Color Fundamentals and Web Design

Did you know that color can make a huge difference in the effectiveness of a website? Yep, it’s true. Color sets the mood for your brand and is an important communication tool for showing site visitors what is most important.

Color will inform where your eye lands when you visit a webpage. As a designer, it’s crucial to use colors to draw attention to the message you’re trying to convey…whether it’s to a video, contact button, phone number or something else.

Below is a list of some colors and how they can aid a web designer and his or her small business clients in creating / encouraging perception of the brand:

• Red – Use red sparingly as it evokes a sense of importance. A Parisian Metro sign can use red to draw attention to an entrance for the subway? In the same kind of way, red can help direct traffic on a website.
• Blue – This color creates a sense of stability and calm. Blue is a neutral color and would be perfect for a bank’s logo or website. Or, use a brighter sky blue to evoke a sense of childlike whimsy.
• Purple – This color sets the mood for a regal / expensive website. Purple would be perfect for a jewelry brand or for sites with other luxury items for sale.
• Yellow – This is a happy color! Think of the sun and summertime and smiling faces. However, yellow does have a dark side…it can be used to show fear or caution.
• Green – This is a power color. Green is ubiquitous for growth, natural products and money.
• Orange – This color is perfect for websites wanting to encourage creativity.
  Orange has the positivity of yellow and a toned-down version of red for importance.
• White – Don’t ever underestimate white. This “color” is crucial to a website and its readability / overall effectiveness. Less is definitely more.

Some other color notes

The tint / opacity of your color will make a HUGE difference in whether or not it’s going to be effective. Sometimes just altering the shade of the color in question can help it to blend much better with the other colors in the overall design.

Colors go through fads, just like clothing does. If you’re concerned about your logo, talk to us at TJ Design to get help in graphic design or in selecting colors for your brand.

Sometimes it’s okay to use colors that look a little garish.