The power of color.
By
Joanne Glasspoole
Do you find it hard to choose color schemes for your Web designs?
It is a question I get asked often. An effective color scheme
can make or break your Web site. If it doesn't convey the personality
you are trying to achieve, you may end up alienating the people
you are trying so hard to get to notice you.
In my quest to design successful, attractive Web sites, I spend
a lot of time picking colors. Making sure colors coordinate well
with each other is not an easy task. But, with the right tools
and a good sense of what looks right, you can achieve the look
and feel you desire.
Color has the power to make us feel hungry, cool, warm, excited,
sexy, joyful, sad. Can you imagine the world without color?
Following is a brief summary of some of the emotions/feelings
associated with color:
1. RED: warmth, love, anger, danger, boldness, excitement
2. ORANGE: cheerfulness, low cost, affordability
3. YELLOW: attention-grabbing, comfort, liveliness, cowardliness
4. GREEN: durability, reliability, environmental, luxurious, optimism,
well-being
5. BLUE: professionalism, loyalty, reliability, honor, melancholia,
boredom
6. PURPLE: power, royalty, elegance, artificial
7. GRAY: conservatism, traditionalism, intelligence, serious,
dull, uninteresting
8. BROWN: relaxing, confident, casual, reassuring, earthy
9. BLACK: Elegance, sophistication, formality, strength, illegality,
depression, morbidity
10. WHITE: Cleanliness, purity, newness, virginity, peace, innocence,
simplicity, sterility
The above associations are not universal. Depending on the country,
different colors can mean different things. If you are designing
a Web site for an international audience, it is crucial that you
pay particular attention to choosing your color schemes. Choosing
the wrong colors may prove detrimental to the success of your
Web site.
For more information about color, visit the following Web sites:
The Color Schemer
http://www.colorschemer.com/online/
ColorMix
http://www.colormix.com/
Palette Man
http://www.paletteman.com/
Pantone
http://www.pantone.com/index.asp?pn=home
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright (c) 2000 by Joanne Glasspoole. Joanne is the editor/publisher
of CYBER QUEST. Each issue is jam packed with original reports,
newsbriefs, cool Webmaster tools, and more. To subscribe, send
e-mail to
Majordomo@lists.kdv.com
with "subscribe cyberquest" in the body of your message.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------