Choosing Colors for Your Web Site

Having well-composed and structured content is only the beginning when it comes to creating a website. All the elements of the site - the structure, the content, the functionality, and the design - come together to create one cohesive look and feel. Your visitors will draw conclusions about you and your site during the first few seconds they visit, so it is important to make it aesthetically appealing and choose the right colors to affect the mood. Color is one of the best ways to send subliminal messages about who you are and what you want your visitor to think of your site; if utilized properly, your site's purpose and theme should be properly conveyed through color. So be sure to know color theory.


Warm colors are chosen for the energy, passion, and positivity they convey. Colors like these are used when you want to get a visitor's attention. However, these colors can be overpowering if used in excess. You should pick warm colors as accent colors and offset them with lighter tints, neutrals, or complementary cool colors to take the overwhelming edge off.

• Red is the hottest of the three; it is associated with fire, violence, and warfare. However, it is also associated with love, passion, power, and excitement.


• Orange conveys energy, happiness, and vitality, and is often associated with autumn and change. Whereas red can be overbearing, orange is friendly, warm and inviting.


• Yellow is the brightest of the three colors and conveys happiness, hope, energy, and deceit; it is often associated with sunshine and can give a design a pleasing pop of color. Be careful, though; too much yellow can subconsciously irritate the user.

Cool colors are chosen for the calm, relaxed, and reserved feeling they invoke. These colors are good for sites that want to instill goodwill in their customer, such as insurance, health care, and financial oriented sites. In general, cool colors can be used as a main or an accent color; they can offer interest and color to a page without being overwhelming.

• Green is a natural color; it conveys renewal, abundance, and stability. It is energetic yet can be calming, depending on the vibrancy of the hue.


• Blue can convey sadness, but it can also invoke feelings of calm and responsibility. Bright blues can offer a pop of accent color while muted blues can offer a seamless transition.


• Purple is often associated with creativity, royalty, and opulence. Lighter purples can be reminiscent of spring and romance, while dark purples can command pertinence and luxury.

Neutrals can be used for the main color of the site. They provide a pleasing backdrop to the content, drawing attention to the content instead of the design itself. When combined with accent colors, neutrals can create a pleasing design and showcase the finer details, drawing attention to the mood colors and providing wonderful contrast. Although these colors do have connotations associated with them, the colors that surround them determine the mood more than they do.

• Black is a very powerful color and can indicate sophistication and modern detail; however, you should be careful about what colors you want to choose with it, since it is also associated with evil, death, and mystery.


• White is a very pure, clean, and virtuous neutral; it is commonly used in minimalistic designs and is great for showcasing content and font.


• Browns and tans can provide an earthy, natural feel. Warmer tones of brown can convey some of the characteristics of orange; it is friendly and genuine.

Choosing a color scheme can be difficult even with these things in mind. You can hire a web designer, like Codank Web Design, to talk about what kind of message you want to send your audience and what kind of feelings you want to convey.

About CODANK Web Design

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