Placing text in long strips is a design trend I have seen in both print and web lately—usually the box is a neutral colour, but I have also seen them in bright pink and yellow. The transparency is often set to 80-90%, so the image or colour field behind them bleeds through slightly without making the text difficult to read.
Many of the striped text headlines or call to action areas are using serif fonts, which have not been prevalent online in some time. It is harder to read large blocks of type on a screen in serif, so traditionally sans-serif has been the style of choice in website design. With large headlines like these, it is possible to use a serif font, and many websites are now jumping to use classic print fonts in a new way online.
The example below shows text strips with darker coloured backgrounds and reversed out type. These give a splash to the website, but can easily become overpowering or look amateur if not used properly. When first experimenting with these sorts of text areas, choosing softer colours would be a good start, unless you have a firm grasp of colour theory and feel comfortable working with a sophisticated use of colour as design. There are fantastic website designers out there that are not the best with colour, so knowing strengths and weaknesses is a must when considering whether or not to adopt a current trend like this one.
