Design Tip: Never Use Black

I saw this link, with the title above, on Swiss Miss, and I was intrigued. Never use black in design? What's that supposed to mean? Is that even possible?

But when I read Ian Storm Taylor's article on this topic, I began to get it. The black he's saying not to use is pure, stark black. He explains that blacks with color hues mixed in are more natural in design and actually more realistic. Who knew?

This idea of avoiding pure black had never occurred. Actually, I've always tried to use pure black and grays that are straight black and white because I thought they were cleaner and brighter. I'll definitely have to consider adding some color to my blacks and grays.