Which Color is the Right Color?
Never underestimate the power of a simple palette. Keep it simple—avoid using too many colors. Avoid clutter. The eye is like a muscle, if you overuse it, well, it gets tired. If you overwhelm your readers with too many colors, they may lose interest without even knowing why.
Because you know your audience, you know what you are trying to convey, and color, if used effectively, can speak volumes before you have said a word.
RED: Red is associated with anger, aggression, blood, sex, and power. Red stimulates. It drives people to action. Red makes an excellent BUY NOW button. Red is exciting and passionate; it is enthusiastic and energetic. The color red can make you feel hot—use it to heat up your message, but don’t burn your reader. Red is the most visually dominant color and should be used wisely. An entire page of red could possibly drive your readers away.
YELLOW: Yellow is the first color your eye will see. It commands attention, but, like anything powerful, too much of it will dilute your message and create the opposite effect. Yellow is associated with wisdom, sunshine, joy, radiance, intellect, and idealism. It is also associated with cowardice and caution. Yellow speeds the metabolism, but depresses the appetite and can cause nausea in certain shades. Think of yellow like you would your highlighter: Use it for your call-to-action and draw people in.
BLUE: Blue is an excellent color choice for spiritual topics, professional corporations, and nonprofit organizations. Blue is associated with water, sky, masculinity, coolness, peace, knowledge, contemplation, loyalty, trust, and justice. It is a subdued color and can cause inaction. If you choose a cool blue for your call-to-action, you may be inadvertently talking your buyers out of buying your product—or at the very least causing them to reconsider their decision to buy. Most people buy on emotion; that’s why impulse browsers at Target are so effective, and why sale signs are usually red or yellow, or both.
GREEN: Green is a soothing and restful color; it is known to have healing power, and it represents fertility in many cultures. It is associated with nature, the environment, money, growth, harmony, and honesty. It is also associated with greed—green with envy. Physically, it is the easiest on the eyes and is a great color for landing pages—to speak a truth, or to highlight a testimonial.
PURPLE: Purple is a luxurious and self-indulgent color; it is associated with royalty, wisdom, imagination, sophistication, inspiration, wealth, and mysticism. Varying shades of purple convey various meanings and look especially nice with green. By the same token, purple is rarely seen in nature and therefore takes on an artificial air. I’m willing to bet that most financial institutions would not choose purple as their primary Web color. It’s more of a romantic and whimsical color and sparks the imagination. Be careful with this color; people typically feel strongly of purple—they love it or hate it.
ORANGE: In nature, this is the color of the turning season; it is the color of fall. It is associated with creativity, energy, vibrancy, stimulation, health, activity, and sociability. It is less aggressive than red, but also a very good call-to-action color. It draws attention without seeming so emphatic about its cause. It works very well with blue and is often used by financial institutions that are trying to reach a younger market. It is less daring than red, but active enough to stimulate the brain and bring about action.
BLACK: Black is associated with night, death, power, weight, sophistication, elegance, formality, seriousness, dignity, solitude, and mystery. White text on a black background is a bold move on the part of a Web designer, as it makes the text difficult to read. However, many artistic sites use this to create a feeling of dissidence. Black has been known to represent secrecy and intrigue, which makes it a great choice for mystery writers, especially when it is combined with the color red. When used properly, black can be very sophisticated.
WHITE: White is associated with purity, innocence, perfection, virtue, cleanliness, softness, sacredness, truth, and simplicity. It is the easiest color to read lettering against and is often the best choice for a background, as it gives the other colors prominence. Sometimes, simplicity is the best way to convey your message. However, when you consider that computer monitors are light-emitting screens, it would stand to reason that too much white just might give your reader a headache. No one wants to stare into a white light for any length of time. A white Web site with black text and no imagery to break up the noise is a bad choice for any prudent author.
GRAY: This is a great color for photography and art sites because it rarely evokes emotion and allows for the colors of the art to take the spotlight. Gray is a balance of white and black; it is its own complement. Gray is associated with neutrality, balance, security, reliability, modesty, classicism, maturity, and intelligence. Blue and gray are classic colors for financial institutions and universities.
As you choose your colors, think about the harmony of nature and the audience you wish to attract. Be consistent with your color choice. Remember that this becomes part of your branding, and you would be well served to make sure that it looks good with your logo. Context is your first concern—this comes from knowing your audience. Strive to attain contrast; this is the basis behind complementary colors and why they are pleasing to the eye.
In addition, complementary colors are less fatiguing to the eye. According to Frank Vodvarka, associate professor of Fine Arts at Loyola University Chicago, “The use of green in surgical operating rooms is, in fact, an effort to neutralize the constant exposure of the surgeon to red-violet of human organ tissue so as to prevent spatial depth illusions.” Color is used in many ways; use it to your advantage.
Also, take into account that not everyone sees color the same. In fact, 6 to 9 percent of males and 0.8 percent of females are color-blind. Never fear, however, if you use contrast and color complements; you will achieve the same effect.
Most problematic for anyone looking to choose just the right color is the cultural component. What might work very well with an affluent demographic may not work at all in a lower socioeconomic group. Again, do your research—know your audience and you will be more apt to choose just the right color.
