The Colour Yellow in Web Design

The colour yellow is most commonly associated with the sun. It’s bright, striking and sometimes overpowering rays is a symbol of our earth’s humble beginning.

Definition of the colour yellow

Yellow is the colour evoked by light that stimulates both the long and medium wavelength cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the short-wavelength cone cells.

Why choose yellow?

Yellow is often represented as the colour of sunshine, sunflowers and all things related to the sun. It’s a colour associated with joy, happiness, intellect and boundless energy.

The colour yellow gives one a warm and cosy effect. It also arouses cheerfulness, stimulates mental activity and generates muscle energy. Yellow is also often associated with food.

Pure yellow is very bright and often attracts one’s attention. This is probably one of the reasons why taxi cabs are often painted bright yellow. However, when overused, yellow can create a disturbing effect.

Ever notice that most warning signs are often a combination of yellow against a black background? The yellow and black combination produces the best contrast compared to any other colour. Thus, this combination is often used in warning or danger signs. In heraldry, yellow symbolises honour and loyalty. Ironically, yellow is also a colour associated with cowardice. Often chosen to promote children’s products and leisure or entertainment items, yellow evokes a pleasant and cheery disposition in people.

Because of yellow’s talent for attracting one’s attention, it is often used to highlight the important elements in your design. Commonly perceived by men as a light-hearted and childish colour, yellow is not a recommended colour to use when trying to sell prestigious or luxurious products.

Seen as spontaneous and sometimes over the top, avoid using yellow if your underlying subtext is to portray stability and safety.

Yellow is at its best when used in its purest form and at its brightest. Add too much white and it becomes pale and sickly. Muddy it too much with black and it becomes dingy and dirty-looking. As such, tints and shades of yellow are often visually unappealing because it loses its best quality; its innocence and cheerfulness. No matter, remember to use a dark color as a contrast to yellow, especially since pale yellow tends to bleed into a white background.

The benefits of the colour yellow

The colour yellow can affect us mentally and physically, which includes stimulating our mental and nervous system, activating our memory and encouraging communication.

Golden yellow carries the promise of a positive future and spreads its cheer, especially since yellow shines its optimism, enlightenment and happiness upon us.

Yellow stands out from other colours and with the support of other lively colours, it can spark one’s creativity, while invigorating one’s spirit. In fact, people who suffer from mild cases of colour blindness can usually see the colour yellow more easily than other colors.

Although yellow symbolises wisdom and wealth – and is full of creative and intellectual energy – it can also create feelings of frustration and anger as well. People are more likely to lose their temper if they are in rooms with yellow-coloured walls.

The colour yellow also increases one’s metabolism. Being one of the most visible colours, it is attention-grabbing and often used on traffic signs or advertisements to attract people’s attention.

As with any colour, there are both positive and negative effects, but put some yellow into your life if you want a little clarity in your decision-making process, “burnout” relief, sharper memory and better concentration skills. When you’re in a panic, exhausted or depressed mood, and you’re in need of a pick me up, then yellow is your colour.

The effects of yellow

Too much or too little of anything can have an adverse effect. Yellow is most stressful on the eye because of the high amount of light that is reflected off its colour. The use of yellow as a background on paper or computer monitors can lead to strain and stress on the eye and in extreme cases, even vision loss.

Too much yellow can cause the inability to focus or complete one task at a time, as it can be too distracting. And the lack of yellow can give one the feeling of being isolated, resulting in low self-esteem, insecurity and even depression. Also, not having a sufficient amount of yellow can result in a person becoming rigid, cunning, possessive and even overly defensive.

Different shades of yellow in web design

Although yellow works well on its own (it is after all a primary colour), it also works very well as a companion to other colours. Use bright yellow to create excitement, if red or orange is too strong or too dark for you. Yellow is the right kind of perky!

• Amber

  Amber is a fossilised tree resin that has been appreciated for its colour and natural beauty for centuries. Amber is also the name of an orange-yellow colour. In fact, it was named after this fossilised tree resin because it shares similar shades with it.
  
  Shades of amber can range from orange to reddish-orange and even light yellow. This is why amber often refers to a series of orange shades.
  
  

• Goldenrod yellow

  Goldenrod is a colour that resembles the goldenrod plant, hence its name “goldenrod yellow”.
  
  

• Chartreuse yellow

  Chartreuse (the web colour) is a colour halfway between yellow and green that was named because of its resemblance to the green colour of a French liqueur called Green Chartreuse.
  
  The traditional colour chartreuse is a yellow colour mixed with a small amount of green and named because of its resemblance to the yellow colour of a French liqueur called Yellow Chartreuse.
  
  The web colour chartreuse is precisely halfway between green and yellow; 50% green and 50% yellow.
  
  

• Golden yellow

  Golden yellow is the colour halfway between amber and yellow. It is a colour that is 87.5% yellow and 12.5% red.
  
  

• Peach yellow

  Peach yellow is a combination of the colours pink and yellow.

Using yellow with other colours

Let’s take a look at how well yellow can cope when matched with other colours.

• Yellow with orange

  Use lemon yellow with orange to portray a healthy, citrus or summer theme. Very pale yellows also work as neutrals alongside dark or rich colours.
  
  

• Yellow with grey or black

  Use yellow to perk up a subdued cool palette of black and grey. Mix yellow with neutral grey and a dash of black for a high-tech look.
  
  

• Yellow and blue

  When matched together, yellow and blue creates a high contrast, making it an eye-popping combination.
  
  

• Yellow with red

  Try a hot, exciting mix of red and yellow.
  
  

• Yellow and olive green and brown

  For an earthy palette, especially to create an autumn feel, mix yellow, olive green and brown. Although pairing yellow with bright or light greens can be part of a natural, fruity colour palette, be careful not to use colours that are too close in value or they will appear washed out.

SOURCE: Onextrapixel