Identifying Color Choices

Consider adding color to your website. When you first design your website, you usually choose a theme and build from there. The colors of your logo are a great place to start. But what if your just beginning, and you don’t really have official colors chosen? Great! Then you can begin to play around with different themes, and continue to work until a design and color combination looks pleasing to you.

Colors have so many different meanings. The best way to design is to choose colors that you are comfortable with. And choose colors that will appease your customers, and motivate them into buying from you.

Did you know men favor blue, and women favor red? A mix between the two – the color purple – is an excellent choice to solidify both. Green is a very strong, old world color. That’s why you see banks and financial companies use green. Primary colors are stronger than pastels. And children relate to purple more than any other color. Guess that’s why Barney is purple!

Consider your target audience when selecting your website colors. Who is your primary viewer? What do you want them to do on your website? Then build your color scheme around those desires. And add color throughout your site when you want your viewers to take action. Adding red to your site can be a great motivator.

Red

• Energy * Strength * Danger * Determination * Power * Passion * Desire * Love
•  Red is a very passionate and extreme color. It should be used to highlight key points. It should be used to stimulate people into an action – such as a Buy Now button.

Orange

• Enthusiasm * Happiness * Creativity * Attraction * Success * Encouragement
• Orange combines the energy of red, and the happiness of yellow. Orange has high visibility and can be used to attract attention to certain parts of your site.

Yellow

• Energy * Joy * Happiness * Intellect * Cheerfulness * Attention
• Yellow attracts attention. It has a very warming effect. It is a lighthearted color, and can be used effectively for highlighting important points.

Green

• Growth * Harmony * Freshness * Fertility * Safety * Nature * Stability * Endurance
• Green is a color of safety and of stability. Green is a good color for money related sites. It is a good color for showing movement and directing people through a site, as green means go.

Blue

• Depth * Stability * Intelligence * Confidence * Faith * Truth * Loyalty * Trust
• Blue is a masculine color, used to show precision and intellect. It is a calming color.

Purple

• Royalty * Power * Nobility * Luxury * Ambition * Wisdom * Dignity * Mystery
• Purple is feminine, and is a preferred color of children.

White

• Light * Goodness * Purity * Innocence * Perfection * Safety * Cleanliness
• White is associated with coolness and cleanliness, and can add a sense of simplicity to high tech subjects.

Black

• Formality * Power * Elegance * Death * Evil * Mystery * Elegance * Prestige
• Black can give the perspective of strength and depth. Black is a difficult background color choice, but is very effective when displaying photographs.