subject: Colorful Web Designs - How to Best Use Color on the Web [print this page] Colour is everywhereColour is everywhere. Colour is a form of communication. If you use it respectfully it can be one of your strongest weapons of communicating your desired information. Colour induces emotions. It can make people happy or sad, and even fall in love. However the use of colour is a matter of precision. Think of colour as music. Music can evoke all kinds of feelings in people. Some songs are sad, some are very hard to describe and some songs can make you do foolish things. Colour in websites works like music works in films.
Visually colour is the same throughout all mediums but technically there are some distinctions. RGB, CMYK, PANTONE, HEX (web), are different colour systems for different mediums. As a rule of thumb you should be using RGB based images on the web.
It is important to note that the beholder of colour is the eyes. You must learn to trust your own and aim to create eye inducing candy. Strictly speaking there are no rules but generally speaking less is always more.
Do
-Use colours that add something to your work and give the design as a whole the right balance.
-Have your objectives clear. Figure out what you want to say and try to find the colour that best matches your objectives.
-Always get feedback. Be open minded and unafraid to explore different alternatives.
Dont
-Use to many different colours. Its frightfully easy to end up with colour-overkill.
-Resign to use the brightest colours to capture your audiences attention. It is more effective if you can achieve balance and harmony.
-Copy others - your work is always more valuable when original.
Colorful Web Designs - How to Best Use Color on the Web
