|
|
The Psychology of Color in Web Design
Persons engaged in website design, here's a scoop for you! Would you just like to know that by understanding the basics of cognitive psychology around color and patterns, we could further improve our Web design!
Designing a Web site does not only concentrate on making web pages of a certain site interesting and impressive. This skill and talent must also be used to ensure the user-friendliness of a certain site and must strive to reach the widest range of users possible.
So what's this about psychology? It simply implies that by understanding the capabilities of the human eye, we can produce Website designs that are more user-friendly. Being user-friendly means that our website design will not only cater for normal sighted Internet users but also to those partially sighted, blind or estimated 8-10% of men with red-green colour blindness.
If you don't know anything about vision and colorblindness and their reaction to various designs, then you must start learning now! 'Normal' vision is subject to huge variances. Even the size of elements will affect an individual user's perception of colour. The colours and the intensity of shades you choose to use in your Website design will be discerned differently by every individual who visits your Website.
Inconsistencies in color patterns are affected by changes in the ambient lighting levels. It's like changes in your hair color depending on the amount of lighting it was exposed. Some people even see blue colors in some objects like clothing wherein others do not perceive. These persons just happen to have more blue sensitive cones (photosensitive cells which convert light energy into nerve impulses) in their retina. They seem to view the world with 'blue-tinted spectacles'. As a web desinger, you have to be aware that these conditions are the reasons why your perception of your Web design may be different to other people and certainly are not the same with everyone else's.
The key aspect to contemplate to achieve accessibility, aside from impaired vision, is by being aware that your design might be manipulated by assistive technology. Screen readers or magnifiers are examples of this. They are software the physically disabled employ to enhance their experience of user interfaces. Some Web users can only read a certain combination such as yellow text on a black background, which allows no room for greyscale.
In order to have good legibility for users with certain visual difficulties and impairments, strong contrast can be a main ingredient in your design. Test the effectivity of this by manipulating screenshots of your design in a program like Adobe Photoshop. Try converting the image to greyscale then make the screenshot monochrome to see how it might be viewed using the most extreme visual manipulation -- do this by increasing the contrast level to +100. This is a particularly useful approximation of difficulties colour blind users may experience in discerning one colour or shade from another.
You can start adjusting your color application now and keep in mind that your designs will not be considered impressive if few people could discern them.
Lala C. Ballatan is a 26 year-old Communication Arts graduate, with a major in Journalism. Right after graduating last 1999, she worked for one year as a clerk then became a Research, Publication and Documentation Program Director at a non-government organization, which focuses on the rights, interests and welfare of workers for about four years.
Book reading has always been her greatest passion -- mysteries, horrors, psycho-thrillers, historical documentaries and classics. She got hooked into it way back when she was but a shy kid.
Her writing prowess began as early as she was 10 years old in girlish diaries. With writing, she felt freedom ? to express her viewpoints and assert it, to bring out all concerns -- imagined and observed, to bear witness.
For comments and inquiries about the article visit http://www.ucreative.com
How to Make Your Site Attractive to Potential Link Partners
Every now and then, I receive a link exchange request from someone who wants a link from my directory (my high-ranking directory directly accessible from the index page), and in exchange, they're willing to link to my page from one of their zillions of link pages about 18 jumps away from the home page. Needless to say, the proffered page has a Google PageRank of 0, and chances are it's not even indexed by any search engines.
A Web Site That Sells Is All One Needs To Have A Successful Online Business!
There are more than billions of Web Sites, running Online Businesses, offering products and services. But only a few Web Sites manage to make any sale.
Web Marketing: Design Mistakes That Drive Customers Away In Droves
They may look cutting edge, but if you want a web site that contributes to your bottom line here are some design ideas you will want to avoid:
Make it Clear What Your Website is About
Just about every list of the "Top 10 Web Design Mistakes" includes at least one reference to either
5 Instant Tips for More Online Sales
Even after you've managed to bring traffic to your site you may be losing sales because of problems with your site's usability. What's "usability"?
How to Create an Enjoyable Web Page Design
Novice and professional designers alike ? you may probably be skilled enough of any one or all of the techniques in creating a Web page and designing them. However, not all designs, even those made by authorities in the field, prove to be enjoyable and entertaining enough for the users. This is a fact that we hope does not irk some of our design enthusiasts and discourage them from honing their skills.
How to use Emotional Content to Increase Visitor Response
Did you know that many folks make "buying decisions" when they are moved emotionally? Other traditional medias have made the most of these principles and taken advantage of them for many years, whether it be a TV commercial or an ad in a magazine. People are emotional beings and people make decisions (either good or bad) when they are emotional. If something causes a customer to become upset, they become angry and try and solve it. If they become upset enough...they'll make a decision to perhaps discontinue your service and hire another service. On a positive side, the TV media bombards us with commercials that try to make an advertisers product seem fun or cute. The "emotional content" tactic is in nearly every advertising and communication media from print to radio to TV and yes, even the web. Emotional content is used to sell everything from fast food to children's toys.
How to Make a Website (Minus the Headaches)
There is nothing wrong with making your own website if you are looking to save some money. Be prepared however, for your finished product to resemble an after school project; cutesy, homemade touches and all. It is pretty hard to make your own website and have it look professional; but, there is an easier way that will leave you with fewer headaches in the long run.
Introduction To CGI Scripts
Using CGI scripts to add automation to your web site may seem a little daunting, but once you have incorporated a few into your web site, they become easier.
Cascading Style Sheets for Better Web Design
In cascading style sheets you can specify how your web pages will be presented on the screen by simply predefining page elements such as fonts, headers and links.
7 Ways of Building Customers Trust With Your Web Site
When I purchase something from a web site I first check who is behind this site. If there is no contact information or anything about the owner of the site or his/her company I move on.
Flash - To Use Or Not To Use?
Out there in the WWW there are thousands sites using flash for their needs. But the majority sites are not in this list. Let's summaries some facts about flash using on YOUR web site and after that it's you who will have to decide: to use or not to use. There are some facts about Macromedia Flash Technology:
Website Design: Secrets Of Professional Website Designers Revealed
What colors do you have at your website?
How to Prepare Your Project Before You Order Website Design
Are you serious about get this website done fast and clear and want to make money with your website? Then you will absolutely need some good web design agency to build the website of your dream and that it the aim, right?
Website Promotion and Design Tips
Are you thinking that it is about time your small business had an internet presence, however are not too sure how or who to go to build and promote the website.
A Crash Course on Graphic Philosophy 101
Novice and professional graphic designers, we are aware that you know the basic principles of graphic philosophy. But then, as workers of art ? though digital and graphic art already borders in commercial arts, there's no harm in continuously improving our craft through constant study and practice, is there? Really great graphic designers I know have come to their status because of painstaking application and study of their past works.
One-Product Sales Sites: Avoid These Top Blunders
One product, one long web page: this kind of web site is sometimes called a sales letter site or mini-site, and it focuses on one and only one goal, as many sales of that one product as possible. With a one-product sales site, no distractions, no subsidiary goals, such as newsletter signups, are allowed to interfere with that goal. So let's look at some common mistakes and omissions for a sales letter site.
Differences between XP Icons and MAC Icons
The icons in an application are the soul of the application; they give it the modern and dynamic look the application has. Also, if the icons are intuitive ? the end user will easily remember the task behind the icon ? easy to memorize then the end users will definitely choose the respective application against one with clogged and strange icons. Icon designers are trying their best to make their creation as intuitive as possible so to make it easier for the end users to work with the applications.
6 Reasons Why A Website Is Crucial To Your Business
Since I'm a web designer, I have a tendency to think everyone understands that having a website is important. Every once in a while, I have to remind myself that some people just haven't heard yet!
Use Exclusive Content - When Reprint Articles Dont Do Enough
There is no doubt that reprint articles can serve lots of search engine traffic to your site... All you have to do is to check your traffic logs and you will see how much traffic finds your site via one of the major search engines, as a result of those reprint articles being located on your website.