The colours of your Web site are important because they will define the mood and emotions of your visitors as well as reflect your identity and image branding.
It’s no accident that a lot of fast food restaurants use vivid red & orange colours. Studies have shown that these colours tend to stimulate appetite, and large corporations spend vast sums on colour research for marketing purposes.
Choosing a Colour Scheme
Where do you begin? Let’s look at different types of colour combinations.
Monochromatic
Monochromatic colour schemes use variations of a single colour. Differing values of the chosen colour can be used to create the feel of different colours. Monochromatic colour schemes can feel harmonious and peaceful.
Analogous
Analogous colour combinations use colours that are related, but not the same, to create visually appealing schemes. A selection of blues and purples, or reds and oranges create an analogous colour scheme.
Contrasting colours
Contrasting colours are complimentary and distinguishable. Colours that are opposites create contrasting colour schemes. For example… yellow and purple or red and green are contrasting colours. Contrasting colour schemes generally use a warm colour and a cool colour, such as orange & blue.
In summary…
Colour choice is crucial. Sometimes the website will already have it colour scheme determined if the company already has one established, although generally it will need adapting for its web environment and many companies do not have any colour scheme in place, therefore the task is left to the designer.Thankfully, there are plenty of online resources from which to gleam inspiration and find that perfect colour scheme for your website.
Resources:
A multitude of resources related to colour picking, colour moods and more can be found by a quick Google. Here are a few of our favourites to get you started:
Sample Colour Schemes:
Online tools to help you develop your own custom scheme:
I absolutely love kuler. Spend way too much time playing with colour setups. Thanks for sharing that link