Choosing Color.

[Nadia P]

But is anyone really that bad with a sense of color? For every type of site, anyone could easily figure out a starting color, and then follow with shades, and blacks and grays. Whatever looks good with it really.

Yes, absolutely... some people have no idea of color coordination. They may be brilliant when it comes to programming or whatever, but ask them to put together a color scheme that works, forget it :-) Most of them admit to it as well

That's where these color schemers come into play....

Just my aussie 2 cents worth :-)

Nadia

[Egor]

Just my aussie 2 cents worth :-)

Fair enough then...

[bo5ton]

That last one - the HP colour wheel is true to what colours go with which. Learnt that back in year 9 or something I think! That takes me back!

[SMARTin]

I quite like:

http://wellstyled.com/tools/colorscheme2/index-en.html
http://www.ficml.org/jemimap/style/color/wheel.html
http://www.morecrayons.com/

[Nadia P]

This is quite a nice website too - as good as your own personal colour consultant :-)

http://www.behr.com/behrx/index.jsp

Nadia

[baztorres]

What a great thread, I will certainly be using all these in the future.

[neves]

Hi all,

I've seen tons of color tools online, but none teach you how use and combine it. What I mean is, if you make the reverse-engine, example, pick the colors from a beautifull site and try to understand its logic using those tools. The colors never match. Anybody can Tell me how from a color schemer you can reach a pallete like this one:
http://www.sitepoint.com/examples/ge...ok/vintage.gif

And why none these color match a pallete:
http://www.kolur.com/oct6/galindex.php

[NitroLiq]

I have to agree with mst and the guys that responded to his post. The thing is, many of these little color matching apps don't take into consideration subtle shifts in hues, saturation, or light/darkness. And, if a company has a specific branding and/or company colors, you need to choose a palette that's relative. The company I work for has a 2 color logo (a shade of blue and a green) and the colors work well but just for fun I entered the color into the colormatch tool...nothing close to the second color even showed up. If you read up on Color Harmony, you'll also find that throughout history different colors signify different meanings through various cultures and through emotions. This is something to bear in mind.

What I've done in the past is created a psd of great palettes that work...if I come across a website in passing where the colors really work, ill just make a screenshot and eyedropper the colors, making little stacked swatches on a separate psd used for palettes. You could also go to a bookstore and pick up some kind of color harmony workbook which would give you tons of combinations. Colors are really something that should be thought on not just a quick grab based on something a little color app blasts out (same goes for typography).

[vgarcia]

You could also go to a bookstore and pick up some kind of color harmony workbook which would give you tons of combinations.

Any specific books you'd recommend? I'm always up for more reading about color and typography .

[NitroLiq]

Not really...there are so many. I usually just go and see what really jumps out at me. If you want a nice coffee table book (and stuff where you could find nice color combinations), check out any of the Typographic or Design annuals....Typographic 21 was a good one if I remember correctly. "Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works" is a good and cheap reference for choosing typefaces for different applications. You could also look at stuff like business card annuals, newsletter annuals, graphic design annuals....all these are just put out for design inspiration....it's a nice way to find good color combinations and design techniques. Aside from that, just do a search at amazon on color harmony or color matching and you'll find a ton of books. I'd recommend going to an actual bookstore, though so you can thumb through some of them and find what you like.

This was a good read.

[vgarcia]

Aside from that, just do a search at amazon on color harmony or color matching and you'll find a ton of books. I'd recommend going to an actual bookstore, though so you can thumb through some of them and find what you like.

Thanks for the tip, I'll check those out

Off Topic:

Trust me, you'd be shocked at the amount of online shopping I don't do. I always run over to Barnes & Noble for books (it's only a 5-minute walk from me).

[NitroLiq]

Same here...I'm like 10 minutes away from 3 barnes and nobles. I have no problems with shopping online but for things like clothes and books...I have to atleast check it out in person first...some of the online discounts save a good deal of money so...I'd much rather pay $39 for a computer book than $60, especially here in nyc where the tax is like 8.26%!

[Magdalena]

This is one of the best tools I've seen for help with color schemes:

Color Wheel Pro

M.

Edit: You can dowload it for free if you link to their site: http://www.color-wheel-pro.com/linktrade.html

[Jeraych]

Yes, absolutely... some people have no idea of color coordination. They may be brilliant when it comes to programming or whatever, but ask them to put together a color scheme that works, forget it :-) Most of them admit to it as well

I agree absolutely with you Nadia! Thats why I really need it, I can't even decide what colors should be the links, activated links, background, table color etc... Sometimes even these color sections do not help

Thanks everyone for responding, of course there can be continuation, just going ahead and thanking everyone now

[xyuri]

Try this: http://pixelfever.com/tools/colormatch/

I have never looked for a tool that helps out with color, but I do suck at color coordination.

This tool rocks!

[wbd]

And, if a company has a specific branding and/or company colors, you need to choose a palette that's relative. The company I work for has a 2 color logo (a shade of blue and a green) and the colors work well but just for fun I entered the color into the colormatch tool...nothing close to the second color even showed up.

This is where I believe the link I posted earlier in this thread (http://www.meyerweb.com/eric/tools/color-blend/) has some advantages over other colour tools, as it uses 2 base colours rather than just one, as all of these other tools use.

[Egor]

This is where I believe the link I posted earlier in this thread (http://www.meyerweb.com/eric/tools/color-blend/) has some advantages over other colour tools, as it uses 2 base colours rather than just one, as all of these other tools use.

And what if the logo has 3 colours?

I would put these tools in the same category as templates. If you all are happy keeping in mind that some machine did the colour thinking for you (you are stupider then some little script). then enjoy...

Maybe I just like to think for myself.

[NitroLiq]

This is where I believe the link I posted earlier in this thread (http://www.meyerweb.com/eric/tools/color-blend/) has some advantages over other colour tools, as it uses 2 base colours rather than just one, as all of these other tools use.

I agree with mst here. That app doesn't take into consideration other colors that might work. Of course, if you design your own palette of say 4 or 5 colors first then plug the various combinations into that, it's easy to generate a broad palette quickly, which I guess would be nice for inspiration and expediency's sake. I still say the best way to learn is to look at other work, be it print or interactive, and build your own palette library...really look at it and ask yourself "Why do these colors work and these colors don't?" Look at packaging next time you're buying groceries and pay attention to labels or boxes that are pleasing or garish...or go by a $12 book like "Color Harmony Workbook."

[wbd]

And what if the logo has 3 colours?

If that's the case, and I'm sure it happens a lot, then none of the online tools I've seen will be of much help :-)

What I would consider doing in that instance is use those three colours (or however many there are in the logo) throughout the website. As a result, there probably wouldn't be a need to use any of these online colour wheels/blenders/palettes etc.

[wbd]

That app doesn't take into consideration other colors that might work. Of course, if you design your own palette of say 4 or 5 colors first then plug the various combinations into that, it's easy to generate a broad palette quickly

and

...look at other work, be it print or interactive, and build your own palette library...

Creating palettes of colour that are pleasing to us is one thing, but of course, as web designers, the one key element to remember is that we need to be creating websites that are attractive not necessarily to us, but to our clients. Sure, we should be using our knowledge and experience to guide them and suggest possible solutions (such as colour combinations), but ultimately its the client's website, and they should have the final say/decision.

(If you are your own client, then this post obviously does not apply. )

[NitroLiq]

That's a given but you still have to build a palette based on the client's colors/branding.

[jayell]

Wow! There's some great resources here for matching and blending colors (I'm one of those that could use the additional guidance). Is using Web safe colors NOT an issue anymore?

Jayell

[wbd]

Is using Web safe colors NOT an issue anymore?

Latest stats from http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp indicate that only 4% of web users are browsing with a colour depth of only 256 colours (or less). This figure is only likely to go down, not up.

Therefore, to answer your question, I would say that no, using web safe colours is not an issue anymore.

But that's just my opinion, and others I'm sure will say that by ignoring the web safe colour pallette, it disadvantages 1 in 25 users. It's similar to the "do I develop websites that cater for the rendering quirks of older browsers such as IE & NS 4.x"? I don't know if there is a definitive answer. I think its an individual choice.

[jayell]

Latest stats from http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp indicate that only 4% of web users are browsing with a colour depth of only 256 colours (or less).

Interesting statistics, though, if those figures are correct. I would certainly hate to limit my color choices by dumbing down my site for so few. And if they don't have the full range of colors, it just picks the closest 'safe' color, right?

Jayell

[vgarcia]

Wow! There's some great resources here for matching and blending colors (I'm one of those that could use the additional guidance). Is using Web safe colors NOT an issue anymore?

Jayell

Not a very big issue no. Just be sure to have appropriate contrast between text and background colors, just so they don't blend into each other on older displays. If you're still a little skittish about unleashing millions of potential colors on your website, you can try the Web Smart 4096 color palette instead, which I find to be a nice compromise between compatibility on older systems and freedom of color choices.