Choosing the right theme for a web design is a very important but often overlooked part of clients design plan. Take the time to think about what kind of image you are trying to convey to your users. This article will explain the importance of hosing a colour theme for your website design and the different options you have with colour schemes available.
Choosing Colours For Your Website Theme
Choosing the right theme for a web design is a very important but often overlooked part of clients design plan. Take the time to think about what kind of image you are trying to convey to your users.
Why Are The Colours In Your Website Theme So Important?
People factor colour into many decisions made on a daily basis, whether it is deciding what to wear, purchasing a product or perhaps what to eat. Colour can tell us if something is hot or cold, expensive or cheap or if something is positive or negative. For all the reasons I have just explained and so many more, this is why choosing a theme is such an important part of your web design planning.
The best way to approach this is to determine what it is you are selling, to whom you are selling and the value of the services and/or products you are providing.
Sound like a lot of work to pick a theme for your website? It really isn't, and this is not something you have to do alone as your web designer will be happy to help you choose a theme for your web design project that will suit your style. There are many elements in a web page that you need to think about with regards to your theme, such as borders, text, hyper-links, buttons and many more, Colour will play a big part in all of these elements, and once your designer begins creating a design, the website will come alive and give your business a window to users that will be pleasing to the eye and promote sales of the products and/or services.
Colour Psychology
Colours can provoke feelings and decision making, for example the colour green promotes positive feelings of calmness, refreshment, and peace. Green also can promote negative feelings of boredom and blandness. So as you can see, choosing the right colours for your theme is very important part of the success of your website.
How To Begin Choosing A Theme
Research online or in magazines to find colours you like or that represent the message you are trying to promote. I have included some good resources below this article to help you with this process. You have the choice of using certain schemes to build your website theme. The different schemes are as follows: Mono, Analogous, Complementary, Triadic and Tetradic.
So What Do These Different Schemes Mean In Web Design?
For examples of the following colour schemes, go to my Design Tips blog
Analogous Scheme
Analogous colours are based on one primary colour and it's adjacent colours on both sides of a colour wheel. You can use different hues of this scheme, so play around little, once you have your base analogous scheme. The look and feel you get by using the analogous scheme is elegant and clear.
Complementary Scheme
If you decide to go with the complementary scheme, use it sparingly. With this scheme, you will have to figure out whether you want the website to have a cool or warm feeling, depending on which colour you choose to be the dominant one on your website.
Triadic Scheme
If you choose the triadic, be prepared for a vibrant scheme which balances warm and, while giving your page an energetic feeling.
Tetradic Scheme
If you decide to go with the tetradic, use with caution. This can be a very aggressive scheme and should be treated with kid gloves. Have a long hard think about how the colours in this scheme will be used. This scheme uses two primary and their complementary colours together.
Mono Scheme
Last but not least, the mono scheme. If used this can also prove to be problematic due to the fact that it can be difficult to find accents and highlights to complement this scheme. The good thing about using this scheme is that you can create a calm feel to your website no matter what base colour you choose. This scheme uses only one colour and uses different shades and tones of that colour by changing the brightness and saturation of the base colour.
Conclusion
Have fun choosing your web design theme but please take your time thinking about this part of your web design plan. Do not forget to ask your web designer for help with choosing a theme. Your designer has a vast experience of working with colour schemes and will be able to offer you robust advice.
