Website Designers Website Color Psychology
The Website Color Psychology pageWhen it comes to designing a website, color is key. Certainly it is important that your website have valuable and appealing content, but if the color scheme is not a pleasing one, fewer visitor will stay on the site long enough to read what you have to say. Also remember that new developments on is making the Internet more accessible to more people, so your website's color scheme must appeal to the general demographic.
From background and banners to text and headers, the colors you choose are important: not only because your site should look good, but because color has a direct and dramatic affect on the psyche of your audience.
The affects of color on phsyche have long been studied and documented. Parents are advised to paint childrens' rooms certain colors to stimulate growth and creativity, and fast food restaurants adorn their signage and seating with certain colors that stimulate appetite and hunger.
A website is no different. If you want your site to convey a certain image and impression, text and graphics alone are not enough. You must pick colors that work well together and are supportive of your message. A website for a large financial institution will want to convey a very different message than a website for a creative advertising firm, and color is one of the core elements that sets these websites apart.
When designing a website, consider the following color associations and how they impact the psyche of your website viewers and potential customers:
RED
Associated with strength, confidence, action, passion, and adventure. Good for food and sports sites and sites with a bold, active, and energetic appeal.
ORANGE
Associated with happiness, cheerfulness, creativity, and energy. Good for creative websites, networking sites, and other sites encouraging responsive creativity and participation.
YELLOW
Associated with warmth, cheerfulness, simplicity, and optimism. Good for sites meant to provide helpful or uplifting information, products, and services.
GREEN
Associated with growth, nature, health, and money. Good for environmental, financial, and health sites alike.
BLUE
Associated with trust, confidence, respect, professionalism, and success. Especially good for professional sites, blue is one of the most common colors used by well-established businesses and organizations.
PURPLE
Associated with wisdom, spirituality, expression, and creativity. Good for creative and arts-related websites, as well as websites that deal with personal, spiritual, or emotional topics.
PINK
Associated with love, romance, spring, infancy, happiness, and the feminine. Good for sites relating to women’s health, birth and pregnancy, and romance.
BROWN
Associated with stability, tradition, the earth, stability, and timelessness. Good for sites wishing to convey steadfastness, down-to-earth attitudes, and hard work.
BLACK
Associated with seriousness, power, and sophistication. Best choice for text color, but should be used carefully in backgrounds; particularly effective in stylishly offsetting bright colors.
GREY
Associated with wisdom, stability, neutrality, industry, and efficiency. Good for sites portraying professional impartiality, efficiency, technical proficcency, and simplicity.
WHITE
Associated with cleanliness, honesty, straightforwardness, open space, and simplicity. Excellent choice for text background or to tastefully highlight bright colors.
Summary
When choosing a color pallate for your website, think also about how colors work together. Choose a text color that is easily readable against your background (black on white is common for a reason). Choose colors that compliment one another for contrast, or light and dark shades of the same color for consistency. And above all, trust your gut: if it feels good to look at, your website visitors will probably think the same.
