web designer York

The first impression doesn’t get a second chance!

The very first and most conspicuous thing on the website is not a company name, not even an address or texts created by a prestigious copywriter. What everyone notices at the beginning is the colour scheme!

Colours are responsible for our feelings, they have the incredible power of putting someone in an exact mood. Cool colours, warm colours – all of them influence us in a different way. Try to remind yourself how many times a website stuck in your mind for such a long time that you have returned to it… Or maybe you have seen a website just for a blink of an eye and were about to close it but stayed only because the colours were so attractive? People who are sensitive to images for sure are able to recall at least one situation like those mentioned above.

Provided that you take special care after colours and general look of your website, people might spend more time on your website, which means that the content will be read and your company memorised better. How to make this kind of a miracle?

First, choose what is your main aim. Focus on it entirely.

What is your target audience?

Pages designed mostly for women should be in pastel shades (as long as it is in keeping with their content, of course. Can you imagine a site for women racing team designed utterly in pink?) Stronger colours for men are widely accepted, as well as a variety of brighter ones for young children and teenagers.

Colors

Colours are to match the main topic of a page. Always take into account that if you already have a company logotype, it is unavoidable to match it to the design of a website. Colors can be similar to those appearing on a company sign, maybe in a slightly different shades, or you can courageously go for contrasting ones.

Color language

All colours have their secret force to make people think and act differently. While green calms down and is said to build up hope, red makes people do something – for instance click on a button (now you finally know why phrases like “buy” or “add to shopping bag” are so often written in red.) Blue can be often used for financial topics, as it is often associated with intelligence and trust. Yellow – the colour of a sun – is a symbol of enjoyment and creativity, whereas orange is connected with vitality and energy. Every time you are hesitating over which colour to choose, think about the feelings you want to evoke in your potential visitor.

Make your website readable

Keep in mind that the most significant feature for a website is to be easily readable. Bright colours are tiring for eyes during reading long texts, but they can be successfully used as highlighters. Dark website forces a light font colour – finding a suitable one is not always as easy as it seems. Anyway, no matter which colour you settle on – ensure that it doesn’t blurs in with the background.

Test your website

To test your page after designing it carefully, spend some time in front of your computer reading everything slowly. If you do not notice your eyes becoming strained after a long period of time – everything is perfect.

A good solution is to ask someone for help – especially if you initially wished to highlight some vital information. Persuade your respondent to look at your page for approximately two minutes and after then question him closely about facts which you wanted to make visible. If he remembered well – you have completed a task. If not – maybe the colours are not good enough to pick someone’s attention and at the same time not to be subconsciously rejected as an advert or an attempt of manipulation.

Remember that a professional graphic designer would have all those factors in mind while planning the design of your website. And it is not only the colour scheme what makes a page look beautifully enough. Shapes, curves, rounded angles, soft or sharp outlines, borders width and many more details contribute to the desired effect.

As people say – the first impression doesn’t get a second chance. So make this first impression just perfect!