hey guys first post on here not sure if im in the right area as i cant seem to find the one area to look for, since ive started to develop web pages ive always had trouble with color schemes, what goes with what and clashing. after reading a post on this site i saw something about a color wheel?? and the colors being to close together could somebody explain this to me.

 

ive created a basic web page layout, basically gone back to scratch as was getting bogged down with making fancy things so thought lets start again and build from that so here is the simple page

 

http://quo-vadis.me.uk/newsitbuilding/newindex.php

 

and the blurb inside isnt great i know. any way colors on this site meaning the header and the background. do they clash?are they any good. can anybody out there give me some type of advice or even a way that they have mastered this technique?? help would be much appreciated in this area as well as typography which is another area i am lacking in.

 

thanks again

 

daniel.

This is the color wheel:

 

Color schemes - at least the basic ones - are derived from a few different combinations on the colour wheel. A partial list:

-- Shades - Light and dark, but all the same colour (light blue-->medium blue-->navy blue, etc)

-- Complementary - Colours that are opposite each other on the wheel (red-->green, blue-->orange, purple-->yellow).

-- Analogous - Colours next to each other on the colour wheel (green-->blue, red-->orange, etc)

 

I think you were referring to a post where I said that the blue/green colour scheme didn't look right. This is because, with analogous combinations, there is almost always a dominant colour. So analogous schemes are not wrong per se, but if you have a bright, bright green next to a bright, bright blue, it tends not to look right because they are both fighting for your attention and do not complement each other (heh). Analogous colour schemes are, IMHO, some of the hardest to work with and that's why you don't see them as often.

 

You can find out more about colour, the colour wheel, and combinations of colours by looking through some art sites.

 

With your site, you are using shades of orange. If you want the site to "pop" and look a bit more vibrant, trying adding blue, green, or purple (not all three) as a secondary colour. This could be through link colours, headings, or other subtle ways (assuming you still want orange to be your main colour).

 

ETA: BTW, black, white and grey are not colours - they are shades (i.e. an absence of colour). So, at least in theory, they work with any/all colours.

thank you very much expat that was a great help to me, and thanks for the color wheel diagram i can see what u mean by it all now, and thanks for the advice on colors for the site I will take all of that into consideration when i'm changing the look and layout. thanks again

 

dan

Welcome to WDF!

 

There are lots of online tools that can help you create colour schemes like http://www.colorschemer.com/online.html

 

I tend to use http://www.colorschemer.com/ a lot when trying to come up with schemes.

You're quite welcome.

 

http://kuler.adobe.com is another popular option, though I personally find it a bit clunky.

i think the best way solve that is to play with them.. may take some time but it can make you independent on tools. Also, look for great designs and analyze how they match the colors to fit the website. Colors have attitude and spirit, you can learn it through experience and hard work. And these tools may be a great help.

The colour scheme chart is quite help for those designer who is not creative in matching of color for the site. Basic colour scheme for the site is used based on the tone of colors and from light to dark. As such if you have dark background, the

font or the content should be light and the site should be pleasing to the eyes.

I found a great resource the other day which lists a few different websites that you can use for colour schemes.

 

go over to www.speckyboy.com and check it out

 

Another good read you could consider would be a book by www.sitepoint.com and its called something like beautiful web design.

hey guys.. do you think so much over the color scheme..

if you are a professional.. only then.. should you think on it...

hey guys.. do you think so much over the color scheme..

if you are a professional.. only then.. should you think on it...

 

IMHO anyone who designs websites - not just professionals - should give colour a fair amount of thought. Websites are, at their heart, marketing materials (exceptions exist) and marketing is all about influencing the client. This includes subliminal effects, based on Color Psychology (really interesting reading if you ever get time).

 

Linkie: http://www.colormatters.com/marketing.html