In my quest to design successful, attractive web sites, I spend a lot of time picking colors. Making sure colors coordinate well with each other is not an easy task. But, with the right tools and a good sense of what looks right, you can achieve the look and feel you desire.

Following is a brief summary of some of the emotions/feelings associated with color:

Black—elegance, sophistication, formality, strength, depression, morbidity

Blue—professionalism, loyalty, reliability, honor, melancholia, boredom

Brown—relaxing, confident, casual, reassuring, earthy

Gray—conservatism, traditionalism, intelligence, serious, dull, uninteresting

Green—durability, reliability, environmental, luxurious, optimism, well-being

Orange—cheerfulness, low cost, affordability

Purple—power, royalty, elegance, artificiality

Red—warmth, love, anger, danger, boldness, excitement

White—cleanliness, purity, newness, peace, innocence, simplicity, sterility

Yellow—attention-grabbing, comfort, liveliness, cowardliness

The above associations are not universal. Depending on the country, different colors can mean different things. If you are designing a web site for an international audience, it is crucial that you pay particular attention to choosing your color schemes. Choosing the wrong colors may prove detrimental to the success of your web site.

For more information about color, visit the following web sites:

www.colorschemer.com

www.colormix.com

www.pantone.com