I'd say: Bokeh and flat borders (w/o filling) work well. But you should restrict the use to headers and featured elements. Update (sorry, I was in a rush and forgot to paste the rest of the answer): As an example, we can take the following header: ![dribbble shot #848287][1] Despite of the strong bokeh, the thin lines of the logo + the hr are not too aggressive and fit well. A filling would not work the good (it would cover too much of the photo). Another example: ![from @KinaoleCanada][2] [1]: https://i.sstatic.net/bUEBc.jpg [2]: https://i.sstatic.net/1vmp9.jpg