spreading jam

For a digital designer –any designer, for that matter – colour is a secret weapon. It has a powerful role in evoking a reaction from the viewer, and though it’s often underestimated, it can help support a punch line – good or bad.

This evocation involves tapping into the viewer’s subconscious (you don’t just barge into someone’s living room uninvited) convincing them that you’re a familiar face, and then gently slipping the message under the door mat. With any luck – and accurate colour application – they’ll soon open the door and invite you in for a cup of tea; maybe even ask you a question of two.

The process of selecting the right colour can be an arduous journey – and an expensive mistake, if you get it wrong, and with so many platforms to design for in the ever expanding digital space – it’s just getting harder. After all, it’s not a simple task to reduce a business into a colour palette to begin with and now it’s not just your website you have to think about. What about your Facebook page, your Twitter background, that Tumblr profile you’ve been thinking about and, of course, your mobile app!

So, what colour? And more importantly why? How a viewer interprets a colour, is summed up very astutely in this infographic (see below) by Testking.com

As indicated, a brand must know exactly why and how its colour palette will work and when best to implement these subtle – evocative – colours. For me, bright reds and greens always tend to be a ‘no-no’ – there’s something very ‘Paint’ about splashing these all over a page, and however dynamic the page design looks, it’s important to remember that your aim is to encourage people to visit (and re-visit) the page, and digest the information. However, when used subtly, these more aggressive and dynamic colours can add a little spice to the page and add direction – without distraction. Bold and dynamic may cause a panic, but good hues will never hurt you… that’s the rhyme right? Must be.

YouTube is a great example of this – the red (#FF3333, I think) is too strong to use in large blocks, and would probably evoke an angry reaction. (Or, of course, lead viewers to believe that there’s a sale on – everybody loves a bargain…) However, when used in small chunks – and sparingly – the aggressive colour becomes an accent for the most important aspects of the site – the user generated content. Manageable chunks of anger engage the viewer, without over powering them, and also represent YouTube as having some ‘balls’ (or according to the inforgraphic – power and dynamism.) It’s a fine example of design not getting carried away (or pinned down) by a brand’s colour palette – depending on the approach of a designer here, YouTube could have been a very angry and unattractive site to look at. It’s important in these cases, to trust the designer to interpret the guidelines, understand the brand’s needs – and unleash their colour weaponry upon the viewer’s subconscious!

The Psychology of Color by Tech King