Ecco alcune regole per scegliere i colori: sono fondamentalmente le regole dettate dal Prof.Chijiiwa (vedi ColorHarmony), con poche variazioni. Il Prof. crede che queste regole siano senza tempo e attraversino le barriere di mezzo, tempo, societ� e cultura.
In fondo ci sono regole specifiche per il Web.
Before you even think of choosing a color scheme, make sure you know your colors and understand the difference between hue, luminosity and saturation, and how each effects color (ref.). Understand how the color wheel works (ref.). Understand the RGB color wheel (ref.) and how different hues relate to one another (ref.); and know the basic types of color and understand their emotional impact. (ref.) (ref.) (ref.)
Study layouts and/or pictures that you like, consider the impact they have on you and decide why they are effective.
A color scheme for a heavy metal rock group will be quite different from one for a layout designed for feminine appeal. Ask your self the following questions:
Finally remember that the enemy of good is better.It is posible to keep on tinkering with a scheme until you break it!
As a rule of thumb,choose the background color first, then choose the accent colors. If it is not clear what is the background color start with the largest area, then choose the next and then the next. Occasionally the accent color must be chosen first (e.g. a 'trademark' color of a client, or an avocado color for anavacado pear website), so if this is the case choose the background to match that color. In any case the color you use will be just as important as the accent color.
When choosing a background color , light(ref.) (ref.) colors usually work better than dark (it's difficult to beat white!), warm (ref.) (ref.) colors look better than cool, and bright (ref.) (ref.) colors work better than dull colors.
All colors of the same shade tend to look similar, so decide on what shade you need to give an overall impresion. Do you want to be vivid and showy, light and pastel, dark and serious, or dull and gray?
Colors of the same hue but diffderent tint or shade can look remarkably different, yet still remain harmonious in out look.
It's more important to to vary the shades in your color scheme than to vary the hues. If you contrast light colors with dark colors, your color scheme will look bold and three-dimensional, but if you just contrast the hues your scheme may look flat and lifeless. How many books and posters (outside of Peter Maxx) use dark blue with dark brown, red with green, or pink with yellow? Even though those hues vary widely, they look disturbingly similar next to each other. But add black to red and green, or yellow to dark blue and brown, and suddenly the color scheme has depth.
Color contrasts that vary both shades and hues almost invariably show too much contrast. There is a thin line between contrast and chaos!
For the most parts use either complementary or analagous hues, and be careful in using clash hues. Mixing a little of an intermediate color with a hue works quite well. For example fuscia (red-violet) and blue-violet go together better than red and blue.
Two or three colors are usually enough. Five are usually too many, and four must be chosen with care!
In most cases there should be only one dominent color, and the other colors should be subordinate to it in hue, lightness or saturation.
Vivid colors (ref.) (ref.)should be used sparingly, and limit it to one accent color. If you use a vivid color as a background color, the type should probably be in black or white.
If in doubt use achromatic colors (ref.). Consider that black text on a white packground has withstood the test of time!
Unless your aim is to shock, or shake people up, use colors that people are familiar with, and that they are used to seeing in ther every day life. You can get away with unfamiliar colors with young or trendy audiences, but for conventional audiences use conventional colors!
There are no clashing hues in nature, because our eye evolved to see natural colors. (ref.)
Ignore all these guidelines rather than producing something boring and trite! Luckily you are much more likely to produce a stunning effect by following the guide lines.
Choosing a color scheme for a web site follows the same rules as choosing a general color scheme. The only difference is that different parts of the site may have different schemes. Answer the following questions:
Once you have answered these questions, start selecting the colors.
Look at a whole lot of other sites that appeal or are aimed at your target audience. You will soon get a feeling for what does and does not work.
Some times the layout of the site will decide which colors are required. An information dense page will require less dominent colors than a page with a few items.
Usually you will want to pick this color first. Remember it is difficult to go wrong with white or light gray! If you choose a pastel of a hue, you are usually confining yourself to using different shades and tints of this hue. This is OK, if this is really what you want to do.
If you pick a dark color as a background, you will be really limiting yourself to bright or vivid foreground colors. again this is OK if this is what you want to do.
Pick either your accent colors or your Artwork next.Each page should be limited to 2 or 3 accent colors. Decide which colors these should be. These are the colors that really set the mood of the site.
Be choosy with your art work. As a general rule the art work should be subordinate to the site (unless of course you are show casing the Mona Lisa!)
The navigation sytem is probably the most important feature on any site, and the navigation bar is probably the most important fearure of the page. It's position should be clear but not dominent. Pick you colors accordingly.
For small text use a dark color on a pale back ground, or Vice versa. headings can use shades of your accent color. Sub-headings should be usually either the same color as the main heading, or it should be a subordinate color. An easy way to accomplish this is to use either a ligher or a duller shade than the main heading.
Remember it is difficult to go wrong with black!