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How
To Choose Your Website Colors
© 2005
Jason OConnor
Color is often
overlooked in the business of optimizing websites for better returns
on investments. Website sales can be greatly affected by simply
changing its colors. Ever come across a website that uses some funky
combination of print and background colors? If you ever want to
experience an eye-twisting headache, try reading yellow print on
a blue background. The reason you see black type on a white background
so much is that it is the best color combination for reading, both
on and offline.
And since it
is even harder to read text on a monitor than it is on paper, we
must all be especially careful with the colors we choose for our
websites, or suffer less-than-optimal site traffic and repeat visitors.
Color choice
should also be dictated by other, less obvious goals, when designing
or re-vamping a website. It's important to realize that different
colors invoke different emotions, are associated with specific concepts
and say different things in each society. For instance, green often
times is associated with freshness or money, which is fairly obvious
if you think about it. But every color does this, and some of the
emotions and concepts are more subtle. For example, white means
pure, easy, or goodness and purple can be associated with royalty
or sophistication. What’s more, each color carries with it
both positive and negative ideas. The emotions and concepts that
you associate with specific colors may differ from other people's
associations, but there are themes that run throughout each color.
Here are some:
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Positive |
Negative |
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Red
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Sense
of power, strength, passion, sexuality |
Anger,
forcefulness, impulsiveness, impatience, intimidation,
conquest, violence and revenge |
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Yellow
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Caution,
brightness, intelligence, joy, organization, Spring time |
Criticism,
laziness, or cynicism |
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Blue |
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Tranquility, love, acceptance, patience, understanding,
cooperation, comfort, loyalty and security |
Fear,
coldness, passivity and depression |
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Orange
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Steadfastness,
courage, confidence, friendliness, and cheerfulness, warmth,
excitement, & energy |
Ignorance,
inferiority, sluggishness and superiority |
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Purple
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Royalty,
sophistication, religion |
Bruised,
foreboding |
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Green
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Money,
health, food, nature, hope, growth, freshness, soothing,
sharing, and responsiveness |
Envy,
greed, constriction, guilt, jealousy and disorder |
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| White |
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Pure,
fresh, easy, cleanliness or goodness |
Blind,
winter, cold, distant |
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Black
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Dramatic,
classy, committed, serious |
Evil,
death, ignorance, coldness |
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A major goal of marketers is to invoke emotion in their audience.
We know that if we can cause some kind of an emotional reaction
in the people we are marketing to and communicating with, we have
a better chance of compelling them to buy from us. The battle between
logic and emotion that rages in each of is usually won by emotion
most of the time. By choosing the colors of our websites and online
media with deliberate care, we are purposefully trying to invoke
a specific emotional response that will increase sales. So pick
your colors carefully.
Not only do
colors evoke emotions, but they can communicate messages or concepts
too. For example, look at http://www.clickitticket.com
to see how color is used to communicate the new affiliation between
Oak Web Works, LLC and ClickitTicket.com. The blues of Oak Web Works’s
logo swirl into the reds of ClickitTicket.com’s logo. This
can be interpreted as a melding of the two organizations, which
is what the words underneath say, “in affiliation with”.
Also, the red of http://www.oakwebworks.com/tickets/
indicates action and passion, two essentials for people who want
to attend theater, sporting events or concerts.
Another online
ticket website, http://www.bestshowticketslasvegas.com/,
has a different color approach. Its main colors are blue and purple,
giving the site a comforting, secure and sophisticated feel. The
main header on each page has all the colors in the rainbow in it,
a collage of images, with the word ‘Tickets’ in large,
white font. Much of the site is white too, which gives it a clean
feel.
As a general
rule of thumb, when Oak Web Works (http://www.oakwebworks.com)
designs websites, one primary color and one secondary or complimentary
color will be chosen. These colors are based on the specific audience
and market of our client and the messages the client wants to communicate
to the rest of the world. If more than two or three colors are used,
things tend to look a little messy, and the power of any one color
is diluted too much, so we most often stick with two colors.
When I am not
sure exactly which colors or combinations to use, I often start
trying different things, then take a step back and ask myself what
my chosen colors are conveying to me. After designing many websites
over the years I have realized that going with my gut has often
worked when I’m in doubt. You would be surprised at how creative
and accurate your intuition can be.
However, if
the client already has an established brand, we will always make
sure to match the colors of the website with the original colors
of the company. It is not wise to have print collateral material
one color and the website a totally unrelated color. All marketing
channels need to remain consistent, with one face only.
Since website
visitors all have different platforms, different monitors, and different
settings for their screen resolutions, the colors you choose for
your website may not always be rendered the exact same way on your
site visitors' monitors. That's why there are "Web Safe"
colors that have a much higher likelihood of looking the exact same
regardless of the user's computer, monitor or settings. Many graphics
programs, including Adobe Photoshop, have a feature that allows
you to choose “Web Safe” colors only.
Keep in mind
however, that the sophistication of technology today allows for
Web designers to be able to stray from the "Web Safe"
colors more and more. So don't be overly concerned if you choose
to use “un-safe’ Web colors, chances are that most of
your audience has the computers necessary to view your site the
exact way you intended.
Whether you
are designing sites for clients or designing your own business website,
your color choice is vital. Be sure to try different colors, different
shades, and different combinations before you decide. It’s
a lot of fun playing with colors but every choice you make comes
with a set of pre-defined societal meanings and emotions, so choose
with deliberate care.
Jason OConnor
Copyright 2005
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