Colour and web pages
"Web safe" colours
Some older computers only support 256 colours, and Macs and PCs
used a different 256 colours. If your audience is likely to be using
older equipment, it is safest to stick to the colours that they
have in common - the 216 so-called "web safe" colours.
On-screen colour
Colours on screen don't work in the same way as colours on paper.
Your monitor makes its colours out of varying amounts of red, green
and blue. So all colours are coded by indicating how much red (between
a minumum value of zero and maximum value of 255), how much green
and how much blue the colour is made up of. These amounts are expressed
in hexadecimal numbers, with two figures reserved for each colour.
So Red is coded as FF0000 because FF is hexadecimal equivalent of
255 (the maximum) and there is no green (hence zero, zero) and no
blue (zero, zero). Some colours can be referred to by a name instead
of a code, but this does not work across all browsers.
Colour in page design
Using the right colour can make a lot of difference to the impression
that your web site gives - but what is the right colour? Research
shows that some colours are generally associated with particular
attributes (e.g. dark blue with professionalism, reliability etc.)
However, you should be aware that these connections are culturally
variable. Whilst colour can enhance your message, or simply help
page design by providing a commonality between related features
on a page, you should be careful not to rely on colour alone; not
only would the colour-blind be excluded, but those using speech-converting
software would miss the message too (see more on accessibility
issues).
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Further resources
Colour practicalities
Making
a splash with colour
An excellent tutorial in the key concepts of colour
manipulation, hue, saturation, brightness etc.
VisiBone
Colorlab
Provides an on-line color laboratory for you to build
your own colorschemes.
Colour
names
For newer browsers you can use these names for some
colours, rather than the hexadecimal code, if you prefer.
Graphic Design
Resource
The tips & tutorials section includes links to articles
etc. on on scanning, colour, various software, designing
logos, newsletters, brochures etc.
Colour in page design
What's
in a colour?
"The effective use of colour will make an unconscious
but powerful impact on your site's visitors" -
but remember the cultural diversity issues.
Winning
colors and shapes for your company
Creating the impression you want to make - again no
reference to cultural differences
Using
colour on the web
A site devoted to all aspects of colour on the web:
"This section introduces basic color concepts,
shows you the different ways to specify color for online
display, and provides some design tips to get you thinking
about the power of a little blue, a little red, and
a little green."
Criteria
for optimal page design
Includes a table of common colours and their likely
interpretation in different cultures
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