#27012
Color Theory for Digital Displays: A Quick Reference: Part I
This article is Part I of a quick reference on color theory for digital displays. It is the first in a series of articles about the use of color in application program user interfaces and on Web sites.
Gabriel-Petit, Pabini. UXmatters (2006). Design>Web Design>Standards>Color
#27013
Color Theory for Digital Displays: A Quick Reference: Part II
This article is Part II of a quick reference on color theory for digital displays. It is the second in a series of articles about the use of color in application program user interfaces and on Web sites.
Gabriel-Petit, Pabini. UXmatters (2006). Design>Web Design>Standards>Color
#21955
Several years after the hype began, color management is maturing into a useful tool that can solve real problems. Here's a comprehensive overview.
Fraser, Bruce. Adobe Magazine (1995). Design>Document Design>Prepress>Color
#18439
Color blindness is mostly neglected, even most of the people do not consider this as a serious problem. However, color blindness can be a problem that disrupts many tasks.
Karagol-Ayan, Burcu. Universal Usability. Design>Usability>Accessibility>Color
#20575
Color: The Newest Tool for Technical Communicators 
Asserts that color must be used to make information clear, lucid, powerful—faster; its logical application must be controlled by the editor. Provides a comprehensive checklist to help editors use color effectively.
White, Jan V. Technical Communication Online (2003). Design>Graphic Design>Visual Rhetoric>Color
#21120
You might do a lot of usability testing on your web site but you still might lose up to 10% of your audience because of some simple mistakes with colors. Specifically, your web site may be designed in a way that doesn't work well for people with colorblindness. Generally the fix is quite simple: be sure to provide excellent contrast between your various web page elements.
Follansbee, Todd. WebWord (2001). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Color
#25896
This series of articles about color is designed to help you get started right now selecting colors for your site.
Carter, Mary E. EFuse (2004). Design>Web Design>Graphic Design>Color
#28392
Colour is one of the designer's best tools. There are lots of ways to use it to help communicate a message. Colour can carry meaning, express personality, differentiate, frame, and highlight content.
Hunt, Ben. Web Design From Scratch (2006). Design>Web Design>Graphic Design>Color
#25754
With cartography on the Web, the use of colour plays an important role in the visualization and analysis of data. The correct application of colour for the display of thematic map data, allows for the better observation of interrelationships and patterns.
#19320
Colour is used in interface design for a variety of purposes. Not only can colour convey meaning or highlight content, it is also an important part of corporate identity and branding. Where would the Coca Cola brand be without its distinctive red and white livery? All well and good, but the reality is that the use of colour can cause more problems than it solves. Interface designers must treat colour with caution for a variety of reasons - most importantly the huge variety of ways in which any given colour can be perceived. It is well known that older users and those with colour-deficit vision may have difficulty in perceiving certain colours. Different monitors may be poor at maintaining colours the same across displays, and of course many users are still working on black and white displays. In this environment, poor use of colour may mean that text is hard to read, eyestrain occurs, and users become frustrated. With this in mind, designers should consider the following guidelines relating to the use of colour in interface design.
Gaine, Frank. Frontend Infocentre (2000). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Color
#20662
Recently, I was surprised to learn that about 8 percent of men and 0.5 percent of women have some form of color blindness. For some Web sites that could translate to 1 in 12 visitors. That's a larger proportion of visitors than some other groups I consider when designing Web sites. The ratio of visitors viewing the Web with only 256 colors or a 640x480 pixel screen is usually less than 5 percent these days. Now include cross-browser support, older browsers, style sheets, and JavaScript in the mix. If you consider those issues when you design Web sites, you should consider your color-blind visitors, as well.
Newman, Chuck. New Architect (2000). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Color
#29232
Decorative Color as a Rhetorical Enhancement on the World Wide Web
Professional communication scholars have defined the decorative narrowly and subordinated it to informational text. Yet, current psychological research indicates that decorative elements elicit emotion-laden reactions that may precede cognitive awareness and influence interpretation of images. We conceive the decorative in design, and specifically color, as a complex rhetorical phenomenon. Applying decorative and color theory and analyzing design examples illustrating aesthetic, ethical, and logical appeals, we present a range of potential uses for color in electronic media.
Richards, Anne R. and Carol David. Technical Communication Quarterly (2005). Design>Web Design>Visual Rhetoric>Color
#24682
Does Color In The Office Replace Color in the Print Shop?
Color printing has been a profitable application for print shops. Whether it be marketing collateral materials (brochures and the like), posters and signage or coupons, color documents have been the exclusive domain of offset printing.
Crowley, Ed. On Demand Journal (2004). Design>Publishing>Prepress>Color
#14162
Duotones are a combination of two grayscale images, using two negatives and two printing plates. Sometimes we see super print quality using two blacks, to add midtones or highlights to an image, or to extend an image's overall tonal range. Back in the '80s the Time-Life Photography series of books used Black and metalic Silver inks to produce probably some of the best high-grade black and white photographic images ever printed. They're no longer in print, but you can find them in most better public or university libraries.
Design and Publishing Center (2002). Design>Publishing>Graphic Design>Color
#21611
En el número 126 nos preguntábamos ¿existe el color?. Ahora, dos revisiones de la literatura que cubren cien años de investigación sobre el factor humano del color revelan cómo y dónde existe el color, y cómo los diseñadores pueden hacer mejor uso de él en entornos reales y simulados. Jim Wise nos lo explica.
Wise, James A. InfoVis (2003). (Spanish) Design>Graphic Design>Usability>Color
#25405
The purpose of this experiment was to examine the effect of different web page text/background color combinations on users' retention and subjective perception. One hundred and thirty-six participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups: black text on a white background (BW), white on black (WB), light blue on dark blue (B), or teal on black (TB). They then studied two Web pages, with a color combination consistent with their group assignment. One page contained information on the Neuron and the other consisted of information on a fictitious TV/DVD player. After studying each page they completed a quiz and survey. Analysis of the data indicated: a) Retention scores did not differ as a function of text/background color combinations; b) BW and B pages received the highest ratings for readability, and TB the lowest; c) B pages received the highest ratings for the aesthetic qualities; d) BW pages were perceived as most 'professional'; e) Subjective readability ratings significantly predicted retention; and f) Users view 'professionalism' as more strongly related to readability than aesthetics. Taken together, these results indicate that the relationship between font/background color combinations and outcomes is complex and often inconsistent with web guidelines posed by 'web gurus'.
Hall, Richard H. and Patrick Hanna. University of Missouri-Rolla (2003). Design>Web Design>Usability>Color
#29091
The Effects of Using Colored Paper to Boost Response-Rates to Surveys and Questionnaires
Many people have speculated over the last 80 years or so about the possibilities of using colored paper to boost response-rates to surveys and questionnaires, and several studies have been carried out. Most of these enquiries report no significant effects from using colored paper, although there have been some exceptions. In this investigation we pooled together the results from all of the experimental studies known to us on the topic and we carried out a meta-analysis to see if there might be a positive effect for colored paper overall. The results indicated that this was not the case, for we found no significant differences between the response rates to white and to colored paper in general. However, when we considered separately the most common colors used, it appeared that pink paper had the greatest effect. "One of the first considerations [to obtain a high response-rate] is the color of paper used in mail questionnaires. United States government officials who are responsible for the mailing of several million questionnaires every year have definitely determined that yellow paper gives the highest percentage of returns, with pink next in effectiveness, while all dark colors give much smaller returns" [1, p. 142].
Hartley, James and Andrew Rutherford. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2003). Articles>Document Design>User Centered Design>Color
#28662
Ensuring Accessibility for People With Color-Deficient Vision
If you do not consider the needs of people with color-deficient vision when choosing color schemes for applications and Web pages, those you create may be difficult to use or even indecipherable for about one in twelve users.
Gabriel-Petit, Pabini. UXmatters (2007). Design>User Interface>Accessibility>Color
#21614
Tendemos a considerar al color como un hecho objetivo: rojo es rojo y no puede ser visto de otra forma. Pero eso no es así. El color que percibimos depende de cosas como las palabras de que disponemos en nuestro lenguaje (nuestra cultura) para describirlos, los otros colores que lo rodean y lo que el cerebro espera ver.
Dursteler, Juan Carlos. InfoVis (2003). (Spanish) Design>Graphic Design>Cultural Theory>Color
#20560
Each day, thousands of websites lose credibility and all-important return traffic -- not because they're poorly written, constructed, designed, or advertised, but because of: colors that clash colors that camouflage colors that just plain don't work! Attention to color on the web is generally considered the province of web-design professionals -- but those of us who study and teach professional writing are in a prime position to use our knowledge and skills to lead the way toward a more aesthetically-pleasing, and rhetorically-effective, World Wide Web
Clark, Tracy. Purdue University (2003). Design>Web Design>Graphic Design>Color
#24043
Review: Free Guide to Color Printing
3M Imaging has come out with a pamphlet that explains these color anomalies and more. And best of all, it's free.
Dahlman, Gayle. Editorial Eye, The (1996). Resources>Reviews>Prepress>Color
#21853
Give your colors the room they need in Photoshop by understanding and choosing RGB working spaces.
Fraser, Bruce. Adobe Magazine (1999). Design>Graphic Design>Prepress>Color
#31664
Get the Most Out of Your Color 
Color can play an important role in technical documentation.
Copresco (1999). Articles>Document Design>Graphic Design>Color
#23112
Guidelines for Visualizing Links
Textual links should be colored and underlined to achieve the best perceived affordance of clickability, though there are a few exceptions to these guidelines.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2004). Design>Web Design>Usability>Color
#22783
Guidelines for Visualizing Links
Textual links should be colored and underlined to achieve the best perceived affordance of clickability, though there are a few exceptions to these guidelines.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2004). Design>Web Design>Usability>Color
