Colour has always had an important role in life.
Colours can change our way of thinking, our actions and reactions. It can aggravate or soothe, raise blood pressure or even suppress appetite.
The importance of colour design should not be underestimated.
Colour does more than stir certain emotions. It can help create ideas, express those ideas and even spark interest. Some colours have come to symbolise a notion, for example, red is a danger warning and green is means go.
This covers everything from traffic lights to the mood of a room. When it comes to Web Design, what COLOUR COMBINATIONS work best.
The first thing to consider is what industry is the web design for?
If you are looking for dependability and trust, blues are a preferred choice. It is the colour of the Sky and the sea, meaning it is synonymous with depth and stability.
Reds conjure up excitement and innovation
Green is the colour of nature and has a calming effect.
The list goes on, but you have a choice to make about how you want to be perceived.
THE BEST BACKGROUND COLOUR FOR A WEBSITE
If you’re a trade-based company, a combination of strong colours will bring forth the idea of solid service and dependability. Just look at the biggest hardware and plumbing supply companies and you will find deep greens and reds, blues and whites or blues and yellows.
Brands with a connection to health and the medical fields are most often aqua or blue and white, with the other option of orange.
First ask yourself what do you want to portray to your would-be customers?
If you are selling something that will be consumed for fun, then bright colour combinations are an exciting option. If you are promoting health in any way it’s a good bet to design your colours with those of Mother Nature.
COLOURING THE WAY WE THINK
In web design, colours can influence where our eyes are taken, what things we click, and how we interpret certain items on a website. A web designer worth their weight will know how best to work particular colours and harness their power.
Just how important is that choice of colour?
Studies seem to suggest that within 90 seconds of initial view, we have made a subconscious judgement about a brand or product. Up to 90% of that assessment is based on colour alone.
With such a tiny window of opportunity and your target market with an ever-shorter attention span, the importance of having the most effective and engaging colour scheme increases.
Memory retention and recall are crucial to being able to remember a specific product or brand.
The colour of your website and entire online presence needs to be determined from the outset. Ideally the colours should be limited to two and no more than three. This is to avoid overwhelming visitors and prospects. Having too many colours can easily complicate the website and will work against its effectiveness.
A SHADE CLOSER TO PERFECTION
Colours help make a website more memorable and invoke an emotional response. The best part is, the right colouring can make the user experience more enjoyable. This means increased user engagement and higher conversion rates.
It’s important to make your site as user friendly as possible and colour can help play a key role in the navigation of the visitor journey. It’s no more clearly defined than in the ability to focus attention on information and calls to action.
Different colours appeal to different demographics. Something that works for teenagers is rarely going to work well for retirees.
Here are THREE TOP TIPS to keep in mind for the design of your website.
1. GO NATURAL
Engage your website visitors – don’t stun them. Natural colours are engaging and rarely ever alarming.
2. USE THE WHITE
Colour needs white to make an impact. Using white space in the right way will only add to the power of the colours you use.
3. CONSISTENCY IS EVERYTHING
All the work has been done on the psychology of which colours to use. Remember, it’s only two or three main colours you are using, so be consistent how you use them. Adding a one-off colour or different combination can be unpleasant to the eye and make your site look amateurish.
Don’t try and work it all out yourself. Look to the professionals you can trust.
See the difference with the Digital Animals.