You are probably aware on some level of how color sways your emotions and attitude. In the real world, you might notice things like how it makes you feel when your significant other wears a shirt of a particular color. You might notice that when you walk into a room with a blue color palette it's more relaxing, or that the stark white of a doctor's office feels very cold and clinical.
This range of emotions that you feel around colors is studied as part of behavioral psychology. Scientists examine the impact of color on human thoughts and feelings and document their results.
Designers, web developers, and marketers have taken those results and used them to create websites and marketing pieces that evoke emotion in visitors and customers. They used their own tests to expand on the work of the scientists and give us some fairly clear best practices for building brand identities and increase conversions on sites.
Professionals such as Neil Patel have noted that "Color is 85% of the reason you purchased a specific product."
You have to consider your product, your audience, and the emotions you want to convey when planning your website design. Let me give you a few examples:
- https://www.bouncebuy.com sells inflatable bouncy houses. So they use bright, fun, colors like red and orange and yellow in their design. It makes you feel happy and we associate that rainbow of colors with good times and children.
- http://www.loreal.com is focusing on selling a classy product to women. They used the simple sophistication of black and white and let the images on their site add pops of color and realism.
So, let me share some quick, data-backed, tips to get you started:
- Generally speaking, most women do not like orange, brown, or gray. They prefer blue, green, or purple. They are more adverse to earth tones and favor primary colors with different tints or shades applied to them.
- Men have some distinct differences. They typically don't like purple, brown, or orange. They prefer blue, green, or black.
- Aside from gender, certain colors are emotionally evocative. Blue gives a feeling of trust, peace, loyalty, calmness, and serenity. You will notice that most big companies that want you to trust them are using it in their branding. These include Facebook, PayPal, and Capital One.
- Yellow is a warning. This is why you see it used for many traffic signs and caution signs. This makes sense because yellow stimulates the brain's excitement center. It's also tied to fun and friendliness. Brands like McDonald's use it for that reason.
- Green is known for improving creativity and often reminds you of being outside. If you have products that are made for the outdoors or have a "green" product, then it's a solid color choice for your design.
- Orange is an impulse color. It's fun and stimulates activity, confidence, and competition. This is why you see it used in a lot of sports teams and children's toys and activities.
- Black is elegance, sophistication, and power. It's known for being timeless and classic.
There are a lot of colors and a lot of reasons why one works better than others for certain products, audiences, and designs. Thankfully for you, our design specialists have done all the research and know how to make websites that wow for your customers. Contact Us to get a quote and see how we can transform your image.
