Choosing colors in web design
I love the contrast of black and white but imagine a world with strictly black and white design.
Yuck.
I wouldn’t like that for very long, would you? Think of all the beauty we would miss if we didn’t have color.
Color has so much power.
Think about how you feel when you see that first burst of color in your flower bed in the spring. Or [ladies] how you feel in a pair of red shoes. Or the difference it makes when you write with a purple pen.
This post isn’t about color psychology or color theory – color is a huge industry in and of itself – but I want to bring out the importance of using colors in your web design that are relevant to your readers. They may not be the colors you would choose, but they might be more appealing to your prospect because he sees them in use everywhere.
Ideas to research color.
I like to look at colors in the latest product packaging, clothing & fashion, or room décor. You can sleuth these trends by just paying attention on your next visit to your local box store [love Target], or upscale department stores. Look for how color is being used in clothing, product packaging and merchandising , especially for people in your target market.
Another way is to pay attention to online design galleries. Dieline for instance is a very cool gallery of package design. You can browse Smashing Magazine for other great examples.
I enjoy color palette galleries and tools, check out the TRENDS feature at Colourlovers.com. There you will see web design color trends, as well as other interesting color applications.
Nature is one of the best sources of color inspiration. Visit Flickr and search using color terms for example orange+ yellow, and hold onto your hat. You will find some inspiration for sure.
There are tons of tools to create a color palette for your project, some of my favorites are:
What are your thoughts about color?
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