Color effects are feelings and perception. It is logical to believe the colors of your website will provoke certain reactions in visitors. Given that it takes about 8 seconds for the average visitor to decide whether they will stay and explore your website, color scheme becomes even more important.
There is science and psychology behind which colors produce what feelings. You have probably noticed that a big percentage of websites are designed using blue. This is because blue provokes emotions such as loyalty and trust. Think about that for a minute. Facebook is the most trusted website on the internet. Almost everyone has a Facebook account, under his or her real name and birthday. Most of the world posts pictures and videos of their friends and family to their Facebook walls. Members give out their children’s names and ages, addresses, and place of employment. People post on Facebook daily, hourly even, and reveal unbelievably private things about themselves.
Could blue really inspire this much trust that they give away that much personal information about themselves?
Red brings on feelings of boldness, excitement, and desire. Websites with niches such as celebrities, gossip, music, and news sites often use red as a dominate color in their color scheme. When using red as part of your color scheme, you must remember not to use too much.
Black is actually a breathtaking color to use as well. Black stands for elegance and sophistication; it is exceptional for professional, business sites. When used with the right contrast color it can be very beautiful and memorable. When using black in your color scheme you must remember that in most cultures it represents evil, death, and bad luck.
The colors of your website should combine in a way that is appealing to visitors and provokes some sort of action from them. The color scheme of your website is much like your appearance. You only have one chance to make a first impression. Assuming colors do affect mood and trigger particular reactions in visitors, you have about 10 seconds using the color scheme of your website to convey your message.
There are many tools online to help you chose a color scheme:
Color Combos – http://www.colorcombos.com/ is an excellent place to start. Color Combos gives you the option to create and share your own color schemes, choose from ones already created by guests, or type in any URL and grab the color scheme used on a particular website.
Color Scheme Designer – http://colorschemedesigner.com/ is also an outstanding site that helps immensely with designing the color scheme for your website. While it may be a bit complicated to use your first visit, in no time will be able to create complimentary color schemes that are incredibly appealing.
Finally, make sure you visit Colors on the Web. http://www.colorsontheweb.com/ Colors on the Web has a multitude of color tools that you find remarkably helpful in choosing the perfect color scheme.
Sometimes all you need is a little inspiration. Do not despair, here are few well-done websites meant to inspire designers everywhere.
WDL, or Web Design Ledger, is created by web designers specifically for web designers. Topics range from design inspiration to tutorials, tips, and everything that has to do with web design. Here is a page of 27 examples of color use in web design on WDL. http://webdesignledger.com/inspiration/27-examples-of-color-usage-in-web-design
The most important thing to remember when designing a website is to keep it clean and simple. Use colors that complement each other and make your website design visually appealing.
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