Colour is such an essential facet of human life/ But many times, we are unable to make the right use of colours. Imagine if everything around becomes just black or just white. Will life be as interesting as it is now? Look around and you will find even nature has painted our surroundings with different shades of colours. Colours not only make things look vibrant but also play a crucial role in how we interpret the world around us and at the same time it can have an obvious impact on our feelings.
The importance of colour can be understood from a well-known quote by Oscar Wilde – “mere colour can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways”
Cultural and Social Impact
Colour often has a social and cultural impact, which keeps changing with time. Every colour has some social and cultural connotation. For some red is auspicious and for some red is the colour of danger and for some, it is a symbol of good fortune. In Western culture, pink symbolises femininity, hence in the UK, it has an association with breast cancer awareness initiatives include Race for Life and the Pink Ribbon Foundation. Similarly, blue symbolises trust and authority in the Western world. It is often seen as the world’s one of the most favourite colours in any survey. We often see, technology companies using shades of blue in their website, logo and other marketing materials. Some of the most prominent examples are – Facebook, Skype, Dropbox, LinkedIn, Twitter, Shazam and Safari, among many others.
Combination and Contrasts
It is essential to be careful while selecting the background and foreground colours. It must appear with enough contrast to make it clear for colour blind people and those with low vision. Look at your work in grayscale to check the combination of colours and their contrasts. Colours must not be used in a way that dominates important messages on the user interface. Check for colour blindness tools too for perfect colour options. Also, do not use the same colour fonts for your texts. The texts must be clearly visible, else it will leave create a bad impression for your website.
Colour Palettes
Most of the time, well-established brands and businesses have their design colour palettes already defined. These existed even during the print era when digital design was not necessarily in mind. It’s important to work with a web-accessible colour palette, that is whatever guidelines are dictated must be followed for the right results. Colours do play a crucial role in building brand identity. So, be very careful when you are thinking of a website design, as it will take you a long way and you will never want to lose the race just because of colours.
Too Many Colours are not Welcome
Colours are important, but too many colours would spoil the design. Do not overuse colours. The interface is not just about the use of colours, rather people interpret colours and other elements on the interface in different ways. It is not the only means of communication with your audience. There is a range of visual calls to action, in addition to colour. Text, icons, images and patterns are important additional elements to consider. Button shapes play a crucial role in creating a clear CTA. Buttons should carry contrasting colours to make them prominent on pages. Text on them must be big enough to make buttons compelling to click. Too much of anything is a bad strategy in online business.
Colour Psychology
The audience, designers and marketers may have a different opinion on colours and their use. There is no one fixed rule for colour for an impactful use interface. There are designers and marketers who have different views on interfaces that are delivering good performance and conversation rates on digital mediums. If you want to learn more about colours and colour psychology, read several online guidelines to understand how colours influence purchase behaviour.
