Web Help Forum
Web Design And Development => Graphics => Topic started by: notbanksy on 18 January 2010, 19:29:06
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This is aimed at the more proficient visual designers among us, and I think I may speak on behalf of the other, shall I say, more crappy designers :p
Having just redesigned my portfolio site (watch this space) and found myself reasonably pleased with it, I've noticed the following. The only sites I've designed, and liked the design, tend to be almost monochrome.
In short, I am rubbish with colours.
My question is: is this just a case of if you're not born with it, tough luck, or can I learn. If so, care to give any tips/ resources?
Ta muchly :)
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Ooo nice post !b - I, like you, find most of my sites lean towards monochromatic design. Me + Colour theory = FAIL.
It'll be interesting to see the response from some of our more talented designers.
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** waits for Dizi to make an appearance **
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:oops: seems you have been waiting a long time... and why me anyway?
Well so I don't disappoint, sorry to say it is something you are born with, talented designers just don't have to work hard its all natural :evillaugh:
Colour is actually something I struggle with too, much like with anything it just takes practice. I think what helped me is a 3 month project at college when I was 17 all about colour theory, what different colours express and can mean on a site. Then if there isn't already existing branding of a site that I do I ask a client to best describe their company is 5 key words, from that you can get a feel for what they want to portray and create a colour pallet that suits their needs.
So best advice I can give is have a look around the net for some sites on colour theory and meanings of colour, and when you design a site think about what colour best represents the clients business...and if you need a helping hand creating a pallet from that check out the colour resources (http://www.webhelpforum.co.uk/graphics/colour-resources/) thread, its full of good links
I often find monochrome sites the hardest to design for, as it takes a strong design and good layout to pull off such a bold design statement
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I often find monochrome sites the hardest to design for, as it takes a strong design and good layout to pull off such a bold design statement
I'm surprised by this - but I can sort of see what you mean. I'll definitely have another look at colour theory, but I have to confess the last time I tried I was somewhat baffled by it :nerdystraight:
Took your time, didn't you! :p
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The book we have spoken about before; beautiful web design i think it's called, it covers the essentials of using colour which helps me.
This http://colorschemedesigner.com/ also helps me when I maybe have one colour I know I want....
I struggle with colours but The other Helen (her smuttiness) may have a few nibbles of wiseness to add to this no?
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I often find monochrome sites the hardest to design for, as it takes a strong design and good layout to pull off such a bold design statement
i think the problem with monochrome sites is getting the balance to make it look appealing and inviting while using well monochrome colours, i to have a problem with defining what colours are good but sometimes i just throw it together and see what falls out at the end...seems to work for me : )
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Monochrome is definitely a difficult thing use when designing but when pulled off correctly it looks really good.
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Monochrome is definitely a difficult thing use when designing but when pulled off correctly it looks really good.
I agree - that's why I'm abandoning it! Not good enough to pull it off yet. In the process of a total redesign as we speak. First reveal ETA 2-3 weeks :)
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I'd say mock it up first in Photoshop or dare I say it GIMP and see how it looks. Play with it that way, before coding it up.
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Colours are difficult. Yes, there are basic colour theories that might help, and there are plenty of tools to give you colours in complimentary, monochromatic, shades, tetra, quarts, compound, contrast and penta. Following these with care, I suppose it can't go totally wrong.
I did a NCS (Natural Colour System) course in art school many moons ago, and though it made me aware and able to mix paint with cmyk, I still find a lot of colour theory .. well.. subjective and theoretical. We say that blue is a cold colour, unless some red/magenta is mixed in to make it warmer, but I find it hard to agree with these convensions at times. Mind you: they are often culturally and historically based. These views actually change. Newton insisted on seven colours in the rainbow, where others wanted six.
The thing is: a good deal of people have some sort of colour-blindness/distortedness (how on earth do they figure that out!?), and the sensitivity to colour varies greatly. So we will probably never agree on colours. I worked with a guy, in the printing industry, who called cerise for burgundy. To him, it was wine-coloured; to me it was shock-pink.
To answer your question; assuming you have a reasonable "normal" colour vision, working with colours is practice, practice and observation. Noting things around you that works or doesn't, and a whole lot of fiddling around with colour pickers.
(At the risk of being seen as shamelessly self-promoting; some of you may find my old post on the history of the colour blue interesting http://barebente.com/blog/2008/05/the-colour-blue-the-devil-the-virgin-and-the-red-dyers-bribes/ )
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(At the risk of being seen as shamelessly self-promoting; some of you may find my old post on the history of the colour blue interesting [url]http://barebente.com/blog/2008/05/the-colour-blue-the-devil-the-virgin-and-the-red-dyers-bribes/[/url] )
Shameless self promotion is fine here, as long as it's on topic :p - Go off topic, and the elite mod squad will terminate your net connection and connect you to AOL dial up!!! :devilsidesmile:
Nice article :)
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What I struggle with is not only my color palette but also design ideas.