How to choose the right colors for your website?

Introduction

Color is a fundamental element in web design; it directly influences perception, emotion, and user experience. Its selection should not be left to chance but must respond to a precise logic. In this article, we will explore in detail the different color systems, their perception, and how to make strategic color choices to achieve your goals and create a coherent and impactful visual identity.

The Color in Detail

The Different Color Systems

There are two main systems for creating colors: additive synthesis and subtractive synthesis. We refer to subtractive synthesis in the physical world. Light, which is composed of all visible hues, partially absorbs when striking objects, reflecting the remainder of the ray around us, possibly towards our eye. Therefore, what we see is indeed the light ray from which part of its colors has been subtracted.

In contrast, for screens, we talk about additive synthesis. Screens consist of pixels that can be illuminated by a mix of three colors: Red, Green, and Blue. It is the addition of these light emissions that creates the color we see; hence the term additive synthesis.

Since the two systems do not function the same way, it is impossible to have the same range of colors. We must make choices, whether we are in a print context or creating for screens.

The Perception of Color

An interesting component of our color analysis is the fact that the brain interprets colors in relation to their surrounding colors. It becomes less relevant to choose colors separately without comparing them to see how they react to one another.

One way to highlight this is to look at various optical illusions, such as the spiral where we believe we see blue and green bands, which are, in fact, the same color.

This illustrates that it is unnecessary to focus on the color itself but rather to think about the effect it produces on our composition.

Asking the Right Questions

To choose the right colors for a website, it is essential to define the vision and objectives for that site clearly. For this, we will momentarily set aside colors and objectively analyze our project.

Defining Your Objectives

The choice of colors should not be limited to a mere value judgment. To make sound decisions, one must be clear about the scope and expectations of their website. For example, we might ask if we want the user to be in an active and energetic position or if we want them to remain focused on the information we present. We can also identify interesting points from our site’s structure to define colors, such as marking distinct categories or products. In short, the idea is to have a clear representation of our objectives to choose or reject a color palette accordingly.

Defining Your Target Audience

A website is primarily made to be consulted, and since each sociological group has its peculiarities, it may be interesting to know who the typical user is who visits our site. For example, understanding their age, socio-professional category, or appetite for digital tools will again allow us to make color choices that optimize the site’s results for this target audience.

Defining Your Tone

Finally, it is crucial to know what tone we will adopt, what overall atmosphere we want to develop. This can align with the field in which the site operates; for example, we would lean towards a corporate tone that is relatively neutral and reassuring for a company in the banking sector. However, we can also break away and propose a younger, more offbeat tone, in which case the colors we choose must align to visually support the message.

Conducting a Competitor Analysis

When launching a project, it seems impossible not to conduct a thorough competitor analysis to position oneself strategically. We think less about it when it comes to choosing a color palette, yet it is a key point to decide whether we want to conform to existing codes or position ourselves as a breakaway. These choices will, of course, be made in light of the other points we have discussed.

Choosing Your Colors

Now that we have a clear idea of our project, its scope, its target audience, and its tone, we can concretely select our colors.

Creating a Base Palette

Taking our previous research into account, we will select a few colors to create a preliminary palette. There is an infinite number of color systems; one of the most widespread and effective is the three-color system, commonly referred to as 60-30-10, referencing the frequency with which each color will be used—approximately 60% for the primary color, 30% for the secondary, and 10% for the accent color.

We will then seek a primary color that will occupy most of the visible elements. All colors can be a good choice depending on the context. It is essential to consider whether the chosen color responds favorably to the project’s expectations, if it is relevant in the sociological, geographical, and especially cultural contexts of our target audiences. We should keep in mind the meanings of colors, but these should be seen as general guides that must be recontextualized and, if necessary, transgressed if it serves the project, to truly give meaning to our colors.

Next, we will seek a secondary color that will serve as a counterpoint to the primary color. This color should complement the primary color and respond to it. We might look for complementary colors that contrast or stay within similar shades and work on the values. Once again, there is no rule that works for all projects, but we must keep our issues in mind. When searching for this color, we can vary our primary color to best adjust the harmony between the two, like a chef adjusting their seasonings. We can completely change the first color if necessary; we should not restrict ourselves and avoid fixing our choices too early.

We will then select a third color to be used as an accent when we want to highlight an element that particularly attracts the eye. This color must sharply contrast with the other two to be quickly spotted by the user. Once again, this color can vary the two previous ones.

If the project requires it, we can select additional colors, but we must ensure they work well with the previously created system.

Tools for Creating Palettes

Many online tools exist for creating palettes and searching for colors. It is useful to utilize these and draw inspiration from the palette libraries created by the community. We can mention Adobe Color, Coolors, or Color Hunt, which allow users to search for and refine their palettes based on predefined criteria.

We recommend applying colors to your mockups rather than searching for flat colors to get a precise idea of their effect on your designs. Here, we can cite Figma, a web design software, which allows you to define colors as variables for easy modification across all components.

It can also be interesting to work from photos whose colorimetry aligns with the values and mood of our project. You can then select specific colors from the photo using a color picker tool to create naturally functioning associations. We can then refine these colors individually to optimize them for our website. Here, we mention the Instagram account @color-palette.cinema, which extracts color palettes from well-known films.

Expanding Your Palette

The 60-30-10 rule is great in theory, but practically, we will need more colors to successfully enhance the user experience.

First, we will need feedback colors to convey the following information: “everything is okay,” “warning,” and “danger.” We can use them to signify an error in a form field or that a message has been successfully sent. For the first, we will choose a tone in greens or blues, an orange for the second, and finally a darker orange or a red for the last. These colors are highly coded and almost universally recognized in this context. Again, we must ensure that these three shades harmonize and easily distinguish themselves from our chosen colors, especially if our primary colors are close to these shades.

Next, we will need to create variations of the main shades of our site for the different interactions possible on it. For example, the submit button in a form can have an inactive state with slightly darker shades when fields are not filled and, conversely, be highlighted when the user hovers over it. We can ask about the primary states that components can take on a site: “active,” “disabled,” “hover,” or “focus.” Depending on the specific context, we might consider other states and other color ranges, with the important point being to add colors only if they are necessary for the project.

Using Color Intelligently

Now that we have a palette for our website, all that remains is to use it. However, caution is advised as there are still a few pitfalls to avoid.

First of all, it seems logical, but we will absolutely limit ourselves to the previously selected palette to avoid confusing the visitor with a new color that comes out of nowhere. Introducing a new color not aligned with the previously established structure would introduce disorder, which users find difficult to tolerate. To achieve this, we can create a color theme in code and then refer to it without introducing new values.

Next, we will ensure that we respect the frequency of use of each of our colors to create different rhythms. We can familiarize the visitor with our primary colors and contrast by using our accents to capture their attention. We will also consider color as a mode of interaction, either on hover or to highlight an element at a specific moment, such as when selecting a product or highlighting the current element in a carousel.

Conclusion

Choosing colors for a website is not limited to personal aesthetic preferences but must meet functional and strategic criteria. By understanding the principles of color systems and considering the project’s objectives, audience, and tone, we can create a color palette that not only enhances the user experience but also strengthens the brand’s visual identity. By adopting a thoughtful and consistent approach, colors become a powerful tool for capturing attention, guiding user actions, and supporting the messages we wish to convey.