I recently took a trip to the local building supply store to look at paint samples for my office. I had decided I wanted to paint it blue because that is a color that is both calming and encourages productivity. Both good things to have around your workplace.
I had decided that I would pick a nice pastel, Robin’s Egg Blue, if I could find it amongst the thousands of little paper paint swatches they normally have.
And then I saw the Pantone display!
Bold. Exciting. Breathtaking.
There were maybe 100 colors to choose from, at most. All notions of Robin’s Egg Blue flew out the window as my hand reached for a deep, rich, Peacock Blue.
I am in love with this color. It makes me happy just to look at the walls in my office. The people who have seen my office have fallen in love with the color. It is exquisite. I plan on visiting that Pantone display again because I have a couple of rooms in my house that need painting and I am completely inspired by their color palette.
I know you have notions of what color(s) to use on your website, but you aren’t in love with anything yet. Maybe you’ve picked a hodgepodge of colors that you like, but the overall color scheme doesn’t seem to gel. So you add another color thinking that will make the color scheme pop. Maybe you don’t know where to start.
So where can you go for color inspiration on the internet? In today’s mini-class, I’m going to share some of the best sources for color.
Pantone
If you’re one of the 99.9% of the population that doesn’t know who Pantone is, they are the creator of one of the graphic design industry’s color matching guides. And every year they publish a ‘color of the year’ with a complementary palette. There is usually a spring and fall version of this guide. You’ll see products and clothing in the stores using those colors shortly after. This is a link to their Spring 2014 colors.
Colour Lovers
Colour Lovers is a user generated collection of colors and palettes. You’re sure to find something inspirational here.
There are dozens, hundreds, maybe thousands of Pinterest pages devoted to any particular color. People find images on the web and curate the collection around a particular color. Pinterest is a feast for the eyes. All you need to do is go to the Pinterest home page and do a search for a color, such as “blue”. You can even get more specific and search for “robin’s egg blue”.
Kuler
This is Adobe’s Kuler color scheme generator but there are also color schemes on display that other designers have created.
It’s all about the right color
So it’s not always about the number of colors on your website, but rather finding the one right color that can make you fall in love with your website’s look.
If you’ve got a color scheme you love but you can’t find a website theme to match, I can create a custom WordPress template for you that will use that color and your logo to the best effect. Contact me now if you need help creating a beautiful website that you and your visitors will love.
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