WebMaster Solutions
Web Site
Design
The
Psychology of Colors in Web Design
by Kenneth Catto
Since people
associate particular colors with different
emotions, the colors used on your website can
have a psychological effect on visitors to your
site. By using specific colors geared towards
the emotion you want to invoke, you can actually
increase product sales.
Here are some
colors along with the emotions and symbols they
stimulate:
1) WHITE- purity,
innocence, peace, perfection, chastity,
sterility, cleanliness. In general, white
creates a cool and refreshing feeling.
2) BLACK- night,
space, authority, sturdiness, reliability,
power, constancy, prudence, wisdom, classy,
elegance, submission, mourning, demons, witches.
Black is a controversial color as it can
symbolize both good and evil.
3) RED- love,
excitement, warmth, heat, fire, blood, passion,
power, aggression, action. Use red as an
attention grabber. It works better as an accent
color rather than a background one.
4) PINK- romantic,
affection, sensuality, tenderness, calm, soft
hearted, softness, femininity. Pink tends to
reduce aggression.
5) BLUE- sky,
ocean, water, temperature, ice, coolness, mist,
shadow, travel, freedom, truth, solitude,
wisdom, trust, loyalty, peaceful, calmness,
intelligence, dedication, masculinity. Different
shades of blue convey opposite meanings. Light
blue is peaceful while dark blue is depressing.
6) PURPLE-
royalty, dignity, luxury, wealth,
sophistication, feminine, passion, romance,
sensitivity, coolness, mist, shadows,
mysterious, mystic.
7) GREEN- money,
calm, envy, greed, nature, life, youth, renewal,
hope, vigor, fertility, rebirth, freedom, guilt.
Different shades of green have different
meanings. Dark green-cool. masculine,
conservative, wealth. Emerald green-
immortality. Olive green- peace. Green is the
easiest color on the eye.
8) Yellow- light,
purity, understanding, brightness, warmth,
playfulness, creativity. Lemon yellow is the
most eye fatiguing color. Yellow can increase
irritability so yellow should not be used as a
main color, only as an accent. Yellow enhances
concentration.
9) ORANGE- autumn,
youthful, fire, warmth, contentment,
fruitfulness, wholesomeness, strong, generous,
endurance, strength, ambition. Orange is the
color most associated with appetite so it would
be a good color choice for a website selling
food products. Orange also makes a product seem
more suitable for everyone and more affordable.
10) BROWN- wood,
comfort, strength, earth, solid, reliable,
credible, maturity, humility, conservancy. Light
brown conveys genuineness.
11) GRAY-
exclusivity. Enhances the psychological response
of other colors.
In general, red,
orange, and yellow are exciting colors while
purple, blue and green are calming ones.
Use the color that
symbolizes the emotion you want to convey as the
primary color on your website. Add 1-2 other
colors to reinforce this emotion. The colors
used for your background, header, graphics,
text, highlighting, headlines, etc. will all
contribute to your website's influence on your
visitors.
Recommended Reading
|
|
