How to choose the perfect color?

By divisha on January 18, 2013

Good design strategy encapsulates planning of color as colors greatly influence the human psychic. Every color has a different significance .Color plays a major role in how the design is perceived by the audience. That’s why it’s important to get the color right and to know what it symbolizes since every color has its story.
Here’s how to choose the perfect color

Contrast
To have a good design it is important to maintain a contrast. The color of Background and the text must be carefully chosen to garner the interest of the reader. The basic motive is to maintain the readability so that the reader need not strain his eyes in order to read. Standard contrast could be a very light color for the background and a darker one for the text. Combination of color for the background and the text must be carefully chosen so as to make it appear pleasing and to attract the readers.

Relevance
A good designer would be incomplete without the sound knowledge of colors. Since every color has a different implication, it must be chosen wisely. Since the choice of color palette is of prime concern, a brief study must be done to ensure that the choice made is relevant. Traditionally there are warm, cool and neutral colors. Warm ones are bright colors like red, yellow and orange generally representing energy, brightness and warmth. Use brighter colors to draw attention to sale items. In a negative connotation they represent war, danger and illness too. Cool ones are generally blue, green and purple symbolizing growth, intelligence and trust. Neutral colors comprise of black, white and grey symbolizing elegance, sophistication and maturity.

Sync
If more than a color is being chosen, every color chosen must be in sync with the others. It is important for a designer to understand the relationship between colors so that the colors complement each other. For a design to be effective the color combinations must be chosen wisely and one color is often used as a dominant color while others are used as accents. The basic idea is to provide a balance to the viewer rather than straining to accommodate for a particular area of the color spectrum. The brighter the colors, the more mental energy they will consume. Also, it is conventional to have one color stand out rather than every color being used. The dominant color will grab the attention of the viewer easily.

Quantitative analysis
A designer must stick to “Less is more” when choosing a color palette. Too many colors lead to a cluttered design and the view ability too depletes. Use of simple color palettes is an effective way to convey a sense of luxury and elegance. The basic idea is to have less number of colors to keep the design simple and elegant instead of having a riot of colors. With less number of colors the message is spell out to the viewer. A simple elegant design garners the interest of the viewer.

Viewer Analysis
A designer must try to analyse the viewers to have a successful design. Men and women tend to express different color preferences. Age and background too are important aspects to be considered for choosing colors. Women generally prefer bright and cool colors whereas men prefer the dark and bold ones. Design targeting old aged audience should contain conventional cold colors whereas a teenager might prefer bright neon colors and unusual color combinations and fonts. Neon colors could make a site appear amateurish unless kids or teens are the target audience.