The use of colour online

Mike Hall | 28/10/2009

The importance of colour selection and coordination as it applies to Web design is often overlooked. Your colours are part of your message. And depending on which message you wish to convey, the colours you choose can support, emphasize, or contradict your message.

"Marketing psychologists state that a lasting impression is made within ninety seconds (offline) and that colour accounts for 60% of the acceptance or rejection of an object, person, place, or circumstance. Because colour impressions are both quick and long lasting, decisions about colour are a critical factor in success of any visual experience." ¹

So what's involved in effectively using colour in Website design? Factors include the influence of individual colour perception, colour mix, gender preferences, emotional responses to colour and how culture can affect those responses. Colours convey specific meanings, but the precise interpretation is influenced by the viewer's perception and identity.

Understanding some principles of colour theory simplifies design decisions. The primary colours (those that can't be produced by mixing) are red, yellow and blue. The secondary colours (a mix of the primaries) are orange, green and purple. Tertiary colours, a mix of primary and secondary colours, are yellow-orange, red-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-purple, and red-purple. Complimentary colours lie opposite on the colour wheel; colours clash when hues vary. The impact of a particular colour varies based the colours adjoining it. Overlooking this colour principle can mean unexpected, unattractive or illegible site results.

Understanding basic colour perception provides greater creative freedom. If you want to manipulate colour in predictable ways, then you need to know what factors affect colour discrimination and colour appearance, how various perceptual dimensions vary together, the effect of size and spatial layout on colour etc. Colour is a tool and, like any tool, the more you understand how it works, the better you will use it.

¹Source http://www.colorcom.com/color.html

tags: Web Design , Web Marketing , User Experience , Usability