Web Design and the Psychology of Colour

Colour by virtue of its tremendous expressive qualities is one of the most effective tools in advertisements and presentations. Web design is no exception in this regard. Psychologists have found out that Colour impression can account for 60% of the acceptance or rejection of that product or service.

Here’s a brief elucidation on varying dimensions of Colour.

There is a high degree of universality in the implicit meaning of Colour across cultures and geographies

Name something Green, people will refer to trees, name something blue, people will mean water. People generally associate Colours with where each Colour is predominantly found, regardless of cultures and regions.

Here’s a description of the symbolic significance and potential uses of common Colours.

Red

Symbolises: Passion, fire, love, lust, war, violence, blood, and aggression

Potential Uses: Where the aim is to motivate an individual to initiate action, convey a warning, or stop the user.

When using different shades of red on a website, exercise caution Bright red can be quite irritating if used over large areas.

Pink

Symbolises: Calming, cute, candy, soft romantic, and feminine

Potential Uses: When you want to strike on a user’s caring or romantic side.

Orange
Symbolises Vibrancy and warmth. It is like a less passionate red.

Potential Uses: Recommended for food sites, nature sites.

Orange is good in moderation. Over-use should be avoided.

Yellow

Symbolises: Sunshine, caution, happy, cheerful, warmth, hope, light, energy, weakness or illness, or symbolise cowardice.

Potential Uses: To make a web page brighter and more spring-like.

Like red, it catches attention swiftly but can be an irritant if over-used.

Green

Symbolises: Spring, renewal, fertility, wealth, inexperience, health

Potential Uses: Excellent Colour option for websites about money and growing.

Blue

Symbolises: Sky, sea, intelligence, reassurance, also depression and sadness.

Potential Uses: To give a website formal look and feel.

Purple

Symbolises Creativity, spiritual and mysterious.

Potential Uses: Best for spiritual sites, expressing romantic tenor

Black

Symbolises Power, elegance, and sophistication, death (Western context), evil, anger and sadness.

Potential Uses: Be on the safe side, never use over a wide area.

White

Symbolises Cleanliness, purity, and spirituality. It symbolises life and marriage in Western cultures, but it is symptomatic of death in Eastern cultures.

Potential Uses: Great as an accent or background Colour because it makes other Colours seem more vivid and bold

How to make Colour scheme work for you

Keep it simple. A Colour Palette using three or fewer overall Colours contributes to the clarity of a web page.

Use white space. White space does a balancing act for Colours, lets the design breathe and makes a large site feel less complex.

Be consistent. Consistency in Colours (i.e. links, menu items, instructions etc.) allows your audience to instinctively know where to look for information.

Know your audience. Before you set the ball rolling in design, you should be convinced enough what Colours the audience would find compelling and right for your product.

Choose the right temperature of Colours. The perception of your site is affected by your choice of warm or cool Colours. Cool Colours are water and sky Colours like blue and purple; warm Colours are red, orange and yellow. The temperature of a Colour affects how your message is likely to be perceived. SALE written in red will be perceived as more vibrant and urgent than soft purple text.

Let Colour contrast distinguish significant parts of your site.

The contrast between text and its background is essential for legibility. Dark text on a white background, for instance, is more legible than orange text on a red background. Different elements on your web page (i.e. the menu and body of the page) must contrast or they will begin blending together.

Colour lesson: A well-considered Colour scheme can transform an okay website into a great website

Colour is one of the most important yet not-so-thoroughly understood elements of web design today. Whether web designers appreciate it or ignore it, visitors to a site respond to Colours and other visual elements on the site on a psychological level and will continue to do so.

Colour affects the emotion of the audience, and emotion, in the process, drives decision-making. An intrigued visitor is more likely to be engaged in your site — whether it is meant to inform, entertain, or to sell products or services or ideas.

But if the Colours are unsuitable, or outrageous, or not in line with the underlying symbolism, the visitors can outrightly reject the site–and the products as well–no matter how good they are. So, picking Colours on your website carefully can transform your site, and of course, your business too