Colour theory for your website (Part 3)
In our three-part series on web design and colour theory, we’ve looked at how colour is one of your most powerful assets in your marketing toolbox. In Part 1 we started with the fundamentals of colour theory and its effect in marketing, while in Part 2 we examined the top three most popular colours used in web design.
For this, our final series article, we examine some of the less popular colours and provide some useful colour selection tools to make choosing your colour scheme easy.
Less popular colours:
1# Green
You might think many companies would “go green” to promote their brand, especially as green symbolises harmony, safety, nature, growth and environmental friendliness. Perhaps it’s because the darker shades of green are negatively associated with envy, money, greed, sickness, ambition and the corporate world. It’s a balancing act and one where your choice of shades is crucial. If your product or service relates to nature or something in the financial world for example, green is an obvious choice for your website. Always consider the symbolism of the design.
2# Purple
You’d be hard pressed to find a purple website that’s popular in mainstream design. Outside the internet in Western cultures, purple is associated with magic, royalty, wealth, wisdom, independence and creativity. It is considered a feminine and children’s colour, which is ideal if your market is that specific. In all other cases, you need to ask yourself, “Am I incorporating the symbolism of the colour, blatantly or subconsciously, and why?”
Awesome colour selector tools
Now that you have the basics on colour theory and symbolism, our last tip is a practical one. If you’re a once-a-year designer or are getting started in web design, here are a few colour selector tools that take the guess work out of understanding colour theory. They let you experiment in a guided environment that hold you to the rules of colour combinations that are pleasing to the eye.
- Adobe Color CC: This interactive tool helps you create a colour palette. Each palette can be saved and published, complete with HTML codes.
- Color Scheme Designer: For those with little patience, a tight deadline or for absolute beginners, this tool offers a simple and controlled selector based on a choice of colour principles.
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