Colour is a very important element in your website. Have you ever been to a page that had a yellow background and bold red text?....how long did you stay there for......

If you're anything like me - colour challenged - this and other articles in my series on colour may be of some assistance.

When color is used correctly, it can add impact and clarity to your message and highlight important points. When color is used incorrectly, it can compromise your message and confuse your target audience - to the point that they click their way out of your site as quickly as they can, usually screaming and cursing as they do so!

Color can make visiting your website a more pleasant experience in 2 very important ways

- Color emphasises, highlights, and leads the eye to important points or links.

- Color symbolizes and triggers emotions and memories.

When I'm out scouring the net for resources, I'm usually zapping from site to site at a rapid rate, watching the clock to see how much time I have left before having to move on to other things, my eyes and brain become bored with repetition. But when I hit a site that has a particular colour scheme (lilacs, believe it or not!), I switch into cruise mode and take my time....seriously. But colour is a very personal thing

The interpretation of a color depends on nationality, profession, and personal preference. In general, the colors red, orange, and yellow are "exciting" colors and the colors purple, blue, and green are "calming" colors.

Black is an interesting case. You will notice that all my backgrounds on www.tamingthebeast.net are black. This has a mixed response from people who visit it. Black is associated with death, underground, decay etc, etc, but also has corporate overtones (hmmm, I see a pattern emerging!).

My reasons for using black are:

a) - I like it!

b) - After cruising around on the Internet for a few hours looking at white backgrounds until my eyes are threatening to become explosive projectiles, I found that a black background on a site relieved them.

c) - Contrast qualities for laptop users and the visually impaired.

d) - The theme of the site, portraying the PC as an evil force to be reckoned with!

d) - I like it!

I am by no means saying that you SHOULD use a black background, merely stating the reasons why I use it. For any colour that you are considering utilising, give some thought as to the reasons for doing so. For example, I would strongly recommend against using black backgrounds with pink to purple text - these colours are strongly associated with XXX sites.

The yellow that I use is something that I am reconsidering. According to the research I have carried out, yellow is one of the most irritating of colours and should be used sparingly. An alternative is to use a shade other than pure yellow, a paler one.

The blue that I use on the buttons is a fairly safe colour for a variety of different layouts.

The silver/grey text contrasts well. I experimented with white, but found it to be too "in your face".

You may find the point and click colour scheming link on my site of some use when deciding upon schemes. It can be found at http://www.tamingthebeast.net/training/webdesign.htm , in the Images section.

The next article will cover web safe colours.

As always, your feedback on any of these subjects is encouraged and appreciated

Michael Bloch
michael@tamingthebeast.net
http://www.tamingthebeast.net
Tutorials, web content, software and tools
Web Marketing, eCommerce & Development solutions.
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