Designing web sites involves numerous skilled disciplines from layout to type & colour. Colour is particularly decisive because it gives the user's first impression. the right colours can create a good user experience, whilst incorrect colours can have an adverse affect.
To create a good site, the web designer should know how colours can affect people. people often subconsciously react to colours & associate them with different emotions and feelings.
Colours don't only bring up emotions & feelings that could influence how a website is perceived but they can also be utilised cleverly to direct users in the direction of specific bits of your website.
Every colour that you can think of can be used on the internet now, so picking the correct colours can be a daunting task. here is a fast summary of how some colours provoke certain reactions.
Red is associated with strength, fire, blood and lust. if used sparingly on a light background, it can be used to make the most of and emphasise.
Blue is the most popular colour and it can symbolise confidence, loyalty and royalty. the darker end often represents strength whilst the lighter end can be used to express fantasy and dream.
The colour green can be linked to feelings of durability, safety and harmony. it is also a great colour to use to highlight calm and relaxation.
Green is linked to trees, wealth and jealousy. The most calming colour in the spectrum, it is truly popular with websites that're associated with nature.
White is associated with simple & clean designs, so its favoured by many design companies. It conjures up feelings of cleanliness, simplicity, honesty and innocence.
Stirring up feelings of lust, sex, fire and aggression, red is a highly charged colour. the brighter shades of red is bold, so it can be used to raise awareness.
Grey can be associated with respect, humility, decay & boredom. it's used a lot to concieve shiny gradients in web design to give a professional, modern feel to a website.
Orange is strongly associated with spirituality & healing. it's the colour that symbolises Buddhism & it has a healing energy about it. it's a bold colour that's not as lively as yellow but not as deep as red.
Brown, especially the lighter shades can be very soothing. Beige is also a popular colour in designing web sites because it provides an earthy & relaxed feel. it could also mean tradition, poverty & mother earth.
Grey can be associated with elegance, innovation & the future. The lighter side is similar to white in that it is a wonderful colour to use on a website's background to create a sense of space & modernism.
The psychology of colour can play a massive role in making a successful site. to create a subliminal expectation amongst the user can be an effective sales tool. selecting colours thoughtlessly can accidentally put users off the web site. creating colour combinations that guide users to an end goal can generate more sales & remove stress from the user experience. |