Website Ideas: Color and Font Roles in Design & Visitor Traffic

If you are choosing to design your own website or seeking to identify whether a graphic designer is right for your website ideas, it's a good idea to understand how color and font choices affect your website design and visitor experience.

First impressions happen in less than 3 seconds - your website is no different!

What role does color play in Website Design and Function?

Choosing the right look and feel in your website design is imperitive to how visitors will respond to your website.If you already have your business logo, you will most likely utilize colors in your website ideas that complement this look. The kind of colors and background you choose determine the intensity of traffic to your website. If the website is full of bright colors that are unpleasant to the viwer's sight, visitors might not like to stay longer. On the other hand, if light and soothing background colors are chosen, and a professional look and feel is imparted through the organization, it leaves a greater impact on the reader. When it comes to your website ideas, logo design, and other advertising and business marketing - be sure you know what your color choices are saying.

Some background on Colors:

Red is the most emotional color that will deliver any one of the following feelings to your visitors depending on the mannerism you use it and intents you have to use it: Energy, strength, passion, eroticism, fire, lust, desire, blood, risk, war, danger, attention and romance. 


Pink is an easy one and is more of a soft color that will deliver the following feelings: Romance, love, friendship, femininity, truth, passivity, good will, emotional healing, peace, calming, affection, emotional maturity, caring, nurturing, sweet tasting, sweet smelling, ethereal, delicacy. It can also give the emotion of devoting to breast cancer. For obvious reasons you can see why the National Breast Cancer Foundation chose this color for the breast cancer awareness month.


Orange is a stimulating color and is used to be associated with life and health. In restaurants it is used to encourage appetite. Orange is also associated with being tropical, fresh and invigorating. Orange usually is associated with the following feelings: warmth, energy, vibrancy, the sun, friendly, intense, joy, tropics, growing things, heat, creativity, autumn, earth, appetite stimulant, and youth.

Brown is an earthy tone and usually is associated with growth and life. When using brown it is usually to associate with health and nature. The typical emotions derived from brown are: earth, materialistic thoughts, home, outdoors, inexpensive, reliability, credibility, comfort, endurance, stability, simplicity, comfort, longevity, intimacy, tranquility, masculine, nurturing, contentment, fertility, generosity, dirt, substance, practicality, and hard work. Brown is best used with a texture to imply these things, otherwise it is simply just to plain of a color.


Gold is a color that exerts wealth and has a general sense of class associated with it. In order for it to be used properly to get these connotations though it must be shiny in some mannerism otherwise it looks cheap. Money and wealth are the two main and universal associations with the color gold.


Yellow is said to stimulate mental activity and be one of the primary colors of attention. When using yellow it is best to not use it too lightly or loses it’s stimulating effects. The typical emotions that are derived from yellow are: intelligence, light, cooperation, sunshine, joy, happiness, intellect, energy, cheerfulness, optimism, purity, warmth, honor, caution (only when used in small amounts), cowardice, imagination, hope, summer, philosophy, uncertainty, restlessness, glory, and enlightenment.


Green is an earthy and calming color that can also imply intelligence also. It also has the implications of money with it but typically only in the US. Typically green is associated with the following emotions: earth mother, physical healing, monetary success, abundance, fertility, growth, renewal, youth, stability, endurance, freshness, nature, environment, tranquil, refreshing, quiet, hope, immortality, health, healing, good luck, renewal, youth, jealousy, trees, grass, vigour, growth, harmony, envy, calm, contemplation, and friendliness.


Blue is the color of wisdom and trust, it is also the favorite color of over 2/3 of the world and is least disliked by most cultures. This may be because the sky is blue and the water reflects the sky making most things seen on the planet blue. It is generally associated with technology and progressive creativity. The most common feelings that people have with blue are: communication, wisdom, protection, spiritual inspiration, calmness, reassurance, fluidity, water, sea, creativity, peace, calming, higher thoughts, the sky, devotion, progress, freedom. trust, loyalty, intelligence, reassurance, artistry, compassion, sadness, tranquility, confidence, security, cleanliness, order, comfort, cold, technology, intellect, ideas, sharing, empathy, relaxation, affection, inspiration, friendship, patience, contemplation, infinity, harmony, non-threatening, and dependability.


Purple is a color typically associated with royalty and is also the most liked color of pre-adolescent children over any other color. When thinking about purple the most common feeling are: influence, spiritual power, self assurance, dignity, high aspirations, royalty, spirituality, nobility, ceremony, mystery, transformation, sophistication, arrogance, dreams, imagination, wealth, extravagance, magic, creativity, energy, ego, ambition, fame, luxury, and power.


White is a pure color and is typically associated with being good and is the most religious color. The typical emotions that are derived from white are: spirituality, peace, higher self, purity, virginity, reverence, simplicity, cleanliness, humility, precision, innocence, youth, birth, winter, snow, good, sterility, cold, clinical, sterility, clarity, perfection, innocence, goodness, light, fairness, safety, positivity, faith, coolness, charity, union, self-sacrifice, holiness, feminine divinity, pristine, chastity and positivity.


Black is a color that has mysterious and sometimes negative connotations that can create the wrong image if used improperly. The typical feelings that are derived from black are: protection, repelling negativity, power, sexuality, sophistication, elegance, mystery, fear, evil, anonymity, unhappiness, depth, style, evil, sadness, remorse, anger, underground, space, secretiveness, night, emptiness, dramatic, authority, prestige, grief, anger, and serious.
 

What role does font play in Website Design and Function?

Most people who come to your site will be looking for textual information. The important visitors being search engines. You will need ample text on your website pages to help with seo - but it will also play a strong role in your website visitors experience. The use of fonts will work alongside your color choices. A font can be understood as a collection of letters, symbols or numbers such as bold, roman, or italic characters. There are literally thousands of possible fonts but you will most likely deal with a few common ones when it comes to website ideas, design templates, graphic designers and social websites like Blogger.

This is because there are only a handful of fonts that look similar that are installed by default on both Windows and Macs. Consequently, these "browser safe fonts" find their way into almost every website out there. Here is an image from screen shots from a Windows machine and a Mac (blue) to show the browser safe fonts and how they compare on each platform.

Some background on Font Styles:

Block Fonts - Arial, Lucida, Trebuchet & Verdana
These fonts are simple and bold. They are easy to read for most people but usually lack in terms of style.

Serif Fonts - Book Antiqua, Palatino, Comic Sans, Georgia & Times New Roman
These can be used to add more style to your text but be aware that they can be difficult to read if too small in size.


All in all, choosing the right combination of colors and the size of the text plays a remarkable role in enhancing the website architecture and overall appearance. Be sure to consider this when coming up with website ideas and designs for yourself or when choosing to hire a graphic designer. Always ask to see their website portfolio. If you aren't sure about something - poll your family, friends and clients. Designing a website is not a perfect science so make sure your put the effort in to ensure it accurately represents your business. Remember - you only have one chance for your website to make that first impression.