Colors Of Attraction And
Choosing A Color Scheme

Contributed by Timothy Burch

If someone were to come up to you and ask you what color you stop at when you are driving, you would say red. I ask you what color reminds you of sunshine and your immediate answer would be yellow. If you are feeling sad, you might be blue. Every color has meaning and every color communicates something to us. There are thousands of colors and millions upon millions of color combinations available to us and even more opportunities for mistakes when choosing and combining them. This is why it is important to take the time to know about color and color schemes when you are building a web site or online graphic.

A single color can communicate a wealth of information in an instant to the person viewing your web site. From the beginning of printing and mass media there have been recognized emotional, psychological, and economical connections to certain colors. Depending on the context a color could signify wealth, happiness, or openness.

When you are putting together a web site you need to know who your audience is and what you want to communicate about your site to that audience. Here is a basic list of what you need to be aware of when picking out a color or set of colors for you web page.

• Colors communicate psychologically.
  People are trained about colors by experience that they have with the world around them. Each color communicates from its origin and common uses. You have to know what you want the person to feel if they are coming to your web site. Do you want them to feel warm? Do you want them to feel like close friends or business partners. Here is a general list of colors and what they communicate.

  Red makes us feel warm, hungry, and more on edge. This is why stoplights are red, and more people will enjoy red clothes at night or in winter.

  Blue is a cooler color that can refresh, calm, and distance the viewer. Many times blue is a good business color because of its cool collected feel.

  Brown is a warmer color that makes us feel more connected to the earth and feels simple to us.

  Yellow communicates brightness, warmth, and light. The sun is yellow and is seen as a giver of life. Yellow helps us to feel alive, but it can also push some away because of how powerful of a color it is.

• Colors communicate historically, and geographically.
  In the Middle Ages color was used to communicate stature. Kings wore purple because of how difficult it was to obtain and keep. The common man wore neutral colors. They were easier to make and because they worked mostly with the dirt they were also easier to clean. Jesters commonly wore multiple, vivid colors because of the joy it communicated. You would want to create a candy site using lots of vivid and powerful colors. It is important to know what context your color is communicating. Many countries use colors to show political affiliation. On a political web site it is very important to know what colors your political parties are.

• Colors communicate well in combination.
  If you are going to create a web site for coffee lovers, it would not do well to have the web site be completely blue. Sometimes the only blue associated with coffee is sour milk. A coffee web site is best presented in a combination of warm colors like browns, oranges, dark reds, and shades of yellow. Using colors in combination is a huge bonus but using colors that do not mix well together can actually create disgust and animosity in your audience.

In short there are many factors that you need to be aware of in choosing your colors. There are people who spend their lives searching out color combinations and the best places to use them. To prevent you from learning this lesson the hard way here are a couple of tips to help you use colors online well.

Do not use too many colors. This becomes confusing and difficult to look at.

Using colors that are only shades apart will make your site feel more connected.

Colored text is a bad idea. If you must color your text use black, brown, or dark gray text on light backgrounds, and white, yellow, or bright red text on dark backgrounds.

Look at the color combinations that you see in nature. Pay attention to the shades of green and blue in the night sky. How do the colors of the leaves look in fall? This will make your web site more comfortable.

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About the Author:
Timothy Burch is a freelance graphic designer, writer, and published musician living in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He loves the outdoors and working with people.

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