How to Define an Appropriate Website Color Scheme? Finding Creative Inspiration Without Color Tools

Color is the magic wand of website design—it captures user attention and conveys brand emotion. When users visit a website, their first impression is not formed by content or functionality, but by the overall visual experience, with color combinations accounting for 62% of that initial impression. This statistic clearly illustrates why a well-designed color scheme can significantly increase user dwell time and conversion rates.

How to Define an Appropriate Website Color Scheme? Starting from the HSB Color Model

▌ What is the HSB Color Model? The Core of a Designer’s Palette



The HSB color model stands for Hue, Saturation, and Brightness. "Hue" refers to the type of color (e.g., red, blue, green); "Saturation" indicates the purity or vibrancy of the color; and "Brightness" refers to the lightness or darkness of the color.

Unlike traditional RGB or CMYK models, HSB aligns more closely with how humans perceive color, allowing designers to create and adjust color schemes more intuitively.

▌ How to Build a Custom Color Palette for Website Design? From Brand Colors to a Complete Color System

Step 1: Define the Core Brand Color

The brand color is typically derived from the primary color of the logo. If no logo exists, it should be redefined based on the brand’s positioning and style. For example, an eco-friendly brand may choose green, a tech company may prefer blue, and a youthful, energetic brand might lean toward orange.

Step 2: Expand the Hue Range

Based on the brand color, increment the H value (Hue) by 15 degrees to create 24 color strips. Why 24? Because 24×15=360, completing a full circle around the color wheel, ensuring diversity and completeness in the color selection.

Step 3: Select the Best Combinations

From the 24 color strips, narrow down to the 16 that harmonize best with the primary brand color. This step requires a designer’s expert eye to identify colors that maintain consistency while providing sufficient contrast.

Step 4: Create Supporting Colors

Defining coordinated supporting colors is key to establishing a complete color system. Adjust the B value (Brightness) by decrements of -10 or -20, or modify the S value (Saturation) by ±5 to ensure clear contrast while maintaining visual harmony.

Step 5: Define Functional Colors

Finally, assign specific functional colors from the supporting palette: warning colors (typically red), hyperlink colors (traditionally blue), and success indicators (often green). These functional colors must align with user expectations while harmonizing with the brand’s color scheme.

Follow the Four Core Principles of Website Color Schemes to Build an Emotional Bridge Between Brand and Users

When defining a website’s color scheme, remember to adhere to the following four core principles to build an emotional connection between the brand and its users:

Principle 1: Colors Set the Brand Tone

When defining a color palette, first consider the design’s purpose: Is it to inform users, drive purchases, or evoke specific emotions?

For example, Coca-Cola’s Fuza Tea brand uses green as its primary color to convey a "pure, natural, and healthy product" message. Meanwhile, Uber MOTO in Vietnam employs a blue-green palette to create a cool, comfortable visual experience, perfectly suited for the hot climate of the Vietnamese market. Paired with a prominent helmet icon, users can instantly identify driver locations.

Principle 2: Understand Your Target Audience

Users of different genders, ages, religious beliefs, and cultural backgrounds perceive and prefer colors differently.

Gender Differences: Research shows that men generally prefer deep, bold colors, while women tend to favor soft, bright hues.

Cultural Differences: Red in Western cultures often symbolizes terror, death, and war, whereas in Chinese culture, it represents passion, prosperity, and strength. Similarly, black and white in the West signify purity, elegance, and luxury, which is why many high-end brands adopt this combination. In East Asian cultures, however, black and white are often associated with death and funerals.

Thus, when selecting a color scheme, it is crucial to deeply understand the cultural background and preferences of your target audience.

Principle 3: Master Color Psychology

Studies show that light and color directly influence our emotions, sleep, heart rate, and even happiness. For instance, seeing blue and green naturally reminds us of the sky and forests, evoking feelings of relaxation and calm.

Given the infinite possibilities of color mixing, it’s challenging to determine which combination will have the greatest impact on website design. However, by avoiding mediocre or poorly chosen color schemes, we can significantly enhance the user experience and prevent confusion.

Basic Color Psychology Guide:

Blue: Trust, security, stability (commonly used in finance and tech industries)

Green: Growth, health, environment (often seen in organic and eco-friendly brands)

Red: Passion, urgency, excitement (ideal for promotions and call-to-action buttons)

Orange: Friendliness, confidence, energy (a top choice for "Buy Now" buttons)

Purple: Luxury, creativity, wisdom (suited for high-end products and art-related websites)

Yellow: Optimism, clarity, warmth (effective for attracting attention but should be used sparingly)

Principle 4: Continuously Seek Color Inspiration

If defining a brand color is challenging, seek inspiration through various channels:

Color Tools: Adobe Color, Coolors, Paletton

Image Libraries: Extract color inspiration from high-quality photography

Design Platforms: Dribbble, Behance, Material UI, and other design communities

Brand Resources: Brandcolors, which compiles official colors from numerous well-known brands

When you find a color scheme you like, extract the colors to create a palette and adjust it to fit your brand’s needs. Remember, inspiration is not about copying but about creating unique color combinations based on references.

Arachne Group Limited deeply understands the central role of color in website experiences. That’s why we not only adhere to the above principles but have also developed a proprietary contextual color analysis tool. This tool tailors the most impactful color schemes based on your brand positioning, target audience, and business goals.

Whether you are building a new brand or optimizing an existing website’s visual appeal, we offer professional color strategies and design solutions to help your website stand out from the competition.

Contact Us:

Phone: 852-3749 9734

Email: info@hkweb.com.hk

Website: https://hkweb.com.hk