The Importance of Colours in Web Design

Monday, October 3rd, 2011

The colour usage of a web design is vitally important in determining how successful a website will be. How the website looks and feels to the browser is important in order to increase click through rates and also enticing them to delve deeper and for longer periods in the website. In simple terms, the usage of colours in your site can either retain or turn away browsers so spend time choosing the right ones.

When choosing the colours in your web design, they say it’s best to stick to colours that reflect the colours in your logo. This isn’t strictly speaking always true. You should always avoid colours that will be irritating to the eyes. This could include overly bright colours, neon, or anything else that might be considered a visual deterrent.

Always remember when using colours in a web design, is that too much is not good (a general rule of thumb for many things!). Of course, lots of colours can be cheerful and fun, but have a tendency to not look very professional especially if your company is B2B. Generally speaking, it’s good to stick to three or four colours that mix well together, but no more.

Contrast colours aren’t always a bad thing either. If you are looking to highlight a page that contains words or products of specific importance, contrast can give this page particular emphasis. On the flipside of that, if you use the contrast approach on pages of non-importance it could be potentially counter-productive. Keep the contrast use to a minimum to have maximum impact.

And finally, the sense of colour balance is important in the web design. One thing that can potentially look bad is the combination of heavy and light colours. Neutral or light colours tend to look well like together light blue and white. Spend a little bit of time ensuring the colours go well together. Much like a carefully chosen outfit for a special occasion, you want to make sure everything matches up and looks well. Your website represents you 24/7 so make sure the colours you choose in the web design phase are carefully considered.

To see Inspiration’s portfolio of clients and their respective websites, visit our web design portfolio page.