One thing beginner (and sometimes experienced) designers often struggle with, is the choice of colors. To be honest, color choice has always been a tricky area. There are just too many variables that come into play like domain, preferences and trend. This article will go through the basics of choosing the right color.
The domain
The first question you should ask yourself is, what is the domain of the project. Is it in the baking field? Or entertainment? Or maybe food and nutrition? This will allow you to narrow down the possible colors. A project in the banking field would require “corporate” colors like dark blue or dark red. Apple green might not be the best here.
The preferences
It’s difficult to please everyone involved in a project. But, when there is a choice to be made between the client’s preference and the end user’s preference, you should always cater for the end user. Going for common color patterns might be a better idea. While green apple and bright pink are great colors for the entertainment field, mixing both might not be the greatest of ideas.
The trend
Throughout the last years, web design has become very much like fashion. A beautiful website built a few years ago often looks dated. That’s because the web design world moves very fast. For the color part, trend changes means shade changes. For example, some years back pastel colors were popular but nowadays, sharp colors (mixed with a lot of whitespace) are the way to go.