Web Development

 by: Mark Spencer

One of the hardest parts in web design is creating a unique, effective color scheme. Not only will your site's colors give it personality, it will create a lasting impression on your visitors.

Contrast

Pick colors that provide enough contrast to make your text stand out. Stay away from using light on light or dark on dark. Remember your emphasis is on getting your message read. An unread message is a useless message.

Keep It Simple

Choose 3 or 4 colors for your site, and use only those colors (or shades of those colors). Decide ahead of time which colors you're going to use, and stick to it.

Complementary Colors

Complementary colors are opposite each other on a color wheel. The 3 most common sets are:

* red and green

* blue and orange

* yellow and purple.

These colors work surprisingly well together.

Complementary colors also are a good way to pick colors that will be easily readable against a certain background: look for the exact opposite color to maximise readability.

Analog Colors

Another approach: Pick one main color, and choose colors near it on the color wheel to support it. Red, for example, goes well with its analog colors, orange and yellow. If overdone, this can make your site look too bright, but in moderation the results can look good. It's no coincidence that these combinations often occur in nature.

Chromatic Colors

Another method, chromatic colors use different shades and hues of 1 color for your entire design -- nothing else except black and white. For example, you might use light blue, bright blue and dark blue together. This creates a sleek and professional look.

Take Colors From Nature

Lack of ideas for a color scheme? Go for a walk outside. Take a look at plants, landscapes, and animals. Nature knows how to use colors -- learn from it.

Color Blindness

Try to make sure that your design uses color to make itself aesthetically pleasing, but doesn't rely on the color scheme for anything essential. Statistics show that perhaps 10% of the web users are at least partially color blind, so make sure they can at least read your text.