Contrast is a way to attract attention to your page and add visual interest. The more striking the contrast the more interest it sparks. The one thing to remember is that for contrast to be effective it must be strong! Don't wimp out.
Contrast can be achieved in a variety of ways. Changes in font, font size, color, texture, spacing, graphics can all produce contrast. The main rule with contrast is that if two things are not the same, then make them very different. Making them only somewhat different is what produces conflict which you should avoid.
The Musician's Friend is a good example of the use of contrast. Notice that in the center of the page the text is a bright green color and there is a green tint in most of the graphics. This immediately draws the readers attention to this location on the page, this is the first thing your eyes move to after scanning the page. In comparison everything else on the page is rather dull. The designer does a good job using the constrasting colors to draw the reader's attention to the items that the company wants to sell.
The Musician.com is another example of the use of contrast. Notice the link bar that is all black with white text. Your eyes are immediately drawin to this link bar because of the constrast with the rest of the page. The location also indicates the importance of this link bar because it is at the top of the page.
The one problem with this page is the empty white space in the middle of the page. What was the designer thinking or is this a case of a browser hacking up a web page design. It probably looks great on the designers computer but what I see is strange. Also notice that on the right hand side the second link overlaps some other text so it is unreadable and looks bad.
Start | Proximity | Alignment | Repetition | Contrast | Assignment