Oct 8, 2014
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The Do’s and Don’ts of Color
As a marketing company we understand that design is an important principle in effective marketing. And when it comes to design, color can be the hardest aspect to choose for your website. Mainly because there are so many color palettes to choose from. And with so many pallets comes too many opportunities to mix and match clashing colors on the website, which eventually drives viewers away from the page rather than towards it.
Before choosing your colors ask yourself the following questions …
Who are your potential visitors?
What are your products or services?
What are your objectives with the website?
Understanding your audience and having a clear goal for your website will help you narrow down what colors are best for your website. Keep in mind what you want the customer to feel when they visit your page. Depending on the desired action from your public will help you to choose the best color to achieve your website’s goals and objectives.
When someone visits your website do you want them to feel hungry, happy or calm? Specific colors can erect respective moods and feelings. Believe it or not there is a whole science of how color affects human behavior; it’s called color psychology.
Condensed list of colors and potential meanings …
Red: passion, romance, fire, violence, aggression. Red means stop, or signals warning or forbidden actions in many cultures.
Purple: creativity, mystery, (reddish purple) royalty, mysticism, rarity. Purple is associated with death in Catholic cultures, as mentioned above.
Blue: loyalty, security, conservatism, tranquility, coldness, sadness. Light blues create a feeling of openness, clean air and freshness, while dark blues can convey tradition, trust and solidity.
Green: nature, fertility, growth, envy. In North American cultures, green means ‘go,’ is associated with environmental awareness, and is often linked to fiscal matters. A lighter, somewhat desaturated green is the color of money and indicates wealth or value.
Yellow: brightness, illumination, illness, cowardice. Some yellows can symbolize the precious metal – gold – and are universally valued.
Black: power, sophistication, contemporary style, death, morbidity, evil, night.
White: purity, innocence, cleanliness, truth, peace, coldness, sterility. White is also the color of death in Chinese culture, as mentioned above.
Once you’ve figured out what colors fit best with your goals and customer demographics, then you just need to make sure your page has color harmony and unity. The best way to do this is to choose no more than four or five colors and plug them into a color wheel. If you’re not sure how to tell if colors are contrasting or complimentary from a color wheel visit this site.
We hope these tips help you to choose and understand the best colors for your website. For more marketing help feel free to contact us!