creating digital user experiences. However, everyone’s digital experience is shaped by their physical ones, and many of those experiences are commonly shared, so in order to create a UX which facilitates that subconscious rhythm, we must understand and respect the fundamental properties of light.

Responses (3)

What are your thoughts?