It Is Not A Random Thing! Here is the Guideline on Choosing Color Scheme for Your Website

Everytime you visit a website, have you ever wondered why they choose those colors? No, it is not as simple as "the owner thinks it looks good". As a matter of fact, personal preference should not be your consideration when choosing a color scheme for your website.

The choice of colors will impact many things. According to research, color choice can increase the brand recognition for up to 80%. Colors will also play a big part in setting the ambience and affect how people feel about your products.

Here is a walkthrough to help you build a color scheme for your website.

What to Consider

1. Understand the Emotions and Meaning of Color

Green represents peace and tranquility while red sparks passion and energy. Yellow means optimism but it is so bright it may strain your eyes, so you can't use too much.

You need to learn what each color means, what kind of mood they set, and what impact they may cause to people who see them.

 

2. Check Your Competitor

Spend your time to check out your competitors' website to see their choices of color. Some fields of business have conventional color scheme, such as white-green for medical business and pink-purple shade for girls' toys.

You have two options to decide your color theme. You can either go with similar colors to fit the conventional ambience or be different to stand out in the crowd.

 

3. Check Your Demographic

Different people will react differently to colors. You need to research your target audience and pick the color they might be comfortable with. For example, men tend to choose achromatic and shades color. Meanwhile, women to prefer soft and tint colors.

 

4. Set A Formula

According to general rules of color combination, 60-30-10, your main color will cover 60% of the surface. The other 30% is for your complimentary colors, and the other 10% is for accent color. Although you don't really have to follow this rule, this can be a guideline for you to make a balance proportion of color combination.

 

5. Match Up

To effectively increase your brand recognition, make sure your website colors in harmony with either the color of your logo or your products. You can use that color either for the dominating color or accent color, depending on your design aesthetic.

 

6. Set Your Combination

There are many kinds of color combination you can choose. Use a color wheel to help you consider your options, preferably one with the traditional 12 spectrums of colors. Here are your options:

• Achromatic : the combination of black, white, and shades of grey.
• Monochromatic : the combination of one colors in different shades such as red-pink-maroon.
• Analogous : the combinations of colors located side by side on the color wheel, such as vermilion-orange-yellow or blue-tosca-green.
• Complimentary : the combination of two colors that are located right across each other. One of the color is primary color and the other one is secondary color which doesn't contain the main color. This combination is also called as High Contrast color combination. Example :  green-red or blue-orange.
• Split Complementary : the combination of one color with two others color that are located side by side of its opposite color, such as tosca-orange-red. It is the option you may pick if you want a contrast that is not too dramatic.
• Triadic : the combination of three colors with same spaces between each other, such as purple-lime-vermilion.

 

7. Test Out Some Alternative

The color scheme that you think is good, sometimes turns out to be not so good. That is why you need to test it out and check it out. Does it look good? Is it comfortable to watch? Does it represent your business goal?

Don't go with only one choice. Try picking out several color schemes just to see how different your website will look. Use apps or tools to run the tests. Try out these alternatives so you know which scheme is the most suitable one for your website.

  

The color scheme you choose may contribute a lot to the impression of your website. If you are unsure how to correctly choose a color scheme for your website, it is better to consult it with a professional designer.