The Language of Color

What if you woke up someday and your whole world was in black and white? Being suddenly in a world without color would be a shock to the system. But if you’re not an artist, a house painter, or a color consultant, chances are that you may take for granted the power of color in your life. Color affects us in a myriad of ways emotionally, psychologically, and aesthetically.

Did you know that color is actually an illusion? It’s really all in your mind. It’s how your brain is interpreting what you’re seeing. The human eye and brain together translate light into color, sending data from your eyes to your brain and telling you what color you see. Each color can actually create a visceral response.

The way you use color on your website (the hue, saturation, temperature, lightness, and tints and shades) can affect not only the overall message of your site and the presentation of your company’s brand, but can affect how your site visitors feel and think about your company even before they read a single word on your site. Because color is one of the most powerful elements in a website design, it should be carefully considered.

It can be used to garner attention, activate call-to-action buttons, create an emotional response, build trust, and even convey a sense of strength and power. Good color choices take careful planning and when done correctly can influence how a visitor interprets what you’re all about. Important factors to consider are your brand, your audience, what emotions you’d like to evoke from your web visitors, and keeping a sense of balance.

Here are some attributes that can be associated with certain colors:

Red: Active, Emotional, Strength

Orange: Warm, Enthusiastic, Success

Yellow: Joy, Live, Energetic

Green: Comfort, Clarity, Trust, Integrity

Purple: Power, Luxury, Ambition, Spiritual

Pink: Love, Romantic, Playful, Compassionate

Black: Powerful, Bold, Serious, Elegant

Grey: Respect, Wisdom, Patient, Intelligence

We love working with colors to create ideal palettes. Over the next months we’ll be sharing some creative mixes of color to spark your imagination. Be on the look out!