The right color for the right website
2011
I am sure you have seen it too; a great website, but with a poor choice of colors. Layout and fonts can make a great website. But this is only part of it. Color is very important to making a website successful. When layout, fonts and color are combined in a good way, great design is born.
Before choosing the colors of your website it is important to get a basic understanding of color and its effects.
Cool colors
Cool colors are based on blue, green, pink, blue-green, magenta, and blue-red. Cool colors tend to be soothing, calming colors and can be used in large amounts.
Warm colors
Warm colors are based on yellow, orange, brown, yellow-green, and orange-red, colors. Warm colors have a tendency to be aggressive and exciting, so don´t use too much of them on your website.
Intermediary colors
Intermediary colors are based on purple and green. They can be either warm or cold. It depends on the amount of red or yellows compared to blues.
Neutral Colors
Neutral Colors include white, black, gray and colors that contain a large amount of gray. Neutral colors are great for back-grounds and for enhancing the effect of warm colors.
Multi-color v.s. little color
I have read that multi-colored sites have the lowest visitation rate. The combination of warm and cool colors confuses a visitor. Too much color can come accross as chaotic. So it is best to choose a couple of colors and stick to them. On the other hand is little color boring. It is best to use a balance. So it’s best to Use only a few different colors on a page. Avoid using an excessive amount of colors, blend and use warm and cool colors.
Color Chart
A great thing about the internet is that it crosses border. A web designer is able to work internationally. However when working internationally it is easy to get messed up by the meaning of color in different countries. For example:
Blue: in China , blue is associated with immortality. In Colombia , blue is associated with soap. In India blue is the color of Krishna and in the Middle East blue is a protective color.
Black: in the USA and many other countries black is the color for mourning.
Green: green is the color of Islam. In Ireland green also is a religious color (Catholic). In some tropical countries green is associated with danger.
Orange: in Ireland orange is a religious color (Protestant).
Red: in China red symbolizes celebration and luck, used in many cultural ceremonies that range from funerals to weddings. In India red is the color of purity (used in wedding outfits).
White: in Japan white carnations signify death. In eastern cultures white symbolizes coldness and sterility. In USA and other countries it stands for virginity.
Yellow: in Asia yellow is sacred, and imperial.
When I design a website I always keep in mind…
- the colors for your site. I think of your audience first! What is the target group of the website I am designing? Does it have a wide target group? Is it primarily Western? Eastern? What age are they? Male? Female?
- to never use more colors than are necessary.
- to remain consistent throughout the site with my color choices.
