Annually, Pantone releases “Color of the Year”. They always call it something interesting and captivating that whenever they publish it on the internet, it goes viral. Social media influencers immediately grab items in that color and post them online. Some people would celebrate their New Year parties wearing the color of the year, couples choose it for their wedding color scheme, and some home owners even redecorate their places with this color as this base or accent. This becomes a fun trend that pops up all year round.
For Twenty-twenty it’s Classic Blue and people who are active online never viewed blue the same way as before. Sometimes new business owners build their branding around the color of the year in mind. Classic blue may be cute today, but there will be more lovely colors to be released in 2021 and the years after that. A lot of trends will rapidly rise and fall, but choosing a good website color to go with your timeless branding is essential.
Identifying your brand and strategizing your campaign is a process. It involves a lot of thinking and rethinking, but once it is done, the cool part comes in. Building your website is one of the things you can start with. You can set it up first, slowly design it, modify it as it goes and publish it when you are ready. There are a lot of details that you need to consider when designing a website. From backend architecture and hosting to layout and content, the list is endless so as are the possibilities.
Choosing the right color palette for your website color is just one of the many things you need to do, but all too often, becomes an afterthought. Your website color palette should convey the message of your business clearly and effectively, so don’t forget to choose it with respect to your brand, and don’t get overwhelmed with pre-chosen web color schemes used by website builders that take care of practically everything for you. So many website owners fall into the trap of choosing the default website color palettes provided by their website editor, or worse, using a random color palette generator, without thinking how it ties up to their own branding. The end-result is an incoherent web design that does not resonate well with their users.
If you’re in the process of building a brand - be it a personal one or for a business venture, the choice of color scheme is a crucial component that you must not ignore. A brand color palette is not just for aesthetics but also for eliciting the right kind of emotions and responses towards your product, service or content. Website color palettes can help drive home your message and encourage audience engagement. People respond well to visual cues, colors, and graphics; these are usually the first things they notice on a landing page of a website.
How to Choose a Color Palette for Your Website
This is where a good knowledge of your target market becomes very important. You need to understand your audience. The personality and emotions that your product invokes will help you choose the right web color scheme for your website.
Colors appeal to different emotions. Website owners who have good color schemes for websites are often following color psychology to make sure they are attracting the right audience. Red evokes strong emotions and passions so it is widely used in politics and movements. It is also known to stimulate the appetite which is why you notice many large food brands use red as their primary color. Yellow, on the other hand, represents youth and optimism, but it is known to agitate babies so be careful in using this. Orange is for enthusiasm and excitement so you will most likely see it on call to action buttons and to target impulse buyers.
As a rule of thumb, you want to stick to a website color palette composed of up to three colors. Most websites even limit their choices to two and you want to make sure that the colors you choose do not clash with each other.
Best Website Color Schemes in 2020
While you can always rely on a website color palette generator to help you mix and match colors for your site, we recommend that you look through other websites particularly in your industry and learn from their designs. Here are some of the best color schemes for websites we found in Strikingly’s more than 3 million-strong community of movers and shakers.
1. Soft tones
Soft tones are a continuing trend in 2020. SMUK Interior Design chose classy and elegant shades to elevate the important portions of their website. A wealth of white space adds to the minimalist appeal and lets the page breathe. The website is appealing in its simplicity, letting the images become the focal point of the page.
Soft tones and minimalism is the best combination for a near-future look so this website color will surely remain a top choice for a few years. If this matches your branding, consider this website as your benchmark.
2. Strong and bright colors
On the other hand, bold, in-your-face color schemes for websites are also having their time in the web design world this year. We see the use of bright block colors combined with magnetic headlines to grab the user’s attention. Founder Mastermind aims to entice its audience with a by-invitation only event and a direct call to action to ask for an invite. The messaging is simple and the choice of yellow background aims to get a reader to respond urgently.
Note that this only works when the colors aren’t distracting. Founder Mastermind only used two colors that are not fighting each other. The neatness of the chosen typeface and the shown assets contribute to the effectiveness of the website color.
3. Pop of color on black and white contrast
Following up on the simple web color schemes. you don’t need a rainbow on your page to drive a message across, you only need a pop of color on your grayscale. Blacks, grays, and whites could be too simple for your taste. How about adding a statement color? Just F*ing Demo! did just that on its website, choosing to add red to emphasize certain parts of its content and to tie up the website’s design with the book it is trying to promote. Red is classic, but a different color to accentuate your site might work better for your branding so try it out.
4. Sweet and fun
Pastels and sweet colors are also making their way to website color palettes of 2020. OOO Graphic Design shows that you don’t have to run a candy store or a dessert place to use pastels on your site. The website color of OOO Graphic Design screams youthfulness and creativity - something that you want to see in a creative design brand. Pastel has been one of the top website color schemes for the past years and it still is.
5. Retro pop
In 2020, we continue our journey to the past through retro website color palettes reminiscent of the 70s and 60s. Poppy’s website brings the past to the present with a retro vintage turquoise background with a pop of red text. The message is very brief and straight to the point - subscribe to her newsletter so you don’t miss out on the coolest happenings around New York. Is this the right website color for your brand?
6. Rainbow
While we are an advocate of using up to two colors in your website color palette, we also see nothing wrong with testing the boundaries and using all the colors of the rainbow - as long as the visual doesn’t end up being too confusing to your reader. Inside Hockey’s colorful filter on its banner image is a good example of how you can use rainbow colors to your advantage. The website used more subdued grays and blacks all over the site, especially on the font colors to bring focus to the hero image.
7. Earthy and minimalist
One of the challenges of minimalist design is that the line between boring and simply chic is quite thin. You have to take care not to make your website color look pale and too simple that it is bordering on uninteresting. Fodi is one of those websites that was able to use earthy textures and tones in a way that makes the entire page easy on the eyes.
8. Bright and fruity
If you’re in the food business - whether as a restauranteur or a caterer, it’s important to use a color palette that is a treat to the eyes and will whet the palette. Naked’s fruity and vibrant web color scheme makes you want to take a bite at their selection of fruit pops. The jewel tones complement their flavor selections well. The website also uses white space strategically to break what can potentially become a confusing visual because of the many colors used all over the page.
Remember that these are just inspirations for your website color. Even the perfect template you find in website builders should be customized to fit your branding. As long as you know your business very well, choosing the right website color for it is nothing but a fun process. Ready to create your own website? Design your own website with Strikingly today.
