It has been found that colours have certain meanings for example red is supposed to make you hungry (which is why many fast food outlets use it) and also suggests feelings of action, love and says ‘look at me’! Whereas blue is a calm colour suggesting loyalty and trust (which is why a lot of professional services e.g. banks and medical organisations use it). So it is imperative you select the correct colours for your business identity and website.
However, it must also be said that colours that can work well on printed materials do not automatically transfer in the same way to viewing something on a screen. Sometimes less is more on a website when it comes to any colour. To make things easier to read, you should always employ a certain amount of white space and use colour as an accent rather than over-powering the page. Colours should also be taken into account in terms of accessibility and so having dark grey text on a dark background will make it very hard for anyone to read.
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Source: The Art of Color Coordination
Some of my clients already have a logo when they start working with me and so then I obviously use the colour in the logo to influence the colours in the website. However, if we are approaching a website and creating a new logo, I ask my clients to complete a logo brief so I can gather full information about their customers and market and also competitors. I also often gather a colour palette so I keep a sense of consistency and then this can be used to influence other publicity materials too.
There is also an element of common sense to apply – for example, if I was designing a website that was selling baby toys and clothes, I would avoid putting it on a black background and would use vibrant fun colours. Whereas, a website to advertise a car manufacturer could happily use a black background to show off some large images and create a visual impact.
Some tools I use to help me with the use of colours are as follows:
Colour palette and pattern source http://www.colourlovers.com/
Colour picker – https://www.colorschemer.com/colorpix_info.php
Colour pantone/hex code list: http://www.umsiko.co.za/links/color.html
So if you’d like to find out what would be the most appropriate colour for your new business then give me a call and we can have a chat!
