As it happens, I just came across several websites advising people to limit the number of colors in a design. What's wrong with this advice?
Proper use of color has nothing to do with the number of colors that have been applied. You only need to have a look at the work of Vincent van Gogh to be convinced. And obviously there are numerous other artists who have falsified this idea as well.
What is important is to structure your use of color. In other words: you need to have a clear idea of where your design is headed and how to get it there. Just for fun I looked up some well designed websites that use a large number of colors:
Colourful pictures incorporated into colourful texts and menus
A wild, yet very powerful use of colors
Funny but 'to the point' use of colors
On this Mercedes website color IS the structuring ingredient
And another website where color brings structure
Comments (5)
What about monochromatic sites like mine? I'd love to hear your opinion!
Posted by Lee | October 15, 2007 12:33 AM
Posted on October 15, 2007 00:33
Hi Lee,
I had a look at your site and I like it. Not many colors indeed. Though black, white and greys also count as colors in my book. The functionality of your site is very limited. So it seems to me that the number of colors on your site pretty much matches the number of features.
It works, and that's what counts. (I should perhaps add to that for me there's little room between between 'looking good' and 'working')
Posted by Igor | October 15, 2007 8:42 AM
Posted on October 15, 2007 08:42
I think this advice is more aimed towards newbie designers, who have trouble enough harmonising three colours, let alone more...
Posted by nsrmbo | October 16, 2007 3:44 AM
Posted on October 16, 2007 03:44
Igor: Thanks for your insightful comments! I am definitely a minimalist, and I've consciously cut out the unnecessary features. As you pointed out, unnecessary colors was one of those 'features' :)
nsrmbo: Fair call :)
Posted by Lee | October 17, 2007 2:32 AM
Posted on October 17, 2007 02:32
I agree with nsrmbo. These tips are for newbies and people who have no ideas about design, but need to design their web page. Bloggers for an instance or people who cannot afford to hire a designer. If you have no idea about colors using black, white and one color is better than assault the eye of the unsuspecting reader with an unmatching rainbow.
Posted by dkah | October 23, 2007 3:09 PM
Posted on October 23, 2007 15:09