The Dark Mode Problem
When email clients switch to dark mode, they invert colours. This causes several issues with email signatures:
🖼️ Invisible Logos
Dark logos on transparent backgrounds become invisible on dark backgrounds. Your brand identity disappears.
🔤 Unreadable Text
Dark text on inverted backgrounds can become unreadable. Some clients invert text colours, others don't.
🎨 Colour Shifts
Brand colours get altered. A signature that looks great in light mode may look completely wrong in dark mode.
How Email Clients Handle Dark Mode
- Gmail: Does not invert colours — your signature looks the same (white background stays white)
- Outlook Desktop: Fully inverts colours — background goes dark, text goes light
- Outlook Web: Partially inverts — some elements change, others don't
- Apple Mail: Inverts background and text colours
- Apple Mail iOS: Inverts backgrounds but preserves inline background colours
Dark Mode Design Best Practices
- Add padding to logos: Export logos with a few pixels of white/light padding. This creates a visible border in dark mode.
- Use PNG with background: Instead of transparent PNG logos, add a subtle background to your logo image.
- Avoid pure black (#000): Some clients won't invert #000000. Use #111111 or #1a1a1a instead.
- Add explicit background colours: Set background-color on table cells rather than relying on white default.
- Test both modes: Always preview your signature in both light and dark mode before deploying.
- Use medium-contrast colours: Avoid very light greys or very dark greys — they may become invisible.
🌙 Dark mode tested: All our templates are tested in dark mode across major email clients. Browse dark-mode-ready templates →