Need help choosing a colour scheme for my site

Need help choosing a colour scheme for my site.

Cant think of what to use, I’m wanting the site to look sharp, modern and professional.

The 2 colours I’m looking at are red and cyan blue (might be a bit too light)

Could some help.

I am terrible at ‘design’. But using tools like this can help you decide what appears good together.

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I tried the demo and read the instructions and failed to notice the small “Click to save” text :frowning:

Clicking locks the colour, gives a couple more options. splits the screen and allows another colour to be selected, ad infinitum

I like it, very neat.

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I’ll start by saying, that design is a very subjective issue and a lot comes down to personal taste and preference. While there are certain rules or guidelines in good design, no one can really say what it right and what is wrong. Sometimes breaking the rules can be quite innovative and creative. But often the rules of good design exist for good reason.

With that out of the way, my opinion: My first reaction to red and cyan was YUK!! :mask:

But the image that popped into my mind was full saturation #f00 and #0ff
These two are absolute opposites in hue, which is not always bad, but both are very bright which I think in combination with their hue contrast would be too much to take.

Both colours benefit from being knocked down a few pegs from their full-on values, with a reduction in saturation or brightness, particularly when viewed on-screen.
Cyan I find most offensive in full saturation, on-screen (it’s not so bad in print). But it can be nicer if adjusted in brightness, either down to a teal or up to a pastel sky blue.

If you stick the these colours, I would suggest you make them contrast not only in hue, but also in brightness. Two bright colours together with vastly contrasting hues isn’t nice IMO. So I would bring one up and one down the create a contrast in brightness.
So you could either make the red a little less saturated and bring the cyan down to a deep teal, or make the red a deeper, darker red and make the cyan a paler, lighter blue.

But again, opinions and tastes may vary.

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I was classified as being “colour deaf” a long time ago because of not being able to match suitable colours… Needless to say I will change my current site colours when next on the desktop :slight_smile:

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Its was red or cyan.

OK, it’s just the OP said “and” so I took it as meaning both together.

Yeah I should have been clear about it,

I like the 2 colours and the site has the normal white, light grey, charcoal.

i’ve tried cyan on its own looks a bit light may not be clear on all screens, Ive tried red it looks very sharp but because its just red it looks a bit dated and cyan and red looks a bit random ( not as bad as i thought it would be).
But I still cant get the colours to look right.

I could use colours i like but it needs to look modern,
I can choose random colours but I think to look professional I need to get it right, and its not really about my taste it be more of what members would like.

I#ve never really tried to choose colours for a site before, I dont know much about colours other then what I like,
Do you have any tips on how I should find the idea,

any apps i should use to adjusts the colours to what works
and how to know which colour to have the main colour and which as 2nd.

As did I - with exactly the same reaction you had.

Red and cyan are quite different colours, and I would have thought therefore suitable for quite different sites. What niche is this site in? The subject of a site influences my choice of colours quite strongly.

Try Googling harmonic colours. There are a few online tools and articles on the subject.

[quote=“TechnoBear, post:9, topic:214530”]
What niche is this site in? The subject of a site influences my choice of colours quite strongly.
[/quote] The site is a local classifieds and forum site.

I think my colour picking skills are not too good.

Ask your girlfriend

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I would but I know she will say pink or purple.

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For a local classifieds and forum web site? I may be wrong, but I think you are underestimating her. While my suggestion may sound tongue-in-cheek, psychologists have shown that women have a keener sense of color than their male counterparts. Perhaps you could choose a base color, a shade of brown for example. I’ll bet she could help you select a matching color or colors.

Of course, there is always the risk that she might become a web designer…

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Well I can try and see.

With this http://www.colorhexa.com/ff4968 ive found some colours I can use, which way would you advice to go on colours if the site is mostly white
pastel, dark or something else,

Im trying to avoid dark colours other then charcoal

Can you try a colour on your website and see what it looks like? It’s difficult to imagine what a single colour will look like out of context…

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I prefer dark or ass color with red.

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