Beyond web logs

Describing the emotional connections that people may have with colors can be a very
“hippy-esque” topic. If you don’t believe me, just head over to your favorite online music
store and sample some tracks from Colors by Ken Nordine. Although most designers don’t
rely solely on the supposed meanings, characteristics, and personalities of specific colors,
it’s still handy to have an understanding of the emotional attributes of some of the main
color groups.

red
The color red has a reputation for stimulating adrenaline and blood pressure. Along
with those physiological effects, red is also known to increase human metabolism. It
is an exciting, dramatic, and rich color; after all, red is also a color of passion. Nothing
says “love” like painting a wall bright red on Saint Valentine’s Day for your sweetheart,
as someone’s done in Figure 2.1. The darker shades of red, such as burgundy and
maroon, have a rich, indulgent feeling about them—in fact, they can be quite hoitytoity.
Think about these colors when designing anything for wine enthusiasts or
connoisseurs of fine living. The more earthy, brownish shades of red are associated
with the fall season and harvest.

orange
Like red, orange is a very active and energetic color, though it doesn’t evoke the
anger that red sometimes does. Instead, orange is thought to promote happiness and
represents sunshine, enthusiasm, and creativity. Orange is a more informal and less
corporate-feeling color, which is perhaps the reason the marketing gurus behind
companies such as Cingular in the US and Orange in Europe decided to create brands
with it. Since orange also stimulates metabolism and appetite, it’s a great color for
promoting food and cooking. That’s probably why the picture of a tangerine in Figure
2.2 is making you hungry, even if you don’t like citrus fruits.

yellow
Yellow is a highly active and visible color, which is why it’s used for taxicabs and
caution signs. It’s associated with happiness and energy, and, as Figure 2.3 illustrates,
is the signature color of smileys. Like red and orange, pure yellow is a visibly active
color. The original orange and lemon-lime flavors of the sports energy drink Gatorade
  are still the best-selling of the brand’s products. This is likely due, in part at least, to
the active, energetic characteristics associated with the colors orange and yellow. An
anonymous quote that’s often used with color associations says, “Babies cry more in
yellow rooms, husbands and wives fight more in yellow kitchens, and opera singers

throw more tantrums in yellow dressing rooms.” Whether this comment is true or not, the point is that too much yellow can be overpowering. Come on—if you were a baby
stuck in a dressing room with fighting spouses and tantrum-throwing opera singers,
you’d cry too!

green
Green is associated with nature. It is
a very soothing color that symbolizes
growth, freshness, and hope. It’s much
easier on the eyes, and far less active,
than yellow, orange, or red. Although
many web site designs that use green
appeal to visitors’ sense of nature, green
is a very versatile color. When bright
green is set against a black background,
it really pops, and gives the design
a techy feel. For me, it brings back
memories of my first computer, a trusty
old Apple IIe, the display of which is shown in Figure

blue
When I was a kid, my favorite color was blue. Not just any blue, but Crayola Crayon
cerulean blue, shown in Figure 2.5. Yeah, I was a weird kid. On the touchy-feely level,
blue symbolizes openness, intelligence, and faith. Physiologically, blue has been found
to calm people down, but it can also reduce appetite. This effect is probably due in
part to the rarity of blue in real food. Aside from blueberries, how many naturally
blue foods can you count? Blue, it would seem, is just not a part of Nature’s appetiteinducing
palette, so it’s not a great choice for promoting food products. Blue is

sometimes seen as a symbol of bad luck and trouble. This emotional color connection
is evident in blues music and in the paintings of Picasso’s depression-induced Blue
Period. It’s not all about unnatural food colors and downtrodden forms of art, though—
blue also has universal appeal because of its association with the sky and the sea.
This visual connection with water, sky, and air makes blue an obvious choice for web
sites associated with airlines, air conditioning, pool filters, and cruises. Have you ever
noticed that blue is the primary color in the logos of IBM, Dell, HP, and Microsoft? The
reason for this is that blue also conveys a sense of stability and clarity of purpose ...
that is, until you’ve experienced the blue screen of death!

purple
  Historically, the color purple has been associated with royalty and power. The secret
behind purple’s prestigious past has to do with the difficulty of producing the dye
needed to create purple garments. To this day, purple still represents wealth and
extravagance. That extravagance is carried over into nature. Purple is most often
connected with flowers, gemstones, and sunsets, which, when you consider Figure 2.6,
is really no wonder. If you’re trying to create a web site design that stands out from the
crowd, think about using a rich shade of purple. According to CSS Zen Garden’s Design
category index, purple is by far the least commonly used color.

white
When people think “clean,” they think of white. White is considered to be the color
of perfection, light, and purity. This is why crisp white sheets are used in detergent
commercials and why a bride wears a white dress on her wedding day. We often
overlook these associations because of the default use of white as a background color,
but they persist nonetheless. To get an idea of how ingrained the meaning of white
is in our culture, just read the poem Design by Robert Frost. In it, Frost symbolically
contradicts those associations by using white to represent death and darkness. Using
colors in unexpected ways can be a good way to make a bold statement.

black
  Although black often has negative connotations such as death and evil, it can also
be a color of power, elegance, and strength, depending on how it’s used. If you’re
considering using a particular color and are wondering what the associations are for
that color, just ask yourself, “What are the first three things that come to mind when I
think about this color?” When I think about black, for instance, I think about Johnny
Cash, tuxedos, and Batman. When I think about Johnny Cash, his dark clothing, deep
voice, and sorrowful songs give a tangible meaning to the mental associations I perceive
between the man and the color. If you analyze your top three color associations this
way, you’re bound to hit some common chords that other people share in regards to
your color choices.

Even though color psychology does play a role in the way a visitor may see a site that you
design, keep in mind that there is no wrong color to use. While psychological reasoning
may help get your palette started, the success of a color scheme depends on the harmony
that exists between all the colors chosen. To achieve this harmony, we’ll need to keep a few
other attributes of color in mind.