This screenshot from the video game Alan Wake is an example of successful contrast. In this atmospheric game the contrast between light and dark is heavily emphasized, but there are other forms of contrast in this image that makes it a successful example. It's contrast in depth and scale allows the viewer to see that the forest ranger is further away than the main character, located on the left side. The contrast in shapes shows the differences between people, benches, doorways, railing, and paintings in this image. And the contrast in color identifies the red on the floor and windows as blood leading to the ranger. This image is an example of a game that has been carefully made, with much consideration given to how to approach a suspenseful atmosphere using multiple contrasts, the most important of which is the contrast of light and dark.
This image from the game emphasizes the use of contrast that identifies the enemies from the rest of the surroundings. As the enemies are covered in darkness, their appearance is black and fuzzy, showing both a contrast in tone from the background of the building, and in focus. This image also again shows contrast in depth, with the main character appearing taller than the enemies and building which shows that he is closer to the foreground than everything else.
This screenshot from the television show South Park is an example of bad contrast. While it does succeed in using contrast between depth and scale, such as the size of characters and lockers in the front to those in the background, it fails in its use of contrast of color and tone. The failure of this image is the great difference of design style between the giant bird and the children. The tone of colors in the bird is completely different compared to the rest of the scene. The tone and design style set it apart from the rest of the scene and makes it obvious that it does not belong there. Despite that, this was the point that the creators wanted to make, that this is completely random thing that does not belong here. However, from just this image, to someone who doesn't know the show this seems to just be badly designed, though well drawn.
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