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| Website Design |
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| TUESDAY, JULY 13, 2010 |
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| The importance of color in design |
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My interest in color started way back in elementary art class with a brief exposure to primary, secondary and tertiary colors. It is within these three color groups that I base my understanding of color and their best use in each industry.
As web site designer the topic of color almost always comes up in the very first meeting with a client. Often, I find that people have a hard time seeing past their own personal preferences in color, which can send the wrong message to their customers. As a designer, it is my job to help choose and steer my client when it comes to correct colors based on the particular market. Correct color choices create focus, clarity and confidence in your brand and your business.
Color can influence your client's emotions, their actions and how they respond to your brand, and products/services, and even more so on the internet.
One of my favourite designers, Donald Peterson from Newark1, said:
"I believe that there are three primary components to good web design: color, order and form. Of these three, I believe color to be the most important way to touch the emotions of the viewer."
In an article Peterson wrote on the impact color has on the audience, he wrote:
"Color is also the one ingredient web designers often get wrong, overdo, or give the least amount of thought. We will connect emotionally to a well chosen color palette even if the layout is less than first rate. But if the colors are unsuitable, garish or confusing it will be rejected by the eye and the emotions, along with the product you would like to sell! Therefore, get the colors right and you've made a strong first step in good web design."
Color is a primary way to affect the mood of your viewers. As web designer I find that it is important to create a mood and feel suitable to my client's web site. The only way to achieve this is with a basic understanding of colors and the emotional impact it has on the viewer.
Let's look at the basic meanings of color: |
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Excitement, passion, provocative, and dynamic. Aggressive in nature, red commands attention and demands action. Seen as the sexiest of all colors, red is equally seductive in the marketplace. Consumers respond well to wine tones. Burgundy is an excellent choice for expensive products.
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Pink has various mood swings being either romantic, youthful, happy, or sweet. If you are looking for the same high energy as red, then vivid, shocking or hot pinks create a feeling of movement and wild abandon. Although these colors are fun and exciting, they are riskier to use than red because they are often thought of as faddish and do not age well. These colors are used for less expensive items such as toys or plastic novelty goods. |
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Orange is glowing with heat, vital, and high arousal that is associated with autumn's shimmering foliage or radiant shadings of sunset. In its most vivid intensity, it is a color not taken seriously because it then becomes playful, expressive, happy, and childlike. Bright orange is an excellent choice for toys, games, inexpensive plastics, and any novelty products that appeal to children or the young-at-heart. When used in graphic applications, it becomes comedic and cartoon-like so it is not a good choice if you want to convey a serious message. |
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Warm, sunny, luminous yellow equals splendor and the heat of the sun in every society. It is optimistic, creative, encouraging, imaginative, has an aura of enlightenment, and gives a feeling of well-being. However, if a person is emotionally fragile with low-self esteem yellow can upset them. Most Americans prefer cream or sun-baked yellows while green-yellow is not popular. |
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Rustic, sheltering, rich brown is associated with hearth and home, substance and stability, and earth. More than any other color, think of brown in terms of usage and context. Connected to the earth, various tones of brick, brown, tan, clay, and terra cotta are rooted, protective, and secure combinations. Earthy colors generally give a positive response. In the food industry, browns have been successful for many years. Brown relates to good taste and is appropriate to foodstuffs or food service environments. |
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Constant; quiet; serene; dependable; reliable; trustworthy. Cool blue is the most popular color and is strongly associated with sky and water. On the positive side, depending on the intensity; blue is constant, and encourages intellectual activity; calms the mind, or stimulates thought. On the reverse, it may appear cold or unfriendly. Blue is an ideal color for corporate identities, web sites, packaging, and products where these messages are important. |
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Soothing; nature; refreshing; healing. Green is at the center of the spectrum and offers the widest range of choices and is the most restful to the eye. Associated with nature, consumers respond to mint greens, bright greens, emerald greens, and deep greens (stately tall pines, refreshing scents, and the silence of the forest, money, prestige, security, feeling safe). Trustworthy deep green is an excellent choice for promoting banks, lending institutions, and other businesses where prestige and/or security are considerations. Yellow-greens relate well to gardening/floral motifs. Vivid yellow-green is associated with nausea and illness. |
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Regal, spiritual, elegant, and mysterious. Purple is a complex color preferred by creative and eccentric types. It is the hardest color for the eye to discern. Purple, in its more radiant intensities relates to spiritual, New Age philosophies and speaks well for products involving newness or cutting edge technologies. Grayed undertones give more sophistication and subtlety to the color. Watered down purple becomes softer, sentimental, and nostalgic. Lavender tints add a feeling of delicacy, and sweet scents especially floral scents. Grape and purplish berry shades are associated with sweet, fruity tastes.
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Timeless, natural, classic, quality, quiet neutrals or monotones are achromatics�literally without color. Beige, gray, and taupe impart the psychological message of dependability. Identified with durability, time, and antiquity neutrals are solid, enduring, timeless, and classic. |
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Lightweight, pristine, pure, bright, innocent white implies purity and simplicity. The human eye sees white as a brilliant color so it works well for contrast, in signage, in point of purchase, in packaging, or any other usage that catches the eye. |
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Powerful, mysterious, strong, classic, elegant black is associated with magical mysteries of the night. The opaque, powerful, after-dark soul of black is seen in every product category as sophistication and style. Consumers perceive black as powerful, dramatic, elegant, and expensive. In food packaging, consumers will pay more for a black "gourmet image." |
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Choosing a color scheme for your business, should always be targeted for your demographic. Your clients are the ones purchasing your product or service, and you should look beyond your own favourites. |
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| BY MARISKA PELSER |
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