I have always been an advocate of color, and maybe it is because I started designing when you had to pay for every color you printed. Once you decide to have a website, the color is actually the free part. Why not just use all the color you can to take advantage of this great deal?
Interestingly, the consensus of color from sources on the Internet has been that white is the most successful, and it can be much easier to use white. When using something other than white for your background, the colors you choose to compliment the background can make or break your message. White can solve this. Yes, it tends to make all sites a like but it allows your message to take center stage.
Take the difference between Google and Bing. For those of you who do not know Bing.com, It is the new search engine by Microsoft. Check it out. When Google came a long with their simple message of just search here the simplicity of the Google white background supported the simple message. There were other search engines at the time, but Google reigned its simple message. Now Bing.com comes along and brings all their beautiful color but even their TV ads can’t bring them the same popularity the Google has had. What does that leaves us to think? I would love your feedback here because I am looking at the popular sites and seeing a lot of white backgrounds, black type and maybe a little bit of blue accents. Please share your comments.