Become a Better Designer, Learn About the Power of Colours

Web design involves multitude skilful disciplines from type to layout & colour. Colour is particularly major as it gives the first impression to the user. the right colours can create a good user experience, whereas inappropriate colours can have a bad impact.

To build a great website, the designer needs to know what affect colours can have on people. subconsciously, people react to colours & associate them with different feelings & emotions.

Colours don't only bring up emotions & feelings that might influence how a site is perceived but they can also be cleverly utilised to point users in the direction of specific bits of your site.

Every colour that you can think of can be used on the web these days, which means that choosing the correct colours can be an overwhelming task. here's a swift summary of how some colours provoke certain reactions.

Green is linked to the environment, peace & jealousy. its also a very relaxing colour & is nice to use for a calming effect.

The colour white conjures up feelings of pureness, simplicity, emptiness & innocence. if used as a website's main colour, it creates a clean & simple feel.

Blue is most commonly associated with with corporate web sites as it is a strong colour that is associated with confidence, coldness, depression, water & peace.

Ebony can be linked to death, mourning, power and style. many heavy rock bands use black as their main colour due to its links with death and evil.

Yellow summons up visions of summer, joy and optimism. it is a colour that can be overwhelming and if used alongside with black, it creates a feeling of warning.

Like yellow, red is a colour that is linked with love, sex and energy. it too can be over powering if over used, although it is marvellous to attract attention.

Orange is a colour that is associated with vibrancy, heat, fire & energy. A therapeutic colour, it could be used in designing web sites to signify openness.

Purple isn't a really popular colour in designing web sites, because it is seen as quite girly & can give the impression of arrogance, riches, luxury & indulgence.

Brown, particularly the the lighter end of the spectrum can have a soothing effect. Beige is also a popular colour in designing for the web because it gives an earthy & relaxed feel. it could also mean tradition, poverty & nature.

Grey can be linked to refinement, innovation & the future. The lighter side is similar to white because it's a fabulous colour to use on the background of a website to create a sense of space & modernism.

Knowing the psychology of colour can give website designers the upper hand when you're designing for a client. simply knowing which colours create which effects can make a website successful. there is nothing worse than creating a site which looks fantastic but doesn't connect with the end user. using colour in a clever way to create feeling, contrast & balance can change a boring website into a great one.