Colour Theory/Psychology

Colour is a major influence on whether an interface will attract a potential user or not, it is another section of my project that needs thorough research and understanding. Here I will look into colour combinations and how they are used on existing interfaces. 

Primary Colours

• Red
• Blue
• Yellow

Secondary Colours

• Green
• Violet 
• Orange
• Pink

As you can see, the image below displays the colours mentioned abodes with their secondary colours. It clearly displays what shades mixed together create the secondary colour. 

Other tones and shades of colour all depend on the colour ratios and schemes used when mixing shades together. This will then result in more colours:

• Aqua
• Fuchsia
• Coral
• Lemon

Apart from looking at primary and secondary colours as an overview I decided to look further and see what each colour represents:

• Red- Is interpreted as a physical colour, can also be known to represent danger (cautious elements are labelled in red)

• Blue- Is seen as an intellectual colour, it can represent lack of emotion although within society we see it as a sad colour with the term “feeling blue”

• Yellow- Is interpreted as creativity but also could be anxiety although socially most of us consider it as a happy colour possibly due to relating it with the sun and good weather

• Green- Is interpreted as balance and peace although it is generally identified with nature and being green (recycling)

• Violet- Can represent luxury but also the feeling of inferior, it can be a very contrasting significance for various individuals

• Orange- Represents food mainly an orange fruit although for some it can be seen as frustration

• Pink- Is used to represent women/girls some see it as a weak colour due to it's representation as femininity (very sexist)

Colour does not only make an interface attract and identify specific tasks or features, it can also identify an audience. I researched neutral colours such as black and white; this is because most interfaces use these shades as part of their colour schemes. Due to this factor I looked into how I could use and/or incorporate them into my interface. Although it is doubtful that that I will need to use a whole neutral scheme consisting of blacks, whites and greys.

• White- Is seen a pure but also very bare (people might relate mental homes to this colour, can seem frustrating to look at)

• Black- Is a very sophisticated and mature colour, those who wear it can be seen as very confident or one who is mourning the loss of a loved one (very different views)

• Grey- Represents psychological neutrality it can also identify those who lack confidence within themselves

It is evident that colour does influence the way we feel and see things, in order to attract my target audience to use the website I need to choose an effective colour scheme which will not be easy. I have decided to carry out another short user testing where the following colour combinations will be presented in front of my participants, here they will discuss how they can relate to it or how it makes them feel.

Below are the colour schemes that I have chosen to test on my target audience:

Colour Scheme 1:

Colour Scheme 2:

Colour Scheme 3:

Colour Scheme 4:

Colour Scheme 5:

The colour schemes I have displayed above were gathered from the website www.colorcombos.com this website provides me with different colour combination that can be used for my project. I thought this method would be useful as the colour combinations are those found and used on many sites; this allows me to see what schemes I think are appropriate for the type of product that I am producing. As you can see I have chosen a total of 5 colour schemes I purposely chose different ones in order to gather a wider range of opinions, it does not mean that I will chose one of the following it could consist of combining various ones together.  I felt that the testing was important not only to gather opinions but also keep my target audience in mind all throughout the process of this project. The website is targeted to them therefore they need to be the ones to enjoy using it.

Colour Wheel

Below I have displayed an image of the colour wheel were primary and secondary colours can be identified along with other shades created by these colours. 

Sources

Unknown. n.d. color-wheel-300. [image online] Available at: http://www.tigercolor.com/color-lab/color-theory/images/color-wheel-300.gif [Accessed: 11 Nov 2013].

Unknown. n.d. Additive primary colours. [image online] Available at: http://www.colourtherapyhealing.com/colour/additive_primary_colours.php [Accessed: 8 Nov 2013].

Daye, D. 2008. Color Psychology In Marketing. [online] Available at: http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2008/06/color-psycholog.html#.UTd_HqVD2lY. [Accessed: 16 Nov 2013].

colour-affects. n.d. Psychological Properties Of Colours. [online] Available at: http://www.colour-affects.co.uk/psychological-properties-of-colours [Accessed: 16 Nov 2013].