# Design
Color Psychology in Web Design – Tips for Businesses
Red Rocket TeamOct 17, 20243 min read
In This Article
Psychology of Color in Branding and Web Design Cases of Successful Color Branding How to Choose a Color Scheme for Your Website?Creating a quality website requires a lot of knowledge from the development team, including color theory for websites. When we look at a website or mobile application, the human eye first of all pays attention to the color scheme. Of course, we do not feel how colors influence our thoughts, opinions and decisions. This has been proven time and again by various scientists from all over the world who link the connection between human behavior and a particular color.
A good web designer just has to know all about the psychology of color to help the customer create a website or mobile app. At the same time, different colors can be used on different pages or elements to stimulate the potential user to take the desired action. If you want to pick the perfect color scheme for your own website, then you have come to the right place. In this article, we will explain more about the psychological effects of color and help you choose the best colors for websites.
Psychology of Color in Branding and Web Design
Despite the fact that today experts distinguish several thousand colors and their shades, the human eye perceives only six basic colors. The rest are tones or shades that are very similar to these colors. It may seem surprising to many, but a particular color or color scheme can affect people differently. Some colors stimulate people to be active, while others make them relax. As soon as people realized the emotional impact of colors, there was a new science called color psychology.
Today, marketers and designers use color psychology in various elements of promotion, including banners, videos, flyers, business cards, advertising, design pages in social media, mobile applications and of course websites. Below we will tell you how color choices for websites and branding affects users.
1. Green
Green has been linked with the concepts of nature, health, and a new start. It is associated with such feelings as calmness, harmony, and growth. For these reasons, green is an ideal color for brands that are somehow affiliated with the healthcare industry, the environment, sustainability, or conservation. People are more comfortable dealing with entities that use different shades of green because it inspires trust and confidence, which are two very important emotions that healthcare providers try to elicit from patients. Since green calms people and inspires optimism, it can be used for B2B websites or to create a presentation for investors. In this way, partners will better perceive data and statistics.
2. Black and White
Why did we include the two colors in one item without separating them? The two colors complement each other harmonically, creating a complete picture. Think of the yin-yang, where the black part fits perfectly with the white part. When it comes to web design, black is often used by luxury stores because people associate this color with something luxurious. White color means something simple and clean, so it is often used by businesses il different niches.
3. Yellow
The specifics of this color are linked to such qualities as joy, optimism, and energy. It brings memories into working memory and begins a cascade of cognitive processes. Yellow grabs attention with relative ease and is commonly associated with happiness and upliftment. It is best for companies that wish to portray themselves as young, trendy, energetic, and serious about innovation – from eateries, ad agencies, and designers. Even deeper shades of yellow such as gold can convey positive feelings regarding luxury and prosperity. Moreover, some studies have shown that the color yellow stimulates people to be creative.
4. Red
Before we tell you all the secrets about the psychology of the red color, try to answer yourself the question, what emotions this color causes in you. Yeah, most of you thought about passion, energy and even impulsiveness. Actually it is so, because red color causes a storm of emotions in people. That's why in Spanish bullfighting, matadors use a red-colored cloth to attract the attention of the bulls.
Speaking of web design, experts mostly use red color in elements for shopping. For example, pay attention to the «Buy» button. We are sure that in most cases it will be designed in red color. Another example - pay attention to the price tag in an ordinary supermarket. As a rule, favorable offers have red price tags to attract customers' attention and encourage them to buy.
5. Blue
Blue is considered to be the opposite of red. Unlike red, blue is associated with something calm and relaxing. Some psychologists say that it evokes such emotions because this color best resembles water. This is why shades of blue are often used on websites and platforms where the main goal is not to make sales.
What are some examples of this? Blue is often used for corporate applications to create a comfortable atmosphere for company employees to work efficiently. That said, different shades can have different influences. Dark blue is associated with strict conditions and pressure, while light blue shades speak of a calm and relaxed environment.
Cases of Successful Color Branding
Today, most global companies have adopted a specific color scheme that is well associated with them. We've gathered three examples of successful color branding for companies you're sure to have heard of.
Coca-Cola
Many companies use red in branding to attract the attention of customers, and one of them is Coca-Cola. The simple combination of black and red color in this brand has made this corporate logo memorable. When customers walking through a supermarket see a line of drinks with a red wrapper, it makes them immediately take notice and consider buying.
IKEA
As we have already said, yellow color is associated with creativity. That is why the Swedish company IKEA decided to choose the color yellow. It encourages customers to be creative in order to buy furniture and other home accessories. The company representatives themselves state that the yellow color in their logo symbolizes the emergence of pleasant emotions when a customer meets the brand.
Spotify
Why did Spotify choose the color green for their branding? This color fits their goals, mission, and vision perfectly. They want people to be able to easily connect with music while enjoying themselves. The green in the Spotify logo hints to potential users that this app is filled with energy and positivity.
How to Choose a Color Scheme for Your Website?
When you are just planning a website creation, there are many different things you need to consider, including the color scheme. Most aspiring entrepreneurs choose a color scheme based on the founder's favorite color, and that's wrong. You need to consider the idea of your business and the emotional impact of colors. We have prepared some useful tips to help you find the best colors for websites.
Define your target audience
The first step is to know your target market, which entails the ages, sex, interests, and any other characteristics of the buyer. For example, some groups may prefer certain colors over others, while other groups may have a completely different choice of colors. For example, young adults, teenagers prefer and like to use juicy and neon colors like green, red and, purple, and so on. However, there are some general preferences for a specific age range: people older than 35 years may like more neutral shades, such as black, white, gray, and navy.
When designing for particular audiences such as the affluent professionals, it would be important to include metallic tones such as gold and silver. While family car brands are likely to utilize colors closer to primary, luxury car brands’ accents are likely to be black. Find out which colors your audience finds visually appealing and would want to be associated with your brand personality. The main idea is to convey the proper signal to the site visitors with the help of colors.
Look at your range of goods or services
Think about which colors will help your products or services showcased to be easy to understand and appealing to the eye. For instance, brands of ocean cruises could incorporate the use of different shades of blue to represent the sea and the sky. A garden supply company could use lots of greens and earthy browns on their site. This helps in building the link between your products, services, hence enhancing the branding of your products and services.
Likewise, the colors could correspond with the function of your company, as highlighted in the following section. Certain color schemes are suitable for energy business such as red and orange, whereas purple and green is for the environmentally conscious enterprises and blue and green for the relaxation or well-being related websites. Select colors that are seminal to your line of specialization so that they blend well.
Understand how you position yourself
When selecting colors, you need to define the kind of image you want to portray by the brand. For example, Calvin Klein communicates basic and comfort-oriented values through obscure and cool colors. The other side when clothing brands position themselves as luxury is Gucci and Versace. It is not hard to see how colors differ among the above-mentioned clothing brands.
As a rule, luxury brands use white, black, and even gold colors. This emphasizes their reputation and credibility. Companies that target lower-income customers may use different color schemes for a website or mobile app.
Experiment and test the results
Even the most inventive ideas may not produce the desired results, so it is difficult to determine whether a certain color works in practice without prior experience. Do not be afraid to overemphasize the colors during the first attempts at the website mockups. It is also important to experiment with edgy styles to determine what appeals to the audience and summarizes your brand story.
Turn to A/B testing once your site is live to know if it is the color or a combination of colors that causes a change in the user’s behavior. For instance, it is possible that in your layout, bright call-to-action buttons in red or orange are more effective than muted blues or greens.
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Final thoughts
Web designers learn the psychology of color to help in creating a website that will attract more customers. If you are able to best define your idea and target audience, it will be easier for you to make choices about website colors. Try to track key metrics, including traffic, number of sales to gauge the effectiveness of the color scheme.
We at Red Rocket Software are well aware of the importance of color psychology while building a website or mobile app. We are ready to study your brand in detail, take your ideas into consideration to create a design that will be memorable for your customers.
