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Color is critical, especially for designers. Any design would look empty without a thoughtful color scheme. Colors are so important because they can directly affect crucial elements of a business – marketing efforts, branding, and, most importantly, the emotions of those who view them. As a web designer, you should always pay attention to the little things. It’s the little things that can improve the design from mediocrity to perfection.
Color is one of the essential parts of web design. The use and selection of the right colors are what creates a good impression. Not only that, but the color is also a sensation that transmits to the brain. It creates an effect on the human body and psychological behavior in particular. Colors are a decisive factor in what makes a design stand out as incredible work. Web design agencies and web designers in San Francisco are taking this undeniable importance of color to heart by paying attention to color theory.
Warm Colors
Warm colors are rooted in yellow, orange, brown, yellow-green, and orange-red hues and shades. Warm colors tend to be more aggressive and exciting, so applying them in small doses is best.
Cool Colors
Blue, green, pink, purple, blue-green, magenta, and blue-red are what make up cool colors. These tend to be soothing, calming colors and are often used in large amounts.
Intermediate Colors
Purple and green are intermediary colors that are either warm or cool, depending on the amount of red or yellow they have in their ratios to blue. If the color contains less blue, then it is leaning towards a warm hue, and if it has more blue, then it is more towards the cool side.
Neutral Colors
Neutral colors include white, black, and colors that contain a large amount of gray. Neutral colors are great for backgrounds and for enhancing the effect of warm colors.
Multi-color Palettes
Multi-colored websites have the lowest stay time since a combination of warm and cool colors confuses users. It will often make the website seem ambiguous and cluttered. Hence, it is best to choose a couple of colors and stick to them.
Color Harmony
Too much color can be disturbing and chaotic, whereas too little can be boring. It is best to use a balance. Therefore, use just a couple of colors on a page. Avoid using a wide array of different colors.
Computer Color Display
Computer monitors display colors using different amounts of red, green, and blue. These are called RGB colors. This is an additive form of color because red, green, and blue light in equal parts “add” to white light. All other colors are formed on a screen by mixing quantities of the RGB color. Since RGB color is entirely different from the way colors are set in print, it has to be used differently.
The Issue of Color on the Web
A common problem on the web is that colors often do not appear correctly on sites. The reason is related to bit-depth – color may be beyond the range of the viewing display setting. Alternative colors might appear, or color shifts may happen. Even if a visitor’s system can display color, technical features like hardware age or gamma control may ultimately distort colors. Such problems not only cause aesthetic challenges but also inhibit visitor retention. Today’s technology makes color management on the web a problematic and recurring issue.
Palettes Safe for Browsers
The browser-safe palette of 216 colors gives consistent and conventional results across the Mac OS, UNIX, and Windows platforms. Computers today can easily render millions of colors. You should always use a browser-safe palette just in case – 256 color computers are common.
It’ll be more effective if you limit the color palette to 2 or 3 significant colors with shade variations, as it is more visually appealing. Also, limited colors mean smaller file sizes and faster loading.
Color of the Text
Always be careful when setting text and background colors. Preserving readability at all costs is crucial. If the text is light-colored, then the background has to be dark and vice versa. White and black always make a good combination, while red and blue are useful for highlighting particular points. Try to avoid using black as a background with warm color text. It is excellent clarity wise but can induce nausea.
So, How Does Color Function Anyway?
So, we have already noted, color plays a vital and essential role in our world. Color affects thinking, actions, and reactions. It can irritate or soothe your eyes, raise your blood pressure, or even suppress your appetite. When used properly, color reduces energy consumption.
Furthermore, colors can communicate messages clearly and powerfully. When the case is opposite, it can mislead or weaken the web design’s message. The deliberate use of color includes determining meaning from the beginning of the design process and carefully applying it. Color is an irreplaceable and powerful tool of communication.
Meaning of Colors
Red means “stop” and green means “go.” Traffic lights retain this universal message. Likewise, the colors used for products, web sites, business cards, or logos also cause strong reactions. Color matters. Period.
In web design, a color’s meaning depends upon a website’s audience. It is not wholly based on personal preferences, but on cultural context. For instance, white means purity and innocence in Western culture, whereas in China, it represents death and mourning. Still, designers rely on specific universal meanings of colors, like pastels equaling sweet and feminine, or primary colors conveying both boldness and infantile appeal.
Some colors deliver different meanings to different professions. For example, green indicates profit in the financial industry, environmental-consciousness or safety to engineers, and infection to medical professionals.
Applying Colors in Web Design
The right color choice will provide the proper impressions of the web design. Ensure that the colors you use represent the thing you design the website for (car dealer, real estate agency, cleaning services, etc.). If you are using two or three colors together in a design, make sure the colors work together. Follow the advice above.
Being practical is key. Use common sense and accumulated experience. Look for how you see color used to communicate effectively to you.
For instance, think about the signs you see. The advertising you interact with. The cover of books. Everything has a color, and when you start to consider what these colors you’re immersed in every day are communicating, you’ll be able to approach better any color-related design question you might have.
Conclusion
Neglecting color theory and ignoring the fact that different colors have particular effects is unprofessional. If you want to be considered a good web designer, it’s time to take color use seriously. You can approach this matter in many ways, but one thing for sure – if you don’t do it right, your website design projects are going to flop.
