Whether you're new to the art of web design or you're a seasoned veteran, choosing an appropriate and aesthetically appealing color scheme can be difficult. This article will briefly describe some of the basic principles associated with color choices on the web. The Basics Due to the endless amount of different computer configurations, it's often difficult to determine exactly how various colors will be rendered on a particular computer. In the mid 90s, computers could typically interpret 256 basic colors derived from the primary colors red, green, and blue. From those 256 basic colors, 216 of them could be interpreted by most web browsers. The 216 usable web colors were collectively known as the web safe palette. Due to the creation of more advanced video graphic technologies, most users will now have a color setting of 16, 24, or 32 bit. Most web designers will tell you that the web safe color palette is no longer applicable due to these advances in graphics technology, and for the most part they are correct. It's estimated that only 9 percent of online users still use a 256 color (8 bit) setting. What does all this mean? Well, if you anticipate that a majority of your users will be using older computers and a 8 bit color setting, then by all means stick to the web safe color palette, but for most design applications this is not necessary, but it won't hurt. A good way to alleviate color rendering issues is to limit the amount of colors you utilize in your design, because it will reduce the chances that a specific color is rendered poorly. Also, it's a general rule of thumb to avoid using more than 3-5 colors within a website design. Which Colors do I choose? Your color choices should compliment your site and coordinate well with your content. The colors you chose should not only be visually appealing, but include good contrast and convey a desired emotion to your audience. It's important to recognize the cultural connotations we associate with specific colors. Different colors invoke different emotions, and you should be conscious of these sometimes subtle connotations. For example, I would not want an ecommerce web site aimed at selling baby clothes in a black and red color scheme, because these colors simply do not invoke the appropriate emotions. Color Theory: The Beauty of Harmony Many of you have probably heard the term color theory. Color theory is not a new concept, but an ancient idea that has been pondered upon for centuries. Some of the first writings on record about color theory come from Leonardo da Vinci's personal notebooks. Color theory is basically a set of principles used to create harmonious color combinations. A harmonious color combination is any grouping of colors that is pleasing to the eye. A harmonious color arrangement will appear neither chaotic nor subdued, but create a sense of balance. One of the most common tools for determining an aesthetically appealing color combination is the color wheel. The color wheel is a circular organization of the color spectrum that will show a variety of relationships between colors. According to color theory, harmonious color combinations utilize colors opposite one another, any three colors that are equally spaced in relation to one another, or any two sets of opposing colors that form a rectangle on the color wheel. The color wheel is a very helpful tool when choosing a color combination and can be found in a variety of places all over the web.
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