A winning website design will increase interest in what your company has to offer because it conveys a compelling message about who you are and what your company stands for. In many cases, businesses put a lot of thought and effort into two aspects of their website – the content and the web design – while neglecting color considerations. Sadly, this can lead to some beautifully designed websites that end up disappointing because something “isn’t quite right.” 

Color Affects Emotions And Perceptions

Colors elicit powerful emotional responses and can change your perception without you even being aware of it. A cheerful, brightly colored website design might convey a sense of fun and childlike enthusiasm, while a website done in neutrals such as black and grey will seem more mature and elegant. Understanding the psychological meaning of colors will help you avoid unfortunate color choices in your website design. Below are some of the most common colors used in website designs and their most common associations:

Red – Power, passion and action. This is a strong color that can also mean danger
Pink – Delicacy, femininity, romance.
Yellow and Orange – These are vibrant, healthy, friendly colors that are seen as informal and welcoming
Green – Green is one of the most popular colors in website design because it has so many positive associations, including good health, nature, growth and money.
Blue – This is one of the most versatile colors for website designs. In deep shades like navy it denotes power and tradition (think IBM and law firms), while softer, lighter shades can be very refreshing and uplifting. Blue is also associated with the sky and horizons.
Purple – Website designs featuring purple are seen as powerful, mysterious and regal. Purple is also the color of creativity and spirituality.
Brown – There is no other color that conjures up warmth and home like brown. It’s a cozy, reassuring color that encourages trust.

Working Within Color Limitations

If you already have an established company logo or color scheme, you may think you’re limited to using those colors exclusively, but there are ways to incorporate a different set of colors if you want to change things up a bit. If your logo is in bright, warm colors like yellow and red but you’d like your website to convey trustworthiness, security and tradition, use a background color such as navy.

If you’re just starting on your web design for the first time, you should take the time to thoroughly research the colors you’re considering incorporating into your new logo. It’s a great opportunity to create a seamless website design that uses color to its full potential.

Popular Color Schemes For Web Designs

Choosing too many colors for your web design is just as dangerous as choosing too few colors. If you have too many different colors, your website will look overcrowded, busy and incoherent. Too few colors can lead to a flat looking, boring website. You can achieve balance by sticking with some tried and true color schemes.

Monochromatic Color Schemes use one color as the focal point, with varying intensities of the color used as accents. These are harmonious, peaceful schemes that evoke unity.

Analogous Color Schemes use two or more colors that are close to each other on the color wheel, such as blue and green or yellow and orange.  For added impact, one of the colors is usually chosen as the dominant shade for website designs. For instance, yellow might be the focal color with accents of red and orange.

Contrasting Color Schemes use two main colors that are opposite each other on a color wheel, with one warm color and one cool color. You might choose blue and orange or go with deeper shades such as burgundy and green. Website designs using contrasting color schemes are often seen as strong and secure.

Triad Color Schemes incorporate three distinct colors into a web design. The colors will be equidistant from each other on a color wheel, such as purple, orange and green. These color schemes can be overwhelming unless you tone down the intensity of at least one of the shades. For instance, you could use lilac or peach to represent purple or orange.

Colors are powerful tools that can create just the right mood for your company’s website design. Taking the time now to choose the perfect website color scheme before you commit to a final design will benefit you and your company in the long run. Fortunately, Upton Technology can help you create an original color scheme that accurately reflects your company’s image.