What Colours Work Best for a Website?
publication date: Jul 11, 2006
Once you have decided on your websites layout, it is time to think a bit more about the colours.The colours are very important.
Individual colours and colour combinations instantly stimulate a reaction, emotion or feeling within the viewer.
Here is a brief list of the emotions evoked by some colours:
- Red – Love, energy, action, excitement, passion, desire, strength and danger
- Pink – Romance, love, femininity, friendship, truth, peace and caring
- Orange – Warmth, energy, enthusiasm, vibrancy, goals and action
- Brown – Earth, home, outdoors, inexpensive, stability and simplicity
- Gold – Wealth, god, winning, happiness, prestige, wisdom and desire for power
- Yellow – Sunshine, joy, intelligence, imagination, social energy, warmth and happiness
- Green – Growth, personal goals, renewal, youth, stability, freshness, nature, the environment, health, healing, help and harmony
- Turquoise – Calming, emotional healing, protection, refreshing and sophistication
- Blue – Professionalism, wisdom, trust, calm, reassured, communication, water, loyalty and formality
- Purple – Royalty, influence, spiritual power, self assurance, nobility, transformation, enlightenment and mystery
- White – Purity, spirituality, peace, reverence, simplicity, humility, innocence and birth
- Silver – Glamour, high tech, dreams, clairvoyance, ornate riches, sleek and modern
- Grey – Security, reliability, intelligence, staid, conservative, practical old age, dignity and maturity
- Black – Protection, power, solidity, strength, sophistication, death, formality, mystery and authority
For a more detailed look at the meanings of colour, go to:
When picking a colour consider:
- What colour will your audience expect to see? A site about gardening would probably use greens and brown, a site for Manchester United Fans would probably use red, yellow and white and a site about sailing would probably use blue to create the association with water.
- What is the tone of the site? Serious and professional, then blue and grey, fun and energetic, then red and yellow.
- What age group are you aiming at? Teenagers? Then blue, black and grey will probably not excite them.
Don’t try to reinvent the wheel, see what colours and tone other sites and magazines are using to address your target audience.
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