Avoid black backgrounds – these essentially limit text color choice to white and yellow, which can look garish and hard on the eyes against black.
Don’t use yellow for web page backgrounds – it causes eyestrain
If in doubt, use black text on white background – while not very original, this color combination ensures optimal readability. In any case, choose a text color that contrasts with your background; this is usually best achieved with dark text on a light background.
Use contrasting elements in your pages to make text and graphics feel more dynamic and easier to read on the page. If you opt for a colored background or colored type, be sure that there’s enough contrast to keep your page easy to read. It’s best to check it out with text your unfamiliar with so that you don’t mistake familiarity with readability.
Color works great in marketing. There are lots of theories and opinions about what works best.
Many say Blue lends a feeling of quality and trust.
Red makes people want to act, now! Green makes people want to spend money.
Yellow tends to get attention better than any other color, but is hard on the eyes.
Designers use Yellow to spice up a headline or product name, but put the rest of the ad or package in warmer colors. One study showed that the color combination with the most powerful psychological effect was yellow title, white text, on a dark blue background.
Create an identity through all your marketing and products with one or two colors you use over and over.
This is a very basic and effective way to tie all your stuff together in the minds of customers.
Color Moods…
Red (hot, fire, daring, error, stop, persuasive)
Yellow (sunny, caution, construction, happy, cheerful, slowdown)
Green (jealousy, pastoral, envy, beginner, fertile, spring)
Blue (quality, trustworthiness, success, seriousness, calmness, water, peaceful, sad, male)
Purple (royal, comedy)
Orange (technical, warm, Halloween, fall, seasons)
Pink (feminine, cute, candy, soft)
Brown (warm, dirty, fall, organic, earth, environmental)
When you don’t have to (or don’t want to) use company colors or just utterly confused by what’s been stated above, here’s a tip:
Find a graphic that “inspires” or “moves” YOU. This graphic will become a prominent part of your website, whether it’s in the header or in the content. The colors from this graphic are what you will carry throughout the website. Sometimes it can be overwhelming when trying to choose a color palette for your website. Using this inspirational graphic will make it easier for you.
Website Design Gal | Nancy Golliday | FirstCoastDesigns.Com | 912-673-8238 [o] | 912-322-2858 [c] | Nancy@FirstCoastDesigns.Com
