Understanding Color Theory – Why Designers should care

Understanding the basics of color and the influence it has on people is important for any freelance web designer Singapore or logo designer in Singapore. Brands built over understanding colors wins, colors may help to boost your brand or it can also cause a negative impact on your brand. Colors do not have a consistent reaction on every person, a color which creates an impact on a certain set of people may not cause any reaction in another group of people. Color science is subjective in general.

Usage of colors is an art, not every designer can achieve the best results with the colors.  Humans perceive colors differently, the mix of colors and creating a different shades of contrasting colors are of designers expertise. Colors are of 3 categories, normally identified as primary colors, secondary colors and tertiary colors.

Websites are built for conversion and generating leads, likewise logos are designed for brand awareness and creating a long lasting impression among customers. When the purpose of design is to create emotional influence on visitors isn’t it necessary to pay attention to the colors which would help in targeting your potential customers. A recent study shows choosing the colors and adjusting according to the audience needs helps to increase conversion.

Color Psychology, What is it?

Color psychology, as the term suggests is the science of how colors influence humans. Colors are powerful in creating behavioural factors of how people feel or react. The topic of color psychology is too broad to be discussed as a web designer, hence let’s stop here by giving a brief definition of color psychology. There is no specific definition for a winning color, it is the mix and match of the colors that determines the output.

Using Colors in the right way

Colors are tricky to use, usage of colors requires much understanding and an artistic eye. Combination of colors can either create a positive impact or a negative impact on your business. What is considered as the right way of using colors. A red color usage in the organic products website or a brown or shades of green in a women cosmetics website may not be appropriate. Websites which concentrate on selling women products must focus on the colors which women feel appealing for example a shade of pink, purple works and helps to grab attention. Analyse the purpose, audience to use the colors in the right way.

Colors that helps in conversion

If you have not noticed the colors of the most popular websites which you visit often then revisit the famous social networking websites, you can find all are developed in blue. Website designs or popular networking websites which have blue themes have some influence on the visitors, that doesn’t mean only the color blue helps in conversion and it is only the preferred choice for designing your website. The colors used in the website should be an added advantage to your website and should not turn against your website motive. The psychological usage of colors and the preferences are a vast subject and we are not going in depth in this blog article.

Blue, Purple and Green are preferred colors for the majority of women for the websites and blue, black are preferred by men for their websites. Although orange is considered as a neutral color it is most likely not preferred for the majority of the people. Brown is also not considered as the most preferred color though a good number of websites has brown themes beautifully utilised. Web Designer in Singapore most commonly use Blue shades for the business websites, though some may vary depending upon the branding that is done by the business. Blue is one of the most professional colors preferred by a majority of men and women. Blue is the most used color for any website design. Blue color creates a professional image for your business, it creates a peaceful vibe for your business image, trust and loyalty for your customers.

What is a website color theme?

Website color themes are important for your business, the best website color themes grab user attention. So what exactly is the website color theme? When you approach a  freelance web designer to design your website, the first question your web designer asks is for a logo. When you have the logo ready then you have the branding colors ready. But does your website color theme is based on just your logo then the answer is no. Your logo design colors are the key of the website design but you don’t need to stick to just branding colors. We can introduce some neutral colors which complement the existing colors of your logo. However if you are not having a logo it is better to get your logo designed first before you start designing your website and the color themes.

Is website color theme important?

Your audience is influenced by your website’s color palettes. The color of the website impacts your visitors’ vision of your business/brand. Colors play a key role in conversion and it helps to understand how your customers browse on your website and they click on your CTA (call to action). No customers would like to spend time on a website which has colors which are not appealing or too bright for the eyes. A pleasing website always wins the heart of your audience and helps to click on the CTA. Yellow colors are associated with fun and bright colors like red is for confidence. These color schemes help to project your brand and contribute to conversion by 20%. 

Yes, website color themes are important, the famous brand colors did not come just like that and the colors behind each brand came out of practical experiences. It is interesting to know how the color of coke red came in, I have read online that in olden days the coca cola company painted their barrels in the color of red to distinguish their barrels from the barrels of alcohol during transportation. The purple color in cadbury is most appealing for chocolate lovers and is marked as a tribute to a queen. Likewise, some famous companies do not stick to colors, for example Google has multiple colors in their logo and they don’t pay much importance to the color schemes.

What do each Colors mean?

There has been a lot of research online on the color theory and its influence on the psychological behavior of the visitors. I have provided below the summary of some of the colors, what they represent.

Blue – Reliable, trustworthy and professional. Builds confidence in your brand.
Red – Energy, draw attention, excitement and passion
Green – Environment friendly, eco, organic 
Yellow – Fun, not too serious feel, energy, fire etc.
Orange – Energy, warmth, happiness
Purple – Creativity, luxury, authority, respect
Black – Power, stability, Elegance
White – Purity, happiness, sincerity 
Grey – Professional, sophisticated, strong

Conclusion

As colors influence your customers it is important to avoid too sentimental colors in your website. As said in the above, as a freelance web designer in Singapore it is important to use the colors in the right way and at the right place. But if your company already has a branding color which you feel is not associated with your business then I suggest you revisit the colors that could help reflect your business. But if the colors for your logo are chosen on purpose when you started the business, you are now not more associated with the color brands but with a restriction that you cannot change the colors now then you could introduce some neutral colors for your website or introduce some colors for your new campaigns. Usage of strategic color themes for your promotional ad designs, print materials also helps. Before you do all these changes, you must speak to a freelance web designer or a professional logo designer for understanding the colors that could complement your existing logo colors. Your logo designer or web designer helps to provide color options after testing several color schemes and would suggest the website color schemes which help to win hearts over the web. You can also read more about minimalist web design in my previous article.

Get a free quote now from Subraa, freelance web designer in Singapore who is in the web design industry for almost 12+ years and has completed 1150+ projects. With affordable web design and logo design solutions Subraa has helped setup digital presence for businesses of all sizes and sectors. Contact Subraa, Call or whatsapp now at 97957890 or [email protected]. Get your business online now with promotional offers from Subraa!!