Choosing a Color SchemeIt’s worth repeating that the single most important thing you can do to build appeal, mood, and ambiance for your site is to select an appropriate color scheme. There really are no awful colors—any color can look attractive when placed with appropriate color companions. Even though web colors are mixed differently than traditional media, that doesn’t mean that you need to learn all new theories to make color work on the web; the old theories about pleasing color schemes still hold true.

For instance, yellow always looks good with its related color of orange whether the yellow was created with paint (subtractive color) or pixels (additive color). Sometimes the color scheme is a given: we can’t imagine IBM allowing any color other than blue to dominate its web site, or the Chicago Bulls using any colorsother than red and black, or Victoria’s Secret using anything other than pink, or the Republic of Ireland using anything other than green…Well, you get the idea. Many organizations have long-established color schemes from which you simply cannot deviate. In this case, creating the color scheme for the site can be as straightforward as choosing colors from the logo, followed by choosing a few additional tints or shades of those colors for variety. When you are allowed to choose your own colors, you fi rst need to consider the audience and purpose of the site. A site for children might employ primary colors or some other design of fully-saturated brights. A rock group site might use a funky combination of neon colors, or a dark and murky scheme, depending upon the mood the band wants to project. A more staid and stable color scheme, like monochromatic blue, is appropriate for a corporate site (again, think “Big Blue,” IBM).

Colors evoke particular associations and emotions in our minds. Here is a summary of some of those associations for the Western world:

Yellow: cheerful, sunny, upbeat, happy, luminous, intense. Popular example: Thehigh-energy label of the Absolut Citron logo.

Orange: energetic, cheerful, glowing, vital, upbeat, playful, happy, comedic,festive, loud, popular with children. It carries many of the same qualities of itscomponents of yellow and red. Orange lost popularity for many years becauseof its association with the period of the late 1960s and early 1970s but is nowmaking a comeback. When lightened to peach or coral: soft, upscale, nurturing, healthy. When darkened to deep rust: sensual, earthy, spicy, warm, ethnic.Popular example: The vibrant orange of Sunkist Orange soft drink cans.

Red: Attention-demanding, energetic, exciting, courageous, hot, aggressive,dynamic, fi ery, intense, passionate, sexy, bloody, warning, angry, prideful. Themost attention-gathering color. When deepened to shades and tones: rich, lush,elegant, refi ned. When lightened to hot pink: shocking, energetic, youthful,trendy, vibrant, faddish. When lightened to paler pink: romantic, tender, feminine, sweet, sentimental, soft, delicate. Popular examples: the energy of the redCoke logo and the feminine mood of Victoria’s Secret.

Purple: rich, elegant, creative, spiritual, confi dent, eccentric, sensual, daring,futuristic. When deepened to a darker purple: regal, majestic. When lightenedto lavender: soft, sweet, genteel, nostalgic, delicate. When grayed to a tone:sophisticated, subtle. Popular examples: the magnifi cent feel of the traditionalpurple robes of royalty.

Blue: tranquil, calm, peaceful, meditative, restful, reliable, traditional, clean,fresh, cool, icy, alluding to sky and water, divine, cold, sad. When deepened todarker blues: powerful, authoritarian, credible. When lightened to pale blues: soft,serene. When tinged with green (like teal): rich, unique, upscale, appealing to bothgenders. When tinged with purple (periwinkle): warm, trendy, energetic. Popularexample: the reliability implied by IBM’s “Big Blue” color scheme.

Green: natural, fresh, clean, healthy, hopeful, youthful, abundant, rebirth, spring,soothing, cool, clean, woodsy. When deepened to darker greens: richness,security, safety, prestige, safe, secure, stately. When lightened to paler greens:calm, soothing. Popular example: The Kelly green that represents the Republicof Ireland or the healthy green packaging of Green Giant foods.

Brown: durable, earthy, rustic, organic, healthy, ethnic, substantial, solid, timeless, reliable, stable, antiquity, permanent, drab, dirty. When lightened to tansand beige: rock, sand, natural, classic. Popular example: UPS’s drab but eminently reliable brown color scheme.

White: pure, clean, chaste, pristine, innocent, bright, clarity, hygienic, healthy,stark, minimalist, cold. When deepened to off-whites: warm, friendly, calm.Popular examples: white is the color of wedding dresses and “the hero on thewhite horse” in Western culture.

Black: sophistication, elegance, chic, dramatic, mysterious, powerful, stylized,somber, ominous, foreboding, death, depression, despair, fear. Popular example:The elegant black of the Chanel logo or a man’s tuxedo.