The Importance of Colour in Designing for the World Wide Web

When creating for the www, one bitof the web site design that requires exact deliberation is colour. selecting colours without substance or wisdom could dispirit end users from the site. picking the suitablecolours with substance and understanding could sway to a larger web site design.

Knowing a bit of colour psychology and symbolism is key in knowing what colours affect people in certain ways. colour perception is linked strongly to feelings and emotions including happiness, sadness and lust.

Colours can also demonstrate contrast and emphasise sections of a webpage that you might want the user to see including a promotion box or a purchase now button.

Here's a listing of popular colours and how they make people feel.

White is a minimalist colour. associated with simplicity, purity & cleanliness, it can be used to emphasise images.

Yellow is a colour of comfort, liveliness, energy and happiness. it's a lively colour that can be used to highlight certain areas on a webpage.

Red can summon up feelings of lust, courage and strength. it's a strong colour and if used in small doses, its commendable for highlighting points.

Red is a very evocative colour and it stirs up thoughts of hell, love, fire and warning. its probably the best colour to use to draw attention.

White can be used to create contrast by using it as a background colour. the white parts in between components of a web page are called negative space. White is linked to cleanliness, peace and light.

Black is a very strong colour and is linked to sexiness, strength and elegance. its a very popular colour on photography sites, because black creates heightened contrast with colours within images.

Brown can be used to express trust and honesty in a design. it can be linked to ageing, warmth & comfort.

Orange is associated with enthusiasm, creativity & stimulation. it is used in designing for the world wide web to denote friendliness.

Brown, particularly the the lighter end can have a soothing effect. Beige is also a top colour in designing for the world wide web because it provides an earthy & relaxed feel. it could also mean tradition, poverty & mother earth.

Grey can be linked to elegance, innovation & the future. The paler side is similar to white in that it's a great colour to use on the background of a website to create a sense of space & modernism.

It's clear that colours don't just make a web site look beautiful, although they also have an effect on user experience & can dictate how successful a website can be. picking the right colours can create a website that users can identify & will make them more willing to use, explore & promote the website to friends. getting the colours wrong can put users off & have them switch off.