Color Theory
by Ryan Foley

Benefits of Color

Color has a wide variety of benefits if it is used correctly on a web site.

Firstly, color makes a site more visually appealing. By using any of the already known color schemes one can make a professional and visually appealing site.
By using contrast one can differentiate important sections on a site.
Colors can also create emotional and psychological effects on a site. If a designer can create an emotional bond between a user and a site that user will likely reuse that site.
Colors can also cause users to act and feel certain ways. Warm colors tend to stimulate users and make them more active. Cool colors can often relax users and cause them to spend more time on a site. A designer can use these aspects to produce a desired effect on a user.
Colors can also enhance the meaning of a site through both explicit and implicit ways. By using colors that have a similar meaning to the message of a site, the meaning of the site is enhanced and understood somewhat subconsciously by the user.

For convenience, a guide of colors and their relative uses and meanings is provided below.

The color red is a very passionate color and can bring out strong emotions.
The color red can symbolize love and romance.
Red can also symbolize blood, life, and in some cultures weddings.
Red can cause feelings of comfort, excitement, warmth, and intensity.
Red can often be used for high contrast as it is a color that draws a lot of attention.
Red can be used to symbolize stopping or to symbolize errors.

The color orange is very energetic and happy color that is fairly stimulating.
The color orange can be used in warm color schemes to create stimulating web sites or comforting and cozy web sites.
The color orange can represent wealth, prosperity, sophistication, and change.
The color orange is known to stimulate hunger.
The color orange is also a very energetic and enthusiastic color that can bring life to a web site.

Yellow, like red, is a very attention drawing color that can be used for effective contrast.
Yellow can represent happiness, laughter, and optimism.
Yellow can also be used to represent the sun.
Yellow is known to stimulate hunger.
Yellow can also represent frustration, anger, and intensity.
Yellow is used throughout the world as a “caution” color.
Yellow can be used in warm color schemes to create feelings of comfort.

Blue is a cool color that can be used to relax a user on a website.
Blue can represent water and is a very natural color for this reason.
Blue can cause a sad emotional response.
Blue can symbolize loyalty, wisdom, and truth.
Blue can create feelings of serenity and calmness.
Blue is an appetite suppressor.
Blue can also be viewed as cold and uncaring.
Blue is a color that does not cause stimulation and will not agitate a user, making it a useful color for websites where the user is intended to spend a long time using the site.
Blue can be used in cool color schemes to create feelings of relaxation.

Green is a very harmonious color that works well in a variety of color schemes.
Green can be used in both warm and cool color schemes, but in general tends to be a cooler color.
Green can symbolize money, health, and fertility.
Green is also a very natural color as it is very common in nature.
Green can cause feelings of tranquility and calmness.
Green can also symbolize growth.
Green can be synonymous for go and success.

Pink can represent romance and love.
Pink is also known to be a gentle, calming color.
Pink can be used in warm color schemes to create feelings of warmth and comfort.
Pink can be agitating when used in excess.
Historically pink has been known as a feminine color, although this prospect has been changing in recent years.

Brown is a color that can be used in warm color schemes to create feelings of comfort.
Brown can represent reliability, stability, and security.
Brown is also a very natural and organic color.
Brown can represent friendship and sadness.
In some cultures brown is a color of mourning.
Brown can sometimes be off putting.

White is representation of all visible light spectrums.
White can represent purity and innocence.
White is neutral color.
White can be used to represent cleanliness and often can create a sense of space.
In some cultures white is a color of mourning.
In some cultures white is used as a color to represent weddings and matrimony.

Gray is neutral color that does not cause strong emotional response.
Gray background can create a sense of space.
Gray can create a sense of timelessness and is often thought of as a very practical color.
Beneficial to use Gray in combination with other colors.