Did you ever wonder why when people are sad they will often say
that they are "feeling blue"? That is because certain colors are
associated with various moods and feelings.
Blue is a relaxing, passive color — the most popular color
according to studies through the years. Red is the most visible,
thus making it the most powerful of colors and the one that
people react to most.
Purple is a regal color, yellow and green are fairly popular, and
brown brings to mind wood and leather, which when used correctly
can provide a look of dignity to a site.
Following are six examples of a single scene, each with a
different color on it, each using the same percent of opacity. As
you can see, each creates a different mood, but frankly each
person may interpret that mood differently, too. Which of these
scenes looks the most inviting to you? The answer may depend on
your current mood.
Blue
Red
Yellow
Green
Brown
Purple
Color and Motion
With the arrival of animation, particularly in the form of
Flash, color has become an even
more vibrant entity on the Web.
The simple Flash demonstration on the left shows that color can
be manipulated to create results far more interesting and eye-
catching than mere static colors.
More and more of today's computers are capable of showing Flash
movies, and designers can take advantage of that to add dynamic
color to their pages.
In the demonstration shown here, for example, opacity is varied
for the moving objects and the text, while the background remains
the same. That allows the graphic to provide a three-dimensional
appearance as it moves through the loop, with objects visible as
they pass behind others.
Flash also makes it easier to use gradient color backgrounds, but
viewer settings can render gradients into several large bands of
color rather than a subtle transformation of colors.
In the same way designers using Flash can make objects move, they
can also change those same objects' other attributes, including
color, depth, size, and lighting.
By using Flash's "tweening"
abilities, users can essentially morph from one color to another.
However, the user needs to be careful choosing the starting and
ending colors to avoid something ugly along the way.
Conclusion
When used properly, color can be a thing of beauty. When used
improperly, it can be reasonably repulsive.
That is why it is important to use good combinations,
particularly on business sites where appearance reflects on the
company that owns the site.
It is crucial to consider the most likely audience. A bright,
colorful, and peppy site may look good and be great for a younger
audience, while an older audience may prefer something with more
subdued colors (and larger type for ease of reading).
If the site is likely to draw much of its audience from people
who may have disabilities, it is important to use colors to help
minimize those problems, or at least offer a text version of the
site as well.
