What Is A Website Color Scheme?
To begin, what does the term “website color scheme” really mean? It goes beyond the hue of your company’s emblem or the design of your website’s header. It includes not just the colors used in your site’s header and sections, but also the colors of your text, buttons, and even the photographs themselves. Your website’s entire feel, mood, and aesthetic are shaped by the colors you choose for your color palette.
On more than one level, the colors you choose on your website will affect how your target audience perceives your brand. The length of time a visitor spends on your site and whether or not they make a purchase may both hinge on this. For many different reasons, your website’s color design should be carefully thought out.
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Basic Color Theory
There are enough definitions, concepts, and design applications to fill several encyclopedias in the realm of color theory. The color wheel, color harmony, and the color usage are the three most fundamental tenets of color theory, and all three are grounded in reason and practicality.
Color theories organize color perception in a rational way. As an illustration, we can sort a variety of fruits and vegetables by color and plot them on a color wheel to see how they compare to one another.
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For centuries, artists have relied on a color circle composed of the primary hues of red, yellow, and blue. In 1666, Sir Isaac Newton created the first color circle diagram. Over the years since, researchers and creatives have explored and developed countless iterations on this theme. Opinions diverge on which structure is superior, and this divide continues to fuel controversy. As a matter of fact, there is value in any color circle or color wheel that presents a rationally arranged sequence of pure hues.
Red, Yellow, And Blue Are The Primary Colors.
Primary colors are the three pigment colors that cannot be mixed or formed by any combination of other colors, according to traditional color theory (used in paint and pigments). The spectrum expands outward from these three colors.
Green, Orange, And Purple Are The Secondary Colors.
These are the hues that result from combining the basic colors.
Yellow-Orange, Red-Orange, Red-Purple, Blue-Purple, Blue-Green, And Yellow-Green Are The Tertiary Colors.
These shades are the results of combining a primary and secondary color. For this reason, many colors have names consisting of two words, such as blue-green, red-violet, and yellow-orange.
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Color Harmony
A harmonious arrangement can be found in anything from music and poetry to color schemes and desserts.
Visually, harmony is a state of aesthetic comfort. It captures attention and establishes internal order and balance in the visual experience. Discordant elements tend to be monotonous or chaotic. A visually uninteresting or boring experience is at one end of the spectrum. If information is not sufficiently stimulating, the human brain will reject it. At the other end of the spectrum is content that is so cluttered and busy that it’s impossible to take in. The human mind automatically dismisses information that it cannot properly categorize or decode. Given the visual nature of the task, we must present an organized interpretation. Color harmony provides both aesthetic appeal and a feeling of calm and stability.
In a nutshell, too much simplicity results in insufficient stimulation, while too much complexity causes too much stimulation. Creating a dynamic equilibrium is what harmony is all about.
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Why Are Website Color Schemes So Important?
Aesthetic
It may seem obvious, but no one wants to waste their time on a poorly designed website. If your website’s color scheme causes visitors discomfort or headaches, they will likely leave your site quickly. However, if your website is well-balanced and attractive, visitors are much more likely to stick around.
Brand Perception
Did you realize that color has an impact on psychology? Many people associate certain emotions with particular color schemes; for instance, the use of red can convey boldness, yellow can convey happiness, and blue can convey reliability. Over 90% of our initial impressions of products are based on color alone, and the same is true of websites. Because of this, you can influence the mood of your website’s visitors by selecting a color scheme that conveys the emotions you hope to evoke.
Conversion
The level of success you have with online sales can also be affected by the colors you use on your website. According to a recent study, the right color scheme can boost sales by as much as 24%. Many people, for instance, have discovered that a red call to action button on a sales page generates more conversions than a button of a different color. Similarly, a banner ad set against a green background will perform differently than the same ad set against a yellow or red backdrop.
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The Psychology Of Red
Red may raise a person’s pulse rate and make them breathe quicker. The color red is often connected with sexual desire, passion, enthusiasm, vitality, and action. It also has some potentially negative connotations, such as conflict, violence, fire, rage, and danger.
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When To Use Red
When you want to grab attention or generate some excitement, red is the color to use as an accent. The color red has many practical applications, including in the fields of cuisine, fashion, entertainment, sports, marketing, advertising, first aid, and healthcare.
When To Avoid Red
It should not be used excessively. Exhilaration in excess is not always a good thing. Most luxury items, outdoor-themed material, and business-related websites/services should avoid using the color red.
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The Psychology Of Yellow
The color yellow shines brightest. It’s a sign of maturity, success, joy, hope, and youth. Yellow has various negative connotations, like cowardice, deception, and cheapness.
When To Use Yellow
If you want to get people excited or put them in a good mood, use (moderate amounts of) bright yellow. For a more relaxed and joyful mood, choose pastel shades of yellow. The color yellow is often used for “call to action” text and buttons because of its ability to grab the reader’s attention.
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When To Avoid Yellow
Yellow has the potential to be overwhelming. This may cause visual fatigue. Keep its usage to a minimum. When used incorrectly or in excess, the color yellow may have a tacky, spammy effect.
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The Psychology Of Orange
Orange is a stimulating and exciting hue that is often linked with joy, vitality, warmth, ambition, enthusiasm, and excitement. Caution is another possible interpretation.
When To Use Orange
Highlight important information, such as a call to action (subscribe, purchase, sign up), a clearance, or a promotion. E-commerce, automobiles, technologies, entertainment, cuisine, and child care all benefit from it.
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When To Avoid Orange
Although orange’s intensity is lower than that of red, it may nevertheless become overwhelming quickly. Try not to go crazy!
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The Psychology Of Green
As a color, green helps provide harmony and balance. It’s a symbol for prosperity, health, nature, money, serenity, masculinity, openness, fertility, envy, good fortune, peace, harmony, a solid support system, and boundless vitality.
When To Use Green
The human eye has the greatest degree of success processing green. It may be used to induce a state of serenity, or as a symbol of prosperity, growth, or the outdoors. It’s fantastic for learning and research, travel and health care, workforce development, ecology, and long-term sustainability.
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When To Avoid Green
It’s not as suited for high-end items, cutting-edge technology, or anything aimed at adolescent girls.
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The Psychology Of Blue
The color blue is often linked with masculine qualities such as strength, confidence, competence, steadiness, reliability, wisdom, loyalty, productivity, trust, and security. Colors in the blue spectrum may also be stimulating and invigorating.
When To Use Blue
Since it is a calming color that is also connected with trustworthiness, blue is often employed by financial institutions and businesses. Services in the fields of medicine, dentistry, technology, science, public administration, the law, and the provision of basic services all stand to benefit from using the color.
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When To Avoid Blue
Using specific blue shades (on the darkest end of the spectrum) or too much blue might make your website seem indifferent and cold. Be wary of employing blue in any context including food, since it has been shown to reduce appetite.
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The Psychology Of Purple
The color purple has long been considered a symbol of royalty. It may be utilized to show off one’s originality, flair, intelligence, class, affluence, good fortune, mystery, wisdom, and spirituality.
When To Use Purple
Lighter shades of purple connote spring and love, while darker tones evoke an air of sophistication and riches. Beauty items (especially anti-aging ones), astrology, massage, yoga, healing, spirituality, and feminine brands may all benefit from the use of purple.
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When To Avoid Purple
As a result of its peaceful and relaxing properties, purple is not a good option if you’re trying to get people’s attention. By contrast, using deeper shades of purple might make your site seem cold and distant.
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The Psychology Of Brown
As a warm and earthy hue, brown is often linked to concepts like nature, friendliness, and dependability.
When To Use Brown
It’s appropriate for food-related material since brown may be utilized to encourage hunger (think coffee and chocolate advertising). It may also work well in the fields of finance, veterinary medicine, animal care, and real estate. In most cases, brown is preferable for backdrops as well.
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When To Avoid Brown
The color brown has a tendency to be uninteresting and conventional. It’s not effective in getting people to take action, therefore you shouldn’t use it for those kinds of things.
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The Psychology Of Black
Black is a powerful hue that is generally linked with status, sophistication, elegance, authority, power, sleekness, stability, strength, formality, intellect, and refinement. It’s also a possible sign of death, secrecy, evil, and defiance.
When To Use Black
Black’s versatility lies in the fact that it may be both classic and sophisticated or cutting-edge and edgy, depending on the accompanying hues. The use of black in high-end retail, design, advertising, and cosmetics could be extremely beneficial.
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When To Avoid Black
It’s easy for too much black to seem oppressive. A lot of individuals avoid wearing black because they associate it with feelings of danger and evil.
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The Psychology Of White
White is associated with purity, cleanliness, virtue, happiness, sincerity, and safety.
When To Use White
As the color most often associated with medical professionals, white is ideal for medical and dental practice websites. It’s also applicable to scientific and technological sites. White is also an excellent color for high-end products when combined with black, gold, silver, or gray.
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When To Avoid White
White’s versatility lies in the fact that it may be used for any website, regardless of its subject matter, since its effects are so highly dependent on the other colors used in the design.
The Psychology Of Gray
Gray is the color of authority, sobriety, professionalism, sophistication, practicality, timelessness, and strength of character.
When To Use Gray
It works wonderfully for serious websites, high-end products, and the cultivation of a tranquil, harmonious atmosphere.
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When To Avoid Gray
Some tones of gray can be flat and uninviting; some may even feel cold. Gray isn’t the best choice if you want to get people’s attention.
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The Psychology Of Pink
It’s true that pink is just a shade of red, but it has its own unique connotations that set it apart. The color pink has come to stand for femininity, innocence, freshness, and love. It lacks the aggressive, furious overtones of red and may be extremely relaxing and soft.
When To Use Pink
You can’t go wrong with pink for girly items or websites catering to females of all ages.
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When To Avoid Pink
Some websites may seem unprofessional when using either a very pale or very bright shade of pink.
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