The meaning of colour

AndyB's picture

They have: 344 posts

Joined: Aug 1999

Looking for sites that can explain how colour is perceived by web visitors. Does RED mean lucky/noisy/fun ... does light gray mean dull/calm .. that sort of thing.

Purpose of this 'research' is to look for colour combinations that best fit the purpose of a particluar web site.

Ideas .. anyone?

Brian Farkas's picture

They have: 1,015 posts

Joined: Apr 1999

Hi Andy. I can give you some info on that...
Basically,

Red, orange, yellow = Action, noisy, energizing
Blue = Color prefered by most corporations, a more relaxed color, more soothing
Green = Another calm color, can also stand for success (green is the color of money)
Grey, brown, beige, etc. = Neutral colors.. They neither stimulate action or calmness, but are good to blend everything together.

And here's a little piece of info I took from a site called "Decorating with Color":

Pink: soothes, acquiesces; promotes affability and affection.
Yellow: expands, cheers; increases energy.
White: purifies, energizes, unifies; in combination, enlivens all other colors.
Black: disciplines, authorizes, strengthens; encourages independence.
Orange: cheers, commands; stimulates appetites, conversation, and charity.
Red: empowers, stimulates, dramatizes, competes; symbolizes passion.
Green: balances, normalizes, refreshes; encourages emotional growth.
Purple: comforts, spiritualizes; creates mystery and draws out intuition.
Blue: relaxes, refreshes, cools; produces tranquil feelings and peaceful moods.

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Megan's picture

She has: 11,421 posts

Joined: Jun 1999

Webreview had a really good article awhile back on the meaning of colour and shape - I bookmarked this one:
http://www.webreview.com/pub/2000/04/07/feature/index.html

They have: 32 posts

Joined: May 2000

Somthing else to consider is the audience that your site is intended for. What colors mean in North America may not mean the same thing elsewhere, especially in the Far East. For instance: black is the color we here in North America associate with mourning a death, same for Europe, but in China, white can denote death as well (under certain circumstances).

Hope I didn't throw a wrench into things.

Take a look at Color Matters for more color info. http://www.colormatters.com/entercolormatters.html

Hope it helps,

Bob

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