Web Design Typography Part 2: Font Colors

The role of color

Color plays a significant role in typography, impacting its overall look, feel, and effectiveness. It offers another dimension over sizing, spacing, and type to highlight your uniqueness, your value. It adds visual appeal, making typography more engaging and memorable. Color can establish a visual hierarchy, guiding the viewer’s attention and indicating the importance of different text elements.

You can also leverage color to your marketing advantage. It can be used to emphasize and highlight specific words or phrases, drawing attention to key points. Additionally, color is integral to branding, allowing typography to reinforce brand recognition and create a cohesive visual identity.

What to consider – light backgrounds

When considering color choices for a white or light-color website background, here are some recommended color options that typically work well:

1. Black: Black text or elements create a strong and high-contrast combination against a white background. It offers a classic, clean, and easily readable appearance.
2. Dark Grays: Dark shades of gray, such as charcoal or slate gray, provide a slightly softer contrast while maintaining good readability. They can add a touch of sophistication to the design.
3. Dark Blues: Deep blues, like navy or midnight blue, can create a visually pleasing contrast against white. They offer a sense of stability and elegance.
4. Dark Greens: Dark green hues, such as forest green or deep emerald, can provide a refreshing and harmonious contrast against white. They can evoke feelings of nature and balance.
5. Dark Reds: Rich and deep reds, like burgundy or maroon, can create a bold and eye-catching contrast against white. They convey a sense of passion and sophistication.

Selecting one or two accent colors that complement the overall design can add visual interest and variety. These accent colors can be used sparingly for headings, links, or other important elements to create focal points.

Remember that the color choices should align with the overall design concept, branding, and the message you want to convey. Test the color combinations to ensure readability, especially for longer passages of text. Additionally, consider accessibility guidelines and ensure sufficient contrast between text and background to accommodate users with visual impairments.

What to consider – dark backgrounds

When working with a dark website background, the color choices for text and other elements should be selected to provide good contrast and readability. Here are some recommended color options that typically work well with a dark website background:

1. White: White text creates a strong contrast against a dark background, ensuring excellent readability. It offers a clean and crisp appearance, making it a popular choice for body text or headings.
2. Light Grays: Light shades of gray can be used to achieve a softer contrast while maintaining readability. They can provide a subtle and elegant appearance, suitable for body text or supporting elements.
3. Light Blues: Pale or light shades of blue can create a calming and visually appealing contrast against a dark background. They can add a touch of freshness and balance to the design.
4. Light Greens: Soft greens, such as mint or pastel green, can offer a refreshing and harmonious contrast against a dark background. They evoke a sense of nature and tranquility.
5. Light Yellows: Light yellow or cream can provide a warm and inviting contrast against a dark background. They add a touch of brightness and can be used for accents or highlighting important elements.

Consider using accent colors that complement the overall design concept. Vibrant or saturated colors, such as red, orange, or electric blue, can create a striking contrast against a dark background, drawing attention to specific elements.

As with any color choices, it’s essential to test the combinations to ensure readability and overall visual appeal. Consider the brand identity, desired mood, and the specific content of the website when selecting colors. Additionally, maintain sufficient contrast between text and background for accessibility purposes.

Remember Contrast

High contrast between text and background colors improves readability. It makes the text stand out, ensuring that it’s easy to read and doesn’t strain the eyes. You may have also heard about the importance of contrast in accessibility. Good contrast is crucial for people with visual impairments or color vision deficiencies. There are a number of tools out there that provide contrast ratios to help you identify the best shades of a certain color.

Contrast directs attention. Higher contrast headers, text, or other assets will be noticed before anything else. Use this to establish a hierarchy on your webpage. Contrast also helps items “pop” and stand out. However, use this sparingly. Too much “popping” can cause confusion over what is important for the visitor, like typing in capital letters only.

Choose wisely

Overall, contrast plays a pivotal role in ensuring that text is legible, accessible, and aesthetically pleasing. When it comes to variations of a color in typography on a website, it is generally recommended to limit the number of color variations to maintain a cohesive and harmonious design. Using too many variations can create visual clutter and compromise the overall aesthetic. We say generally because, like your business, every situation is different. Refer to industry norms and break the rules as desired. Just remember, taking risks can pay off but they can also fall through.

By selecting appropriate colors that provide contrast and readability, you can create a visually engaging and user-friendly design on a dark website background.