Psychology of Color

One of the more important decisions to be made when designing your website is choosing color. Color plays in integral role in the impact your site has on visitors. To be sure to make a positive impact, consider learning a bit about the psychology of color.

For example, the color blue is most popular, and has few negative connotations worldwide. Knowing a little about how people perceive color can go a long way toward designing a successful website. Let's take a look at a few sites I've designed, the colors I chose, and why.

McMillin Homes

Yellow communicates warmth and satisfaction and is the happiest of colors. I coupled this with the cheerful nature of orange to design McMillin Homes. The goal was to create an inviting sense of comfort as you would feel in your own home. In contrast, I used a powerful blue to draw attention to important page elements.

Boerne Wild West Day

The color brown is all about nature, as it is the color of our earth. It wasn't a tough decision to go brown when I started designing BoerneWildWestDay.com. Brown was the first color that came to mind when thinking wild west—wood, leather, and dirt. Brown also can be associated with conservancy, which is what the Wild West Day is about, in part—conserving our past.

ADKF

Green is the second most popular color. I chose a dark green when designing ADKF.com, because there's no better color to represent an accounting firm than a color Americans associate with wealth and safety. This design also has a great deal of white, which establishes a sense of truth and transparency.

Again, color plays an important role in how your website communicates to the user. Choose colors that are closely associated with your brand and the message you want to convey. Think about how you want your visitors to feel as soon as they arrive and what colors can get them there quickly. Making this connection is crucial to an effective design. Choose carefully and wisely.