Choosing a color for your website shouldn’t be as difficult as you might think. There are more than enough resources a person can reference when researching for a website endeavor.
One of the big challenges when researching for a new website is deciding on an overall color palette. This is, after all, a big decision. That being said, having basic knowledge in color theory can help tremendously in achieving this important goal.
Color Theory
Color theory is as important to design as is wheels to a car. It can make or break a website. Color create a first impression. It sets a mood, both consciously and subconsciously. The main objective in color theory is to measure the visual balance within the color wheel. Primary, Secondary and Tertiary colors make up this color wheel. I could go into depth about what colors go into these three categories, but think it more important to talk about how colors can affect a person on a subconscious level.
Colors & The Subconscious
The psychological effect of color is an important factor when choosing a color theme for your website. You don’t necessarily want a bright warm to hot color if you are a doctor in psychology. A better bet would be a more subdued cool color that calms. The opposite can be said if you are a karate dojo. There needs to be a subconscious first impression that happens with your visitor that sparks an appeal so your visitor feels that they need to continue to your site.
Warm vs Cool
As mentioned above, there is a certain amount of psychology that goes into choosing colors for a website. If you are opening a fast food restaurant, it’s probably a good idea to choose a palette that uses warmer colors. Warmer colors are said to arouse and stimulate. Cool colors, on the other hand, recede and calm, helping to relax a person.
Here are some websites that can help with choosing a color palette:
Hope this helps with researching colors for your website. Contact Jacobito Design if you need help with this important web design decision.