What Colours Mean
Choosing a web site colour scheme is one of the most important aspects of web site design. Colours evoke emotions in people and convey meaning. When choosing the web site colours you will use it is important to make sure the colours you choose convey the intended meaning. The list below will give you some common colour meanings.
- Red - Strength, danger, war, power, courage, confidence, passion, and love.
- Yellow - Happiness, intellect, and joy.
- Blue - Stability, loyalty, wisdom, truth, trust and confidence.
- Green - Fertility,life, nature, natural, and growth.
- Purple - Royalty, luxury, power, ambition, magic, and mystery.
- Black - elegance, evil, death, authority.
Choosing Website Colour Schemes
Once you have a basic understanding of the meaning and emotions associated with specific colours you are ready to begin planning your web site colour scheme. While there may be a variety of colours you are interested in using, they may not look good together. A handy tool to use when planning out complimentary colours can be found at Hyper Gurl. This colour match program lets you pick a colour to focus on and then shows you colours that would compliment your choice. It also gives you the HTML code that corresponds to the colour(s) you have chosen. The colour match allows you to adjust the red, green, and blue values so you can find the perfect fit for your web site design. This makes putting together you colour choices a cinch.
Colour Combinations is a similar site that allows you to look at a variety of combinations and search for combinations by code or by colour. If you are having trouble deciding what look you want you can browse, and look for combinations that are appealing to you and then check to make sure the meanings are compatible with the purpose of your web site design.
Why colour is Important to Web Site Design
Colour is important to web site design for several reasons. As discussed previously, you want to make sure the colours you choose for your web site are appropriate in meaning. Additionally, you want to make sure your web site is easy to read and navigate. Both of these depend greatly on the colour of the background and text. If you have a lot of bright colours it can be more difficult for your guest to read the information and they may simply move on to another web site.
