Colour, Culture and Web Design

Food for Thought

If you have ever taken a design course, you will have probably encountered colour (color) theory on some level. Essentially colour theory addresses how colour affects people on a visceral level and how people from different cultures associate colours to mean different things.

Take the colour white for example. Okay, perhaps technically white isn't a colour, but for the sake of argument let's say it is. In Western culture, white can stand for purity as seen in weddings. In Eastern culture white is associated with death and funerals.

Knowing your audience is important in design. Designing for an audience of children would probably entail using bright, solid colours. Adults tend to prefer more muted tones. The challenge arises when we take colour into web design. The Internet is accessible by people from all over the world. How can you possibly design with so much opposing interpretations?

Blue is seen as positive in most cultures. Of course if everyone did blue websites the world would be a boring place. The Internet is dominated by websites from western cultures which influence the use of colour. I feel the old adage of you can't please everyone, applies here. So, at the end of the day it is up to you as a designer to make the final choice. My advice is:

• know your audience
• do your research
• target your intended audience
• be able to explain your choices (if you are creating for a client)

Search the web using the search terms color, culture and web design for more specifics on what I am talking about. I have included a link to get you started.

http://www.topendsports.com/design/color-culture.htm

Happy Designing!