Web Design Master » Let’s Talk Color

Let’s Talk Color

Today I wanted to talk about the Psychology of Color which is something that most of us don’t usually think about. When first designing a site sometimes inspiration takes a while to hit, so I’ll browse through several different sites jotting down ideas from these sites. Usually asking a client to write down 3-5 of their favorite sites also helps for inspiration, but asking them to point out what they like about each one can prove to be much more tricky.

Usually, the client picks out a site due to the color scheme used and the cleanliness of the overall site design. I have several clients who’s favorite color is red, orange or even green but too much of any of those colors and suddenly they no longer like the look of the site. So what makes a up good balance without overwhelming the user but not to the point of boredom? There’s several theories, but I’ve helped to narrow it down a bit to a few of my favorites.

Just for the fun of it, here’s a site listing some colors & their meanings as well as the psychological reaction they give: http://www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-meaning.html

The easiest way to design a site by color is to use either a pre-existing logo or color scheme and add accent colors. For example, if you were going to sponge paint a wall, you start out with a base coat (we’ll use forest green for this example) and two accent colors. Either start with a base color (forest green) and have two varying shades for the accent colors (lighter shades of green) or start with the base (forest green) and pick two corresponding accent colors (yellow and blue). Even a base (forest green) with one accent color (yellow) and a different shade of the base (light green) can be just enough to give the website a look of it’s own without having too much color that overwhelms the user.

The use of a base color with two different shades of the base is called a Monochromatic Color Scheme. This is used to give depth and an overall clean feel and is especially useful with greens and blues. A Complimentary Color Scheme is used by selecting colors directly opposite on a color wheel. Usually this is used to give both a warm and a cool feel at the same time to balance each other. A third type of scheme is called a Triple Color Scheme. This is one of the most used color schemes of the three. By choosing three colors equally spaced around the color wheel it give the harmonious feel and allows for a larger range of colors.

Depending upon the main colors of the client’s logo or color scheme accent colors can be extremely difficult to pick. This is where a color wheel becomes very handy. Programs such as Photoshop come with a built in color wheel, but there are several websites that provide a good color wheel free of charge. This is one of my personal favorites since the color is automatically shown in a larger box along with the actual number with both web-safe and web-smart numbers. http://ficml.org/jemimap/style/color/wheel.html

Last but not least, feel free to play! Sometimes I think that children have the best overall concept for colors since they are always playing with finger paint, watercolors, or even sidewalk chalk. It can take a couple of hours to come up with just the right color scheme that will mesh with everything perfectly and don’t worry if it does take that long. Time is always a necessity to get the right look and feel. And always remember, colors are there not to overwhelm the user, but to accent the main color and attract the user’s attention to a specific area of the site.