The Basics of Using Colors & Graphics to Create Warmth

How do colors and graphics affect your website? The effect is a bit like an office. Imagine a client coming into your office. Before they even have a chance to gauge your business or your character, they're already making judgments based on the cleanliness and design of your space.

Your colors and graphics work in much the same way. It doesn't necessarily reflect on the quality of your product, but the reader will still make decisions about your credibility, reliability and professionalism based just on your colors and graphics.

These aren't conscious decisions. They're subconscious, subtle feelings of trust or distrust.

Here are basics of what you need to know about choosing colors and graphics to build credibility.


The Basics of Using Color

First of all, it is recommended to prepare a color adjacent to the primary color. Websites may work well in one or three colors, but it's generally best to have three or less.

The colors you choose should be similar enough to be pleasing to the eye. To create a sleek design, the colors need to match well.

However, the two colors should not be so similar that they collide. For example, two different shades of green, or light green and light yellow, are too similar. Create eye tension.

Contrast colors or contrasting colors should be used with caution. To draw attention to one or two items, it is recommended to use the opposite color or high contrast. However, it is not as effective as a typical color scheme. Wear plenty of neutral colors such as black, white and gray. Neutral colors are half the image of the color selection, just as the margins are half the image of the graphic design.

Use one to three colors sparingly to spread your emotions throughout your website. 

The rest of your website should be neutral. Don't try to color everything.

The Two Rules for Graphics

These are the two rules for graphics:

1. Don't have too many graphics.
2. Each graphic must be highly professional.

In any given article or page, just have one graphic, maybe two. In your header, you only need one graphic. The same applies to just about anything else in your website.

Too many graphics takes power away from each graphic. The best designs use just a few powerful graphics, rather than a bunch of graphics that all detract from one another.

Each graphic needs to be very carefully chosen. It should be color corrected and its contrast balanced in a photo editing program. Make it a crisp photo, taken from a great angle.

In short, the photo should convey professionalism, credibility and quality.

It takes discipline in the beginning to put fewer graphics on a site. But that's what it'll take to really create a great-looking website.

Those are the basics of using colors and graphics in your site. Remember - your colors and graphics are like your office. They set your first impression before they even evaluate your product or offer.