Should Color Influence Your Volusion Custom Design?

Likely, a digital agency has asked about the colors used in your Volusion custom design. Some web designers even start with questions of color and color combinations. The reason? Color might seem like an accessory to Volusion custom design, but it is actually one of the most integral parts of any new site or redesign strategy. In eCommerce what a customer sees on your website is the only sensory information he or she has about your product. Visual impact is immediate and lasting. So, color is going to impact your customers, therefore it must influence your web design. Color has played an important role in art and design for centuries. Certain cultures, such as the Japanese, prescribed not only emotions to color, but also luck, prosperity, and power. Kimonos were carefully designed to incorporate specific color combinations based on season, age, event, and meaning. Color is so important to the kimono design that these color combinations created the frame for Japanese color sense that continues today. The choice of color in a kimono represents one theory about color combinations. The concepts behind what colors work well together has become more scientific and logical. Designers will ask: How are colors perceived? What emotional message is communicated by a specific color? Do these colors clash? However, the idea that colors and color combinations are powerful is at the basis of these questions, just as it was for traditional Japanese artisans. Today, a great deal of web design, Volusion custom design, and eCommerce branding is based on color theory.

What Is the Basis for Color Theory?

Color theory is a set of principles that describe the visual effects of specific color combinations. These principles help designers decide which colors are visually pleasing together and what combinations to avoid. In essence, color theory describes how colors interact. The basis of modern color theory is the color wheel. The color wheel is a concept introduced in grade school to teach the primary and secondary colors. In the iteration used by many designers, the color wheel includes tertiary colors, shades, hues, and tints. The wheel alone doesn’t explain much about color theory. However, it sets the premise for determining what colors are harmonious with one another. Colors that are directly across from one another are complementary. The three colors next to each other on the wheel are analogous. Finally, colors that form a triangle, like above, are triadic. Knowing this terminology is important for anyone in Volusion custom design because selecting the right combination of colors is about representing a product, building a brand, and maintaining harmony for visitors to a website. However, colors do not interact on a single plane. Colors are seen in relationship to others when used in the same design. The ways colors interact are known as complementation, vibrancy, and contrast. These differing relationships between colors explain why people like to see blue and orange in the same design, why red looks brighter against a blue background, than an orange background, and why people read red text before words in blue.

Why eCommerce Merchants Should Care about Color Theory

Selecting the right Colors for a Volusion custom design isn’t easy, but it is necessary. Statistics say that Color is one of the most important factors when an individual is deciding to make a purchase. Not only does this make it absolutely essential to select the right colors for a product, but also your online store design. Over 80% of online shoppers say that color is a determining factor in making a purchase. While this could be specific to the color of a product, most customers don’t realize that their perception of color, and whether or not they like a product, is manipulated the minute they hit a landing page. You can ensure your brand has the right color combination through Volusion custom design. A homepage will be the customer’s first introduction to your brand and product. The color combination on this page is going to set the tone for your brand and how the customer perceives your product. Ultimately, it could determine whether that customer makes a purchase. You can use complementary colors to direct a customer’s attention. If you are having a sale, your banner might be in complementary colors, such as blue and orange, or that widget could be customized in a color complementary to the rest of your website. For example, the primary color on your page is purple, therefore you create sale content in yellow. There are other important places to send a customers’ attention. You want them to notice action items on the homepage or product page. For instance, you want to ensure the “Purchase” or “Add to Cart” buttons are obvious. Font and layout can help in this regard, but actually entice your customers by using vibrant colors. It might be the incentive they need to make the purchase.

Keeping Color Consistent with Your Brand

When it comes to custom design, selecting colors is partly about choosing colors the complement, contrast, and add vibrancy. The other part of the equation, is keeping color consistent with your brand and image. The colors you select must be pleasing to the eye and make sense to the customer. This means ensuring the color scheme you select has the right psychology. Every color evokes a different emotion. For example, yellow is generally associated with happiness and positivity. Meanwhile, red is often connected to power and energy. There is a charge behind the color red that an audience doesn’t perceive from other others. Blue on the other hand is thought to build trust and serenity. Selecting the right colors is about representing your brand and what your brand means. So, while you want to ensure your design follows color theory to create a visually pleasing outcome, the colors should also create the right emotional response.

Looking for Custom Design?

1Digital Agency in Philadelphia is a trusted partner in creating Volusion custom design. That is because our digital agency has helped eCommerce merchants build beautiful Volusion stores from the start. Learn more about how we apply color theory, the psychology of color, and other design principles in every Volusion store we build by checking out our website.

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