Using colours to connect with your audience
You know what you want to say, and you know exactly how you want to lay it out. Great, you’re about half way home. Copy and layout are the first part of presenting your information, but maybe not the most important part. Before your audience begins to read and react to your information they see it in colour.
colour creates audience responses by stimulating emotions and communicating on levels other than reason and intellect. It can excite, impress, entertain and persuade, but colour can also create instant negative associations. It’s a good idea to be aware of how the majority of people respond to colour and use this information in your choice of colours. Use the guidelines in the chart below to help you choose the colours that are most appropriate for the message you want to get across.
Colour Chart (suggested meanings)
The chart below represents several meaning for colour. Each colour may represent another emotion to you. Use your best judgment when dealing with colour and make sure to get feedback on the colours you use.
| Red | Aggressive, strong & heavy |
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| Blue | Comfort, loyalty & security |
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| Yellow | Caution, Spring & brightness |
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| Green | Money, health, food & nature |
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| Brown | Nature, aged, & eccentric |
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| Orange | Warmth, excitement, & energy |
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| Pink | Soft, healthy, childlike & feminine |
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| Purple | Royalty, sophistication & religion |
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| Black | Dramatic, classy & serious |
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| Gray | Business, cold & distinctive |
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| White | Clean, pure & simple |
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Adult Website Designer
When choosing colours for your design, remember a few rules for mixing colours. The human eye cannot focus on red and blue at the same time. Trying to read red type on a blue background or vice versa causes extreme eye fatigue. Your audience will not be receptive to your message if it hurts them to read it. Never, ever use blue type on a red background and even worse, is red type on a blue background.
Most colours go well together with members of the same "family". Warm colours of type, such as red, brown, orange and yellow look better together in combination warm coloured backgrounds; cool coloured type like blue, green, gray and white with cool coloured backgrounds. Using colour families generally makes for a more appealing presentation, especially for large amounts of information.
Contrast is fun and can be used effectively to accent information and draw attention to items. In general, keep the contrast low. Too much contrast makes your work difficult to digest. For type, keep the contrast reasonable no matter what colours you’re working with. If your background has a value of, say 20%, and the type has a value of 80%, it presents a subtle look that's easy on the eyes and is graphically appealing. Avoid the extremes.