Using Colors in Web Design

Web design is an art in itself. Graphic artists and web designers need to have, at the very least, a rudimentary understanding of what emotions a certain color evokes, as well as an eye for what color combinations work.

The Importance of Color

Indeed, even while content is still king, your website graphics should be inviting and should capture the imagination. So much so that the reader will want to take a closer look at the website content. This fact becomes all important when we realize that there are a lot of websites out there that are also vying for the attention of the same people you would like to target with your website. The effective use of colors will also have an important contribution to the probability that a new visitor will respond positively to your website and click a call-to-action button.

Here are some basic principles to help you choose colors for your website:

• Have an understanding of specific colors and the emotions and impressions they provoke. Color is a language in itself. When someone looks at a website that features a certain color, there is something that he can immediately perceive about your company even before the reader starts reading your content. Here are some of the colors and their meanings:
  • This color is all about power, vibrancy and youth. It denotes importance and has been proven to speed up heart rates and blood pressure. However, if you use red, use it with care as red is also synonymous with “danger” and “stop”.
  • Can be perceived as energetic, bright, happy or enthusiastic. Darker shades of yellow (especially those veering to the golden shades) reminds one about antiquity and luxury.
  • Blue exudes a calm and trustworthy atmosphere. It evokes the feeling of confidence and hope in your brand, as well as a perception that your brand is stable and reliable.
  • This color is universally perceived as “go” and promotes an image of stability and growth. As green is a combination of blue and yellow, it also combines the energy of yellow while exuding the relaxing touch of blue.
  • This combines yellow and red, which are both associated with energy. Orange is also commonly used for sales promotions and sales tags.
• Choose between “warm” and “cool” colors. Aside from the meanings that are subconsciously assigned to colors, there are also warm and cool colors. Warm colors are mostly “autumn” colors – brown, gold, red, orange, yellow and pink. Warm colors can denote excitement and energy but you can also tone down your shade choices so that your color palette does not come out too strong. Meanwhile, cool colors include green, purple, silver, blue, white or gray. These are generally relaxing and comforting colors as these cool colors promote an earnest and serious image. There are also intermediary or “in-between” colors – these are secondary colors or colors that are formed using a mixture of the primary colors, namely yellow, red and blue. These colors possess both the qualities of warm and cool colors, but one becomes more predominant depending on how much of the warm (red and yellow) and cool (blue) primary colors they have.
• Take note of cultural differences. Different cultures will have different meanings attached to various colors. For instance, in Western cultures, black can be perceived as sexy, elegant and even luxurious. However, in Oriental cultures, black denotes bad luck and death. When you have a website that caters to the international market, it can be useful to carefully use a selected set of colors that are generally well accepted by the various cultures in your target market.
• Consider readability for your color palette. The background color and text color should provide a sharp contrast so that the text is easy to read. You can either combine a dark background with light-colored text or the other way around. However, darker texts on light backgrounds seem to fare better for the readers’ focus. A good guide in choosing contrasting colors is to choose two colors that are opposite each other in the color wheel but that are from the same level in the color wheel.
• Use colors that are generally used and accepted in web design. In the Internet, there are colors that immediately denote something to a savvy web surfer. For instance, a link of text that is blue (and sometimes underlined) tells the reader that a particular section of text has a link to another page. When the link is clicked and you go back to the page, the text where the link resides changes in color (usually to purple) to signify that you have already visited that link.

About Adaptivity Pro

Worried that your color choices may not provide your website with the right tone and mood? Adaptivity Pro’s team of graphic designers and artists have your back. We’ll take care of establishing a suitable color palette for you) based on your specific needs. Adaptivity Pro is a premier Utah web design company, with a roster of experienced and expert web designers, programmers, Utah SEO analysts and copywriters – all available to help you establish a strong and thriving Internet presence.