WordPress® Web Design For Dummies®

Understanding Color

If I’ve learned something in more than ten years in the Web design industry, it’s that people interpret colors differently, and what looks good to me doesn’t necessarily look good to you, and vice versa. Many clients have asked me to create designs based on a color combination that I’ll always remember simply because I thought it was so awful; but my client liked it, so I completed the project with the full understanding that I could walk away when the project was over and never look at it ever again.

Color and preferences in color combinations are completely subjective and based on what looks good to each individual’s eye. Because of this adage, I don’t spend time telling you what colors look good and which color combinations work the best because those ideas are mainly based on personal preference and experience. The following sections introduce you to basic color theory and terminology to give you a good grasp of the concepts to help guide you toward choosing color and schemes with confidence and certainty.

Checking out the color wheel

Almost every graphic design program or Web-based color scheme includes a red, green, blue (RGB) color wheel (shown in Figure 7-1) that basically separates colors into three groups:

Primary colors: Includes the three main colors — red, green, and blue.

Secondary colors: Includes colors that you get when you mix equal amounts ...