When designing a web page it is important to recognize how the use of color will influence one's perception, and emotional reaction to the pages. When color is applied correctly it engages the viewer and creates an inner sense of order, a sense of balance. When color is not harmonious, it is either boring and bland or chaotic and an irritant. In short, the human brain will reject what it can not organize, and color harmony provides both visual interest and a sense of order. There are three main perspectives about the use of color.
-
The colors need to either be analogous, complementary, or defined by nature
Analogous colors are any three colors which are side by side on a 12 part color wheel, such as yellow-green, yellow, and yellow-orange. Usually one of the three colors predominates and the others are used as accent colors. Complementary colors are any two colors which are directly opposite each other, such as red and green, and blue and orange. Opposing colors create maximum contrast and a feeling of stability. Nature defined colors come from the pallet that a natural setting offers, and is a perfect opportunity for color combination exploration. What we like to do is select a natural photo that we like, and then take it into Photoshop and choose "pixelate", "mosaic", and then expand the color square sizes so the colors can be sampled for their hexadecimal or RGB values. We also sample colors when a client provides us a logo to ensure that the colors of the design are carried forward effectively in a website layout. Here is a printable hexidecimal colors chart to assist your color selections.
If you need further assistance with color selection there are numerous websites that provide ready-made color combinations; a couple of my favorites are provided for quick reference. And following the links is a color combinations visualization tool to help you with your assessments. Click this text or the image chart image itself to open it full-screen in a new window.
