Who chose black as a background? What factors were considered? Considering all that you say about colour, it seems an odd choice for the most common colour on the site.

Finally, reading white on black is like driving at night - no matter how much sleep you’ve had it tires your eyes much quicker.

I have one suggestion, and that is to bring color into the global environment. Color is perceived differently based on culture, gender and a variety of other factors. So having some localization on the topic would be extra cool.

For example, green and money are associated in those countries that have green money, like the US (although now it looks more like it all got rinsed in the wash what with our “colored” money) but not for other cultures.

Your suggestion of purple is a slightly dangerous one, for example. Purple in Catholic culture is representative of death. In some Islamic nations, it’s associated with prostitution (like red can be in european and US culture). Purple is also perceived by many evangelical christians as related to the devil, “new age” practices, and magic, which are unacceptable in that cultural context.

As a person involved in the development and design of web sites, localization practices become very important in effective color use and successful advertising.

Thanks for building up an interesting and fun resource!