The Psychology of Color in Web Design

Persons engaged in website design, here's a scoop for you! Would you just like to know that by understanding the basics of cognitive psychology around color and patterns, we could further improve our Web design!

Designing a Web site does not only concentrate on making web pages of a certain site interesting and impressive. This skill and talent must also be used to ensure the user-friendliness of a certain site and must strive to reach the widest range of users possible.

So what's this about psychology? It simply implies that by understanding the capabilities of the human eye, we can produce Website designs that are more user-friendly. Being user-friendly means that our website design will not only cater for normal sighted Internet users but also to those partially sighted, blind or estimated 8-10% of men with red-green colour blindness.

If you don't know anything about vision and colorblindness and their reaction to various designs, then you must start learning now! 'Normal' vision is subject to huge variances. Even the size of elements will affect an individual user's perception of colour. The colours and the intensity of shades you choose to use in your Website design will be discerned differently by every individual who visits your Website.

Inconsistencies in color patterns are affected by changes in the ambient lighting levels. It's like changes in your hair color depending on the amount of lighting it was exposed. Some people even see blue colors in some objects like clothing wherein others do not perceive. These persons just happen to have more blue sensitive cones (photosensitive cells which convert light energy into nerve impulses) in their retina. They seem to view the world with 'blue-tinted spectacles'. As a web desinger, you have to be aware that these conditions are the reasons why your perception of your Web design may be different to other people and certainly are not the same with everyone else's.

The key aspect to contemplate to achieve accessibility, aside from impaired vision, is by being aware that your design might be manipulated by assistive technology. Screen readers or magnifiers are examples of this. They are software the physically disabled employ to enhance their experience of user interfaces. Some Web users can only read a certain combination such as yellow text on a black background, which allows no room for greyscale.

In order to have good legibility for users with certain visual difficulties and impairments, strong contrast can be a main ingredient in your design. Test the effectivity of this by manipulating screenshots of your design in a program like Adobe Photoshop. Try converting the image to greyscale then make the screenshot monochrome to see how it might be viewed using the most extreme visual manipulation -- do this by increasing the contrast level to +100. This is a particularly useful approximation of difficulties colour blind users may experience in discerning one colour or shade from another.

You can start adjusting your color application now and keep in mind that your designs will not be considered impressive if few people could discern them.

Lala C. Ballatan is a 26 year-old Communication Arts graduate, with a major in Journalism. Right after graduating last 1999, she worked for one year as a clerk then became a Research, Publication and Documentation Program Director at a non-government organization, which focuses on the rights, interests and welfare of workers for about four years.

Book reading has always been her greatest passion -- mysteries, horrors, psycho-thrillers, historical documentaries and classics. She got hooked into it way back when she was but a shy kid.

Her writing prowess began as early as she was 10 years old in girlish diaries. With writing, she felt freedom ? to express her viewpoints and assert it, to bring out all concerns -- imagined and observed, to bear witness.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit http://www.ucreative.com

---

Make Your Site Quick To Load!

The time it takes to load your site can make... Read More

The Key to Getting More Magic Shows Booked Online

This article is the result of a conversation I had... Read More

What You Should Ask a Web Designer Before You Hire Him

You've thought about it and you're ready to go. You're... Read More

6 Reasons Why A Website Is Crucial To Your Business

Since I'm a web designer, I have a tendency to... Read More

Color Scheme for Your Website?

Yes, in a world that is obsessed with makeover madness,... Read More

Learn the Truth about Your Web Design Company by Its Portfolio

When you start building your online business and search for... Read More

Give Your Web Wite Visitors What They Really Want - Information!

Surfing the internet is basically an information-fest! From intellectual discussions... Read More

Choosing A Web Designer : A Plan to Guide You Through The Minefield

Choosing a web designer can seem like a daunting task.... Read More

Understand Your Color

Any design on a web application involves the effective input... Read More

Website Woes: Top Five Offenders

I see a lot of mistakes, but here are the... Read More

Reach Out To Billions

Have you heard of 'Babel Fish'?It's a service provided by... Read More

Custom Website Design - 7 Steps to a More Professional Website

If you are trying to sell a product or service... Read More

Web Page Building for Beginners 4

Page ranking by search engines such as Google are not... Read More

10 Profitable Ways To Recycle Your Content

1. Repackage your web site content in to different products... Read More

Should I Use Pop-Up Ads?

Web advertising has taken many forms, including those that appear... Read More

How Not To Get Web Design Work

I get the occasional web design lead from my website.... Read More

The Testimonial Trick

One of the most popular methods of traffic generation is... Read More

Tips for Getting More Sales From Your Website

(1) Create a Direct Response Website, with the minimum number... Read More

Give Your Web Site a Small Business Marketing Tune Up

Your web site is like your car. Both are significant... Read More

Setting Up a Website

Where does a person start when setting up a website?... Read More

Don?t Put Your Slogan in the Title Tag - Optimize Your Web Pages

Don't just put your slogan in the title tag when... Read More

Small Business Website Design - How to Get Professional Results on a Shoestring Budget

Just because you are a small business with an even... Read More

Web Design: How To Get Your Visitors To Stay

Remember the famous line from the movie Field of Dreams,... Read More

How To Make It Easy For Your Web Designer To Build Your Website

You have an idea for a website and you are... Read More

Web Site Turn Ons

When you develop a sales brochure, you have a mental... Read More

Simplify Your Web Site for Clarity and Ease of Use

There are plenty of web sites out there in which... Read More

Re-Use The Links You Have When Revising Your Site!

Many times I've seen a web site undergo a revision... Read More

Converting Traffic into Sales

Making a successful online business can be a long and... Read More

Custom Web Site Design Strategies

Web site design has certainly, in the past decade, evolved... Read More

How to save money on a website

Know what you wantMake sure you know why you... Read More

How To Choose The Right Web Design Company

1. Size does not equate to competencePeople sometimes assume a... Read More

Breathe New Life Into Your Half-dead Website By Using Words That Sell

This article may come as a surprise to you.Especially since... Read More

Web Design for Dictators

No question about it, web design is an art. Finding... Read More