Did you know that the color blue suppresses the appetite?

Colors have strong connotations, and each color has a specific psychological stimulation. For instance, red means "stop" and green means "go." Traffic lights send this universal message. Likewise, the colors used for a product, website, business card, or logo cause powerful reactions.

Much research has been conducted on the psychology, symbolism, and impact of colors. It doesn't take a color scientist however to recognize that if the Internet were black and white it would lose much of its impact and appeal. Color brings in the emotional component of the web viewer. The use of color sets the mood and personality of the site.

What is scientific about color is what impact one will have on the viewer. There are cultural, gender specific, and age factors to consider when choosing the right colors for your target audience.

Color plays a vitally important role in the world in which we live. Color can sway thinking, change actions, and cause reactions. It can irritate or soothe your eyes, raise your blood pressure or suppress your appetite.

Regardless of how we define commerce, almost every website is selling something. It may be a one-person accounting business; it may be a site that sells only tanning products or a much larger department store. Even educational sites could be considered commercial if they must generate advertising income.

A successful “store” has a simple formula. Initially, it must be accessible to everyone. It must be attractive and inviting. Once inside, the customer must be able to move comfortably through the store and find what they need. They must be able to examine the merchandise (or service) and get information about it. Finally, they must be able to successfully complete a purchase or procure a service.

For the first time in history, a flat surface electronically simulates a physical "bricks-and-mortar" store. In spite of the limitations of this digital medium of images and text, the same formulas for success apply — and even more so.

Color must function successfully on several levels simultaneously.

First, on a technical level, the colors must be as accurate as the existing technology will allow, while, at the same time, heeding the rules of optics.

Second, once a set of colors has caught and held the visitor's attention they must succeed in conveying appropriate information.

Third, colors must function competently as the primary structural element in the store’s design — the web page layout. In this capacity, color must create appropriate spatial and navigational effects on the page and the site as a whole.

Fourth, as the primary aesthetic tool, colors must create a sense of visual harmony, thus sustaining and enhancing the customer's interest in the shopping experience.

Color is one of the keys to web design. It is a way to touch the emotions of the viewers and when used correctly, to have them linger on your site. It is also one ingredient web designers often overlook, underestimate and get wrong.

At Blade, we don't just treat color as an aesthetic tool but recognize the psychology of color as a powerful medium of communication. Contact us for a free consultation.

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