Spring Colored Web and Print Designs
It’s common practice for many designers to offer a sense of continuity of a business by engaging seasonal changes. For example, some sites will shift from a cool blue and cold climate layout for winter to a more festive and spring colored design in April. In many ways, these changes connect with visitors and offer a kind of interactivity. From CMS web hosting to coding elements by hand, the right color scheme can be profound for any purpose. Here are several inspiring methods that may help get the creative design juices flowing.
Understanding How Color Works
There is an element of psychology when it comes to using colors of different degrees. Understanding how these work will be monumental when developing a scheme for the website. For instance, Canva has an incredible post detailing how colors are used and the difference between aspects like monochromatic and tetradic layouts. Many people associate brighter colors with spring and summer. This is an association with nature, life and rebirth. It inspires a more uplifting element as the majority of humans respond better to brighter hues and shades. Understanding these elements has potential to engage most of the visitors in much the same way.
Understanding The Psychology
In a small study for the journal Cognitive Science, it was found that most people have an affinity for certain colors from one season to the next. Although this study is more of an extension to what the majority marketing professionals already knew, the scientific evidence to back up claims makes it that more pertinent. Why is this study important when deciding a color scheme for a website? Because it’s a foundation that contributes to why 38 percent of people will abandon a website if they view the content and layout as unattractive. As a result, using colors that are more attractive related to seasons has potential to improve engagement.
While associating color with specific emotions depends greatly on personal experience, a large portion of people are affected similarly when faced with certain elements. For instance, red is often associated with anger in many psychiatric circles. However, some will view it as a color of love and passion. Colors that are associated with spring work much in the same way. A majority of people will see yellow, green, teal and blue as symbols for spring as well as bright colors of flowers such as pink and orange. Taking a closer look at the emotional color wheel may also be greatly beneficial when it comes to creating a strategy for web design.
Designed With A Font
For those who use a typeface within images and graphics, a spring related font may accentuate the piece. For example, a designer could download a spring font from 1001Fonts.com, place it in an image and then use a gradient on the lettering to bring it to life. What if someone wanted to change the color of the site’s font to match the season? That completely depends on the color of background that is used on the website itself. For instance, a designer wouldn’t want to use a yellow font color on a white website. It would become too difficult to read. However, a deep green font may give a sense of the season without straining the eyes.
In fact, it’s possible to give a variety of elements on the site a gradient appearance for the spring season using CSS coding. Another method to create a gradient for text would be to use span styles to shift the text to start from one color and end with another. In fact, the text color fader tool will also provide the coding elements to copy and paste. Just make sure the gradient colors don’t blend too much with background elements.
Include The Outdoors
A lot of designers will include outdoor elements when promoting almost anything on a website. This is because nature and the outdoors are often associated with spring and summer months. Think about it. The majority of activities all center around being outside whether it’s a picnic or you’re camping in the mountains. What about promoting products or services that have nothing to do with being outside? Many will argue the same principle applies. For example, a picture of a laptop being used in the park on a sunny day insinuates the season. It also demonstrates how a laptop can be used almost anywhere. Almost any product or service can benefit from seasonal design in such a way. It just takes a bit of imagination to connect the product to spring.
Subtle, Yet Effective
Not all changes to website and print design need to be blatant when it comes to the seasons. Sometimes even the smallest of changes can impact how a person interacts with content. For instance, placing a few small flowers at the bottom of a logo insinuates the season, but doesn’t thrust it out there. Website backgrounds are another element that can be effective when designed correctly. Taking a garden image and dropping the opacity of the graphic to where it’s merely a ghost is attractive while whispering the season to visitors.
In some instances, small additions such as this can be similar to “Easter eggs” in games and movies. It’s a bit like gamification for website design. This practice is when designers make it a game to hide elements within a project for viewers to find. Although the rewards are nothing more than bragging rights, it’s still a process that engages the audience.
Color Trends?
Color trends are often seen in the fashion industry, but do they impact website design as well? Using the same principle that organizations like Pantone use, designers can implement these trends throughout the year with the potential to engage an audience in much the same way. The best part about using a color trend like this is that the site doesn’t have to be about clothing or fashion. In reality, the colors can be implemented on the site without directly informing the target audience. While those who may follow such trends may point out to themselves the color use, others may simply like the hues because the site looks nice.
Nature Isn’t The Only Thing That Changes With Seasons
Regardless of what kind of web hosting developers use, a good color scheme can attract and keep visitors. According to research, more than a third of visitors will leave a website if it’s unattractive or has a poor layout. Don’t become part of that statistic. Develop something people will want to come back to as the seasons change and any time in between.
