The Psychology Of Color In Web Design
|
|
Persons engaged in website design, here's a scoop for you! Would you just like to know that by understanding the basics of cognitive psychology around color and patterns, we could further improve our Web design!
Designing a Web site does not only concentrate on making web pages of a certain site interesting and impressive. This skill and talent must also be used to ensure the user-friendliness of a certain site and must strive to reach the widest range of users possible.
So what's this about psychology? It simply implies that by understanding the capabilities of the human eye, we can produce Website designs that are more user-friendly. Being user-friendly means that our website design will not only cater for normal sighted Internet users but also to those partially sighted, blind or estimated 8-10% of men with red-green colour blindness.
If you don't know anything about vision and colorblindness and their reaction to various designs, then you must start learning now! 'Normal' vision is subject to huge variances. Even the size of elements will affect an individual user's perception of colour. The colours and the intensity of shades you choose to use in your Website design will be discerned differently by every individual who visits your Website.
Inconsistencies in color patterns are affected by changes in the ambient lighting levels. It's like changes in your hair color depending on the amount of lighting it was exposed. Some people even see blue colors in some objects like clothing wherein others do not perceive. These persons just happen to have more blue sensitive cones (photosensitive cells which convert light energy into nerve impulses) in their retina. They seem to view the world with 'blue-tinted spectacles'. As a web desinger, you have to be aware that these conditions are the reasons why your perception of your Web design may be different to other people and certainly are not the same with everyone else's.
The key aspect to contemplate to achieve accessibility, aside from impaired vision, is by being aware that your design might be manipulated by assistive technology. Screen readers or magnifiers are examples of this. They are software the physically disabled employ to enhance their experience of user interfaces. Some Web users can only read a certain combination such as yellow text on a black background, which allows no room for greyscale.
In order to have good legibility for users with certain visual difficulties and impairments, strong contrast can be a main ingredient in your design. Test the effectivity of this by manipulating screenshots of your design in a program like Adobe Photoshop. Try converting the image to greyscale then make the screenshot monochrome to see how it might be viewed using the most extreme visual manipulation -- do this by increasing the contrast level to +100. This is a particularly useful approximation of difficulties colour blind users may experience in discerning one colour or shade from another.
You can start adjusting your color application now and keep in mind that your designs will not be considered impressive if few people could discern them.
Lala C. Ballatan is a 26 year-old Communication Arts graduate, with a major in Journalism. Right after graduating last 1999, she worked for one year as a clerk then became a Research, Publication and Documentation Program Director at a non-government organization, which focuses on the rights, interests and welfare of workers for about four years.
Book reading has always been her greatest passion -- mysteries, horrors, psycho-thrillers, historical documentaries and classics. She got hooked into it way back when she was but a shy kid.
Her writing prowess began as early as she was 10 years old in girlish diaries. With writing, she felt freedom ? to express her viewpoints and assert it, to bring out all concerns -- imagined and observed, to bear witness.
For comments and inquiries about the article visit http://www.ucreative.com
|
|
|
Created & Maintained by Empower! CMS Web Sites
Host2Sell Web Hosting | Emarketing Workshops | Site SEO Review | FREE NewsletterBusiness Opportunity For Graphic Designers
As a graphic designer, you are sitting on a gold mine. Youhave a skill other people do not have, and you can use thatskill to earn a good living.But, it's very sad to see most experts in graphic designwork for others.It's time for a change!Let me tell you a secret.With the power of Internet, you can start an onlinebusiness, and make as much money as you can, without havingto quit your day job.It doesn't matter whether you're a professional design...(related: Web Design)
Free Web Design Advice
In this article I will give advice and tips of where to find a low cost website design company and also about the best ways of producing a cool website.How many people or companies are advertising their services for web design?The answer is a great deal. They surely can not all be asking for huge sums of money to build and design quality websites. There must be some who offer cheap, affordable websites.If you think about a company or person who is just starting out, they have not got a very large portfolio of previous work and cl...(related: Web Design)
The Technology May Change, But Human Nature Remains The Same
Let me repeat that.."The technology may change, but human nature remains the same!"In this wonderful Internet Age, we are all struggling, and succeeding to different degrees, to keep up with the technology. It's a never-ending battle. Web Technology! When it's good, it's often poorly executed, and when it's bad- it's fatal.Frankly, much of the time, the technology gets in the way of the sales and communication process. Unfortunately, it seems that many people responsible for website design understand the technology available and what they want, more than they understand their fellow man- their potential customers, and what THEY want.Whoever...?Whoever got the idea to ask for your name and email addresses before you can enter a site? Try that outside th...(related: Web Design)
Ten Basic Steps For Building A Web Site That Works
1. Assemble a web site development plan that is integrated with your overall marketing processes; the content should be consistent with offline materials, the graphics/images don't have to be identical ...(related: Web Design)
Save Thousands Of Dollars By Creating Your Own Web Site
With the advent of the Internet a whole new vista of business has opened up. Many erstwhile opportunities otherwise not available to us, many markets which were previously inaccessible are accessible to us now. We can transact with anyone anywhere across the world sitting in the comfort of our home.For e.g. a person in New York, USA can send flowers to a person in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India in real time, i.e. almost within 1 hour the delivery of flowers can be arranged. similarly, transactions of mone...(related: Web Design)
Web Design Advice And Information
Most of us at times need advice on different aspects of life and the thought of obtaining a website can be quite a daunting task for many people. There are so many people offering cheap web design services, therefore how do you know who to choose and what to look for.In reality you should be able to find some great deals out there due to the competitive nature of website design. You should be able to get a good l...(related: Web Design)
Web Site Templates And Their Benefits
Unarguably, the most important part of your website is content. To draw in clients or customers, you need captivating content and search engines are blind to web design. They only see content. The images, structure and colors of your website go out the window when it comes to search engine placement, which we all know is the single best traffic generator. Your web design is really only a shell that makes your content look pretty. Don't get me wrong, your site's design can be very important. People are influenced by colors they see, and the quality of your design lends credibil...(related: Web Design)
Web Publishing Guide For The Beginning Entrepreneur (part 1)
The best things don't come easy. - QuotedThe finished web pages in your hands could be likened to a painting by Michelangelo without the Sistine Chapel. In your case, the Sistine Chapel would be the web server to host your web site masterpiece.This is the first part of a series of articles touching on various aspects of publishing on the web. In this edition, we will dwell on the aspect of domain name and web hosting.Domain NameFirst, you need to register your domain name. FYI, a domain name is the location of your web site on the Internet, just like http://www.internetmarketinglearningcenter.com.You should have your own domain name if you e...(related: Web Design)
Website Creativity: Why It Matters Now More Than Ever
If one more business owner tells me their website sucks because they're just "too darn busy to deal with it", I'm gonna hurl. That's like saying, "I'm doing business in my dirty underwear because I'm too busy to get dressed." Realize it or not, your website (or lack the...(related: Web Design)
5 Ways To Automate Your Site
Automating your online business is one of the most importantsteps you can take to insure your success on the internet.If you have been on the internet for any time at all, you knowthat there are just too many tasks to do each day to be reallyefficient and productive with them all.Learning to delegate some of those routine, daily activitiesis o...(related: Web Design)
site-map - Copyright © 2006 Empower! Web Design | All Rights Reserved. | Web Design