A Beginner’s Guide to Color Theory in Web Design

Color is quite possibly one of the strongest elements in web design. It colors the way that viewers approach the website, does this to their feelings and at times even to their ability to act. Whether you are a newcomer at website creation, or whether you are redesigning your website, you must have knowledge in color theory. And this guide is intended to give an introduction to color theory in web design and some advice on where to go next.

What is Color Theory?
Color and its different modes of combination is known as colour theory or the psychology of human color perception. It involves the use of a color wheel; this is the wheel that comprises the primary, secondary and tertiary colors. These colors can be combined in a way to form a number of schemes that call in certain kinds of feelings or reactions.

Primary Colors: Primary colours, actually; red, blue, and yellow. These are the colours which cannot be produced on the mixing of the other colours of the spectrum.
Secondary Colors: Three. These are produced by the combination of two base colors.
Tertiary Colors: They are made by putting one primary color with another secondary color.

The Basics of the Color Wheel The color wheel can also be termed as a wheel divided by colors in terms of chromatic relationship. In web design, here are some of the great tips that may help you to choose colors: You should know how colors combine.

Complementary Colors: Complementary colors are those colored that are directly diagonal from one another on the color wheel. These pairings produce bright and contrasting designs, but the use of these can be exhausting when used in Greater excess.
Analogous Colors: Two colors which are adjacent to one another on the wheel of colors. These combinations are carefully co-ordinated and then can be used to create a unified design which is pleasing to the eye.
Triadic Colors: Three colours which are colour wheels which are measured at equal intervals. This scheme gives clear contrast yet maintains the balance and affinity visually.

Colour Theory for Web Design
It is when adopting a color theory in web design that the psychological effect of the color used has to be considered. The color selected also has a way of eliciting a particular feeling and response from the user when in the website.

Red: Generally connected with vigor, ardor, and forcefulness. It can be used for obtaining attention or stressing some of the components, for example, a button which says “Buy Now”.
Blue: Blue is particularly associated with a trusting and peaceful environment because it can lessen the heart rate. It is widely used in business and commercial sites as well as for sites of particular companies and banks.
Green: Connected to nature, health and calm, green is a timely appropriate color that can be used widely in a large number of web designs particularly those that apply to environmental or health related sites.
Yellow: Ch’ien symbolised happiness and optimistic outlook to life. It brightens up a design but has to be used discretely because it is overwhelming.
Black and White: These colours are particularly used on background, text, and for cases of finding contrast. They are particularly vital when it comes to legibility and literally can be matched with virtually any hue.

Designing an Effective Website Colour Scheme
When creating a website when you are in a highly saturated market such as web design Toronto, there’s nothing that is more important than selecting the right colors to use. Here are some tips to help you get started:

Start with Your Brand Colors: If your brand has a set color scheme, it is then appropriate that the website be designed with this color scheme as the base. It is also important that branding is consistent if one has to achieve recognition.
Consider Your Audience: Reflect on the feelings that you would like to give your users. For instance, if you are aiming your clothes at the working people, then you can use more strict and less colourful images on your models. These are interpreted as conservative and suitable for older audiences or more formal settings You can be more daring With younger audiences or creative audiences you can try out much warmer vibrant colours.
Use the 60-30-10 Rule: An important design approach that advocates for the segregation of color of which 60% is the main color, 30% is the secondary color, and 10% is accent color. This helps to achieve optimum symmetry of the graphic and at the same time produce a more harmonized appearance.
Test and Iterate: After choosing your colours, check how these actually look on different devices and various screens, monitors. Your mind may be telling you that the particular idea in your scheme is incorrect and you should not follow it; you can therefore change it.

Tools to Assist You Select Appropriate Color
There are several online tools that can help you select the perfect color scheme for your website:

Adobe Color: It is a very useful utility that can be used to create, save and edit color palettes.
Coolors: The ability to tinker with a range of color schemes to make it easier for a user.
Paletton: Another wonderful resource with which you can view a better interaction between two and more colors.

Conclusion
The knowledge and use of the color in web designing can go a long way in influencing how the website would be viewed. Regardless of whether you are designing your own website or a clients, it is always beneficial to spend some time choosing the proper colours for the website.