Several considerations regarding colours in the context of (Web) design. A presentation delivered at Summer Web 2013 workshop on Web technologies: http://swapps.wordpress.com/

1. Dr. Sabin Buraga
Faculty of Computer Science
“A.I. Cuza” University of Iasi, Romania
www.purl.org/net/busaco
any colour you like

2. www.designingsocialinterfaces.com

3. any topic you like
design
visual dimensions
colour
harmony & context
symbolism
colour blindness

4. design
I’ve been amazed at how often those
outside the discipline of design assume
that what designers do is decoration.
Good design is problem solving.
—Jeff Veen

5. design

6. design
creative thinking
user research
content
information architecture
information design
design deliverables

7. design
http://garrettdimon.com/pages/improving_interface_design

8. visual design
layout
grid
flow
typography
visual dimensions

9. visual dimensions
value
hue

10. visual dimensions
value
hue
texture
shape
position
orientation
size

11. colour semantics
syntax highlighting
colour-pick control

12. colour
primary colours
red yellow blue

13. colour
secondary colours
green orange purple

14. colour wheel

15. colour harmony
a pleasing arrangement of things
(in our context: colours)

visual aesthetics
www.interaction-design.org/encyclopedia/visual_aesthetics.html

16. colour harmony
www.interaction-design.org/encyclopedia/visual_aesthetics.html
visual aesthetics as a differentiating factor

17. colour harmony
visual aesthetics

user satisfaction + positive emotion

user experience (UX)

18. colour harmony
complement harmony

19. colour harmony
triad harmony

20. colour harmony
triad harmony

21. colour harmony
tetrad harmony

22. colour harmony
accented analogue harmony

23. colour context
various contrast effects of different colour
backgrounds for the same object
www.colormatters.com

24. colour context
colour juxtaposing could be “dangerous”
www.sitepoint.com/principles-of-design-colour/

25. colour palettes
www.colourlovers.com/palettes

26. colour libraries
www.colorexplorer.com

27. discussion

28. discussion

29. discussion

30. colour symbolism
colour as visual code

psychological (emotional) effects
“women perceive men to be more attractive […]
when seen on a red background and in red clothing”
A.J. Elliot et al., “Red, rank, and romance in women
viewing men”, J Exp Psychol Gen. 139 (3), 2010

31. colour symbolism
certain colours have multiple
(cultural/philosophical/social) semantics
green = victory (ancient Greece)
versus
green = fertility (Middle Ages)
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/color/

32. colour symbolism
Happy Yellow
Pure White
Good Luck Green
Dignity Dark Blue
High Technology Silver
Mourning Black
Expensive Gold
Inexpensive Brown
Deity White
Bad Luck Black
Favorite Color Blue
Least Favorite Color Dark Yellow
colour semantics survey results (130,000+ answers)
www.colormatters.com/color-symbolism

33. colour blindness
inability or decreased ability
to see colours or
to perceive colour differences,
under normal lighting conditions

34. colour blindness
original image
normal vision: 85.5%
dichromacy
2.4% males, 0.03% females
www.vischeck.com

35. Dr. Sabin Buraga
Faculty of Computer Science, “A.I. Cuza” University of Iasi, Romania
www.purl.org/net/busaco
any colour you like