The Color Factor
 by: Mei Rose Galang


The importance of color in designing a website is often overlooked by web designers when in fact it is one of the key elements in presenting an aesthetically pleasing site. Color selection could "make" or "break" the website because in reality there are vast choices of sites available. The first visual impression given by the site upon loading can determine if the user would continue to explore the site or click the window's close button.

For starters, proper color combination should be taken into consideration. The first part of the article is to refresh your knowledge on the color wheel. A basic color wheel consists of 12 colors, the three primary colors are Blue, Red and Yellow. Orange, Purple and Green are the secondary colors, they are created from combining two primary colors while tertiary colors are created by mixing primary and secondary colors.

The relationships between colors are complementary, analogous and triadic. Colors are complementary is they are directly across the color wheel. Analogous relationship exist to three adjacent colors, such as Green, Yellow-Green, and Yellow-Orange: Lastly, a triadic colors are three colors equally spaced around the color wheel. It offers high contrast but retains harmony. Colors are powerful tools for web designers because it can be used to enhance the website. It can easily convey meanings through natural associations or psychological symbolism.

Below are the popular colors used in Web designing:

Red is the color for passion, lust, love, strength and power. It stimulates metabolism, appetite and masculinity. In web design it can be used to make an image look larger and closer but using this color in large areas should be avoided. Combinations of Red and Green or Blue and Red are not recommended because both wears out the eyes.

Romance, friendship, femininity and energy are some of the words often associated with the color Pink. On the other hand, Orange gives a sense of warmth, balance, vibrancy and intensity. In web design, it is useful for highlighting key elements.

Black signifies power, elegance, evil, sadness and fear. It adds mystery to a website but can also give a depressing or heavy feeling. This color is recommended for websites catering to art and photography since it complements other colors. The opposite of Black is White, it represents purity, simplicity, cleanliness, light, positivity and everything good. Similar to black choosing white as a site's background is highly advisable because it also highlights other color.

Gray often communicates gloominess and old age while Silver is sleek and modern. A combination of Silver and other color can be used to create a high-tech look. The color Blue is associated with water and gives a calming effect. It is also the color of technology. Green represents nature, money, health and harmony. It is easy on the eyes and useful for sites with natural products.

Lastly, Yellow signifies intelligence, happiness, glory and hope. The advantages of using this color are it stimulates mental activity and gets attention. Designers should be careful in dealing with this color because wrong or overuse of such can promote anxiety.

In conclusion, Web designers, owe it to their clients to take time to analyze the essential elements before implementing it to the pages. Color selection is a crucial factor to create an aesthetically pleasing website. The mode and tone that the color set should complement the type of site and the information you want to communicate. Successful design requires an awareness of how and why colors communicate meaning.

About The Author
Mei Rose Galang is a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Specialist for WebWorksFirst, a Web Design and Offshore Outsourcing Company. For more details of her work please visit, http://www.webworksfirst.com.