This is an article “Choosing the Right Colors for Your Blog or Website” by Marc Primo Warren
The first mistake one can make when designing a website is selecting colors and visuals that are appealing only to one’s self. In every aspect of design, bearing in mind the target audience’s preferences should be top priority, including choosing the right colors that will attract rather than repel.
There have been a lot of hits and misses for various companies when it comes to choosing the right colors to banner their brands online. That’s why big names like Facebook or Google are still making constant changes to how their interfaces and pages look for audience appreciation.
Website colors should dictate the mood and feel you want to convey to your audiences, and must always complement your branding. This guide will help you keep things simple and straightforward, allowing you to keep both yourself and your audience happy with how your blog or website looks.
The three-color palette design
One common rule for website designers is to stick to a three-color palette that levels hues and prevents them from getting over excited with too many distracting elements. For your website, you may want to use monochromes that can create better color harmonies with your two main colors as prevalent shades and another as accent.
When choosing your two main colors, choose those that are in your brand logo for consistency. On the other hand, review both aesthetics and mood if you are working with a monochrome logo. Consult the color psychology handbook to know what each color means or how it can influence your audience so you can make an educated decision on which ones you should banner on your blog or website.
Consider color gender
Depending on who you’re talking to, considering a color’s gender can also make or break your website or blog design. Women like softer and calmer hues like blue, green, teal, or lavender; while men are often attracted to brighter colors like red, navy blue, brown, and the monochromes of grey, black, and white.
If you both have male and female audiences, choosing neutral color palettes like Vintage, Amsterdam, or Succulent are your best bets, but always depending on how it goes with your key visuals and logo colors.
To give you a useful insight on color gender, men like things that are simple or primary colors that are easily recognizable, while women are more drawn to Pantone combinations which are more vibrant to the eyes.
Add complementing elements
From tints, to texts, to photos—all of these contribute to the overall look and feel of your website or blog. Make sure everything matches your three-color palette range, and add some highlights or shadows as necessary to your design elements.
If you are going for a retro design, use softer colors and a Vintage palette to keep everything spot on. If you have a banner photo and logo that you use for your main page, try to run it by Canva Colors which can create for you simple color combinations that will go well with your main visuals.
As a plus, you could familiarize yourself with hexadecimal codes in HTML to determine the exact colors within your palette for consistency with your other marketing collaterals. Web Color Data makes it easier for you to get hex codes, while also giving you similar sites that share your color palette. This can then give you more insights on your target audiences and how they will react to your website or blog. If you want to find out more about Marc Primo Warren our services or just say hi, please reach out here.