Choosing A Color Scheme
When you begin the design of your Web site, one of the first things you need to do is decide on a color scheme. Although choosing colors seems like a relatively easy proposition, it's not easy at all. In fact, it's hard. One of the pluses we have as Web designers is that millions of colors are at our disposal. Unlike the print world, we do not have to pay for each color we use. If we want to use a specific hue of yellow, for example, all we need to know is the hexadecimal code for that particular color. One of the pitfalls of having millions of colors to pick from is that some people go crazy and use every color imaginable on their Web site. This is a big no-no. Not only does it look unprofessional to use 20 different colors on your home page, but depending on the colors you choose, your page may not be readable. It is extremely important to pick hues that complement each other. You will want to use a background color that contrasts well with the color of your text. People are used to reading black text on a white background. I keep this fact in mind when I design my clients' Web sites. Although I have never stuck with the black and white color scheme, I try to use a dark font on a light background. It makes for easier reading and a more pleasant experience for my visitors. Color affects our emotions. For example, the color red makes us hungry. If you're on a diet, it wouldn't be a good idea to set your table with a red tablecloth! Colors like blue and green are cool. Have you noticed in the summertime how sitting in a blue room automatically makes you feel refreshed? Yellow is a wonderful brightener. It is cheerful and warm -- like the sun. When using colors on your Web site, you need to consider the mood you want to create and the audience you are designing for. If you are designing a Web site for children, red is an excellent color choice, because it attracts the eye and stimulates our metabolism. Red is cheerful and exuberant. Blue is an excellent choice for a business site because it exudes professionalism, wealth and power. If you are designing a Web site for a nature group, greens and browns are natural choices because they are colors that are commonly found in the outdoors. Another important consideration when choosing color schemes is cultural differences. For example, black is the color most commonly associated with mourning in the United States, but in Japan, white symbolizes sorrow. In Malaysia, green is associated with disease, and red symbolizes anger in Indonesia. As you can see by just these three examples, color is interpreted quite differently depending on the country. You must be careful if you don't want to insult your visitors. Choosing an appropriate color scheme for your Web site is extremely important. Your color scheme must be carefully considered because the wrong choices could adversely affect your visitor's experience at your Web site. You only have one chance to make a good impression. Don't blow it! For more information about choosing color schemes, visit the following resources on the Web: The Color Schemer
Clear Ink's Palette Man Project Cool Developer Zone
VisiBone Web Design Color References
A book that illustrates excellent use of color on the Web is "Web Site Graphics: Color" by Jeff Carlson, Toby Malina and Glenn Fleishman. For more information about this book, visit http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1564965163/ About The Author Joanne Glasspoole is a Webmaster and freelance Web designer. Visit her Web site for Internet and technology news, insightful articles, and links to excellent Webmaster resources to help you grow your online business. http://www.glasspoole.com
MORE RESOURCES: CSS5 Features for Faster Web Design Analytics Insight Web Design and Development Muskegon Community College 15 Most Popular Fonts for 2025 DesignRush Unveiling the invisible hand: how AI is reshaping web design UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media ChatGPT was tasked with designing a website. The result was as manipulative as you'd expect Fast Company Top Web Design Trends for 2025 Designmodo BFA in Art - Graphic Design Texas Woman's University Best web design software of 2025 TechRadar Best website design service of 2024 TechRadar Web Design TOP Agency Iconic Website Design Inspiration: Nike DesignRush Top Web Design Trends in 2024 Netguru The best web design tools: work faster and smarter Creative Bloq 20 Web Design Portfolio Examples Shopify Is a Graphic Design Degree Worth It? Southern New Hampshire University 7 Ugly Niche Websites That Make Over $5000 Each Month DataDrivenInvestor Interview with Jack Watson, Branding and Web Design Expert CreativePro Network The US Digital Service ten years later: how the agency cuts through web design bureaucracy Fast Company Jeremy Empie Web Design open for business at new location Oskaloosa Herald Website Design Competition Michigan Council of Women in Technology 18 stunning parallax scrolling websites Creative Bloq New Web Development Tool Pulls Design Tokens From Figma The New Stack The 4 Best Website Builders of 2025 | Reviews by Wirecutter The New York Times E-Commerce Design by Older Adults: The Selection and Placement of Web Objects on Shopping Sites Frontiers The best (and worst) web design trends of 2024 Creative Bloq Small-business owner specializes in graphic, web design SiouxFalls.Business Top 10 Advertising Agency Websites of 2024 DesignRush The 6 Best Web Design Courses Worth Taking in 2024 TechRepublic The best 404 pages for clever web design inspiration Creative Bloq How to Use ChatGPT to Build a Website Themeisle Revolutionizing Web Design: How Squarespace’s Design Intelligence AI Empowers Creators Yahoo! Voices The top free blogging options Creative Bloq 35 Best Web Design Companies 2024 Built In 52 Key Web Design Statistics for 2024 (+ Emerging Trends) Influencer Marketing Hub Web Design Trends to Watch in 2024 SitePoint Minimalist website design: 12 striking examples Creative Bloq Best web development tool of 2025 TechRadar Why (and How) I Learned Web Development as a Data Scientist | by Matt Chapman - Towards Data Science Why (and How) I Learned Web Development as a Data Scientist | by Matt Chapman Towards Data Science User Experience (UX) Internship :: Libraries Swarthmore College Are you up to build the next best website? Get started with one of these 5 web design courses Fortune 12 Tips to Build an Effective Business Website Business News Daily The 15 best iPad apps for designers Creative Bloq Jeremy McGilvrey, A Houston Web Design Agency, Inks Long-Term Lease In Prestigious Williams Tower Office Space Yahoo Finance Bachelor of Arts in Web Design and Development - Information Science University of Arkansas at Little Rock 10 Chicago Web Design and Development Agencies You Should Know Built In Chicago Services Crescent Vale Why Adobe is frustrating web designers Creative Bloq Web Design Statistics 2024 – Improve Your Customer Experience Enterprise Apps Today An In-Depth Guide And Best Practices For Mobile SEO Search Engine Journal |
RELATED ARTICLES
Eight Website Pitfalls, and How to Avoid Them Clutter: Too much noise, too much text, and too little white space mean that customers ignore the content. Customers often scan pages quickly, only reading titles or input prompts until they reach the content they want. My Top Ten List Of Extremely Annoying Web Page Design Elements! Easy navigation and usability are one of the most important aspects of creating a "user friendly" website. However, there are still a "plethora" of web-sites out there that are, to be politically correct, "functionally challenged. Web Designers Beware! As a web designer, I have a personal interest in a new trend which threatens to put me and my kind out of business. That "threat" is Web Design Templates. Web Design for Ecommerce Your website is your tool for showing the online community an image of your Drop Ship retail business. Whether or not your business succeeds depends heavily on your website. 14 Ways to Add Content to Your Web Site - Part 2 7. Create high quality content - make clear points with each paragraph you write. Web Site Accessibility Making your site accessible means making it available to be used by all. It's too easy to think that what looks ok to you will do for all. How To Attract People To Your Web Site and Leave Their Contact If you have a website, you want your visitors to stay longer on your website and get more sales. Here are 10 ways you can do to improve it. Web Production And Design Tips You have identified that to have an internet prescence would be of benefit to your small business, however are not sure how to proceed. This article gives free tips on web design services and practices and on how to keep your web designer happy and on side. Design With Purpose If your website is falling through the cracks, the chances are that the site has no message, no central core to build traffic or a core readership. Websites that try to do everything usually fail. Use Exclusive Content - When Reprint Articles Dont Do Enough There is no doubt that reprint articles can serve lots of search engine traffic to your site.. Make Your Site Quick To Load! The time it takes to load your site can make or break a visitor's first impression of your site. If your site takes too long to load, the visitor will click "Stop" or "Back" and leave your web site. So You're Hiring a Web Designer-You Have the Right to Demand these 7 Perks Whether you're hiring a designer who has created 10 sites or 1000 sites for other businesses, there are 10 things every website should do for you.1. The Golden Rule Of Website Building Copyright 2005 Robert EvansSetting yourself up to earn a steady monthly income has to be a pre-requisite to your success online. There is no doubt that large sums of money can be made (and indeed are being made) from selling products or services online. How To Choose A Website Designer Now that you have decided that it is time to create a website for your business there are many questions you must answer. One of the most important questions is "Who should create my website?"I like to use the analogy of playing music; in as little as a few hours, some people can strum a few chords on the guitar and play a song. Website Basics The Basics You have a flourishing business - everything is in its place. You just miss one important piece of marketing: an Internet Presence a website. Why Hire a Professional to Design Your Web Site? Creating an appealing, functional, and effective Web site is much harder than it looks. It's not simply a matter of taking a company brochure or catalog, converting the text to HTML, and throwing in a few pictures (although many sites seem to have been created using this technique!). To Hire or Not to Hire a Website Designer In the early years of the internet the actual design of a website was either very basic or had to be done using a software package that needed a specialist to use it. Not surprisingly, website designers were in short supply and could command huge fees for their services. Web Site Redirection - How to Implement a 301 Redirect You just created a new web site but want to pass on thesearch engine rankings of the old one to the new one. Whatis the most effective and spider/visitor friendly strategyto implement your web site redirection? You should use a301 redirect. Dos and Donts in Web Design - part 1 (design) Do use a consistent look and feelYour site should stand out as a whole. Use the same look and feel for all the pages at your site. Website Design: Color Me Blue Chris, a new consulting client, asked me to help him increase sales on his affiliate marketing site.As he was describing his site and the problem, I thought, "This is going to be a quick fix. |
home | site map |
Webdesign-box © 2006 |