The present invention relates to a high contrast reflective display comprising a substrate, at least one electronically modulated imaging layer, wherein the electronically modulated imaging layer comprises a uniformly thick, close-packed, ordered monolayer of domains of electrically modulated material in a fixed polymer matrix, at least one barrier layer, wherein the barrier layer is conductive in a direction perpendicular to the substrate, and at least one electrically conductive layer. The invention also relates to a method of making the display with a barrier layer comprising anisotropic particles and orienting the anisotropic conductor to produce a barrier layer conductive in a direction perpendicular to the substrate.