Color effects how we perceive the world around us. It can affect our emotional and physical responses to visual stimuli, and can even govern how we interpret these stimuli. This is why color is so important in fields of graphic and environmental design, and why graphic designers, interior designers, and architects go to such great lengths to understand the influence of color and to use it in just the right way.
Until recently, though, very little emphasis has been placed on the importance and overall influence of color in the field of web design. In fact, there still seems to be overall a kind of ‘anything goes’ atmosphere on the Internet with regard to web design in general. But the way in which we access the Internet, combined with its increasing impact on our everyday lives, now requires a more thorough understanding of the influence of color for designers who wish to create websites that effectively attract and positively influence visitors to them.
And so, we would like to introduce with this article the influence of color on web design in general, beginning with the foundations of color theory and leading to some important tips for using color to create more powerful and influential websites overall.
A Brief Introduction to Color Theory
Color theory is a large branch of science that encompasses every aspect of how humans see and interpret color. We will begin with only a brief introduction to color theory here, outlining its more salient points for gaining a better understanding of how to harness the power (and avoid the pitfalls) of using color in web design.
If you find that you would like to learn more about this fascinating subject, there are several websites on the Internet that cover the subject in much more detail.
When we speak of color, we are referring to the visible, or optical, spectrum – that portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that is visible to the human eye. Many students are introduced to the colors of the visible spectrum through a kind of funny mnemonic – the famous
Mr. ROY G. BIV, whose name serves to remind us of the first letters of each color as follows:
R Red portion of visible spectrum, having wavelengths from about 630-760 nanometers (nm)
O Orange portion of the visible spectrum, from about 585-620 nm
Y Yellow portion of the visible spectrum, from about 565-590
G Green portion of the visible spectrum, from about 520-570 nm
B Blue portion of the visible spectrum, from about 420-490 nm
I Indigo portion of the visible spectrum, from about 420-440 nm
V Violet portion of the visible spectrum, from about 380-420 nm
The wavelengths here are measured in nanometers. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter, or about the length of seven tiny hydrogen atoms lined up side-by-side.
Very small! And very impressive that our eyes are able to discern the difference between colors ranging only a few hundred nanometers total in the visible range.
You might notice some overlapping or portions of the spectrum that aren’t accounted for; this is because our eyes and brains vary a bit in how we detect and interpret colors.
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