As I'm sure you've all noticed, EQ really cranks up the gamma. So when making UI elements, they must be considerably darker than they will appear in game.
you might be able to account for this in the UI as well without having to change your graphic. Text clip form the SIDL.DOC
Quote:
Frame
Parameter - Type - Description
Shading - RGB[] - A layer of shade to apply to the texture
Specular - RGB[] - A layer of specular gloss to apply to the texture