Colors and People

Keep in mind that responses to colors vary according to factors such as gender, age, or cultural background. You need some serious market research in order to make your site appealing for the exact category you're targeting.

Old vs. Young People

People of different ages have different reactions to colors. People past a certain age will find web sites with more sober and restrained (and therefore relaxing to the eye) colors more attractive. Youngsters, on the other hand, will appreciate more vivid and brighter colors, in keeping with their general attitude. Make the distinction between mature and young audience by using the appropriate colors for each category.

Men vs. Women

People also have preferences according to their gender. Thus, men tend to prefer blue and orange to red and yellow, while women prefer red to blue and yellow to orange. Also, remember that it has been proven that women are able to perceive considerably more colors than men.

Nations and Colors

If your website addresses an audience larger than your country of origin, or it is meant to attract prospects from a specific country, invest some time in researching the specific meanings of colors. For example, while white is a symbol of purity in Western cultures, it stands for bad luck and unhappiness in China, Japan, and India. While very appreciated in Japan, pink is frowned upon in India and East-European countries, where it is regarded as a "non-manly color".

Purple is associated in certain Arabic cultures with prostitution (the same as red in the European and North-American cultures), and globally, it is generally associated with mysticism and beliefs that are not in keeping with the precepts of Islamism, Judaism and Christianity. Green, if used for the web site of a financial institution from the USA, will support the implication that the institution deals with the "almighty green dollar", but it may bear no such significance in a country where bills (paper money) are multiple-colored.

On the other hand, there is a globally accepted "safe" color: blue. It can be used for almost any kind of site, no matter its audience, location or goal. It would be therefore safe to say that blue is an international color. In order to avoid embarrassing (and even costly) issues, you have the option of mixing colors.

This can lead to a complete change of meanings, significances will be changed and negative implications will be at the very least diminished, if not eliminated altogether (e.g. red becomes more powerful when combined with white). It is up to you to obtain creative colors that will be internationally accepted, but you have to do your homework quite well.

Common Colors and Their Most Common Meanings

• Red: energy, passion, excitement, power; also implies aggression, danger.

• Blue: coolness, spirituality, freedom, patience, loyalty, peace, trustworthiness; can also imply sadness, depression.

• Yellow: light, optimism, happiness, brightness, joy.

• Green: life, naturalness, restfulness, health, wealth, prosperity; in certain contexts, can imply decay, toxicity.

• Orange: friendliness, warmth, approachability, energy, playfulness, courage.

• Violet: wisdom, sophistication, celebration.

• White: purity, cleanliness, youth, freshness, peace.

• Black: power, elegance, secrecy, mystery.

• Gray: security, maturity, reliability.

• Pink: romance a feminine color.

• Brown: comfort, strength, stability, credibility.

Using Colors for Web Site Elements

It is a good thing to differentiate between the elements of your web site by using various colors. You can use colors for identification, grouping or emphasis. For example, groups of related web pages can be identified by some particular color scheme, thus making it easier for a visitor to identify their place in your web site's architecture.

Certain information that needs to be brought to the visitor's attention can be highlighted by means of color. This improves scanning and can help reduce visual fatigue.

An important factor in the development of a web site is the use of various colors for hyperlinks, in order to help users distinguish between pages they have already viewed and pages that they haven't visited yet.