Color and shade considerations in application design
There are over 5 million apps in the Apple App Store an Google's Play store. We need to make our apps stand out in this vast field. Also, both Android and iOS makes it easy to remove apps so if the user has a bad experience, it is easy to remove. The major reason for a bad user experience isn't the features of the app but bad design. In this article, we will look at colors and shades.
In order to entice someone to download our app, we need to evoke an emotional response with the app icon as well as the screenshots. We want to convey ease of use, beauty and evoke an emotional response. Now all of these are subjective but there are some guidelines on what is considered beauty and how certain colors, shapes and typography evokes certain, desired feelings from people.
Designer vs non designer
The difference between a designer and a non designer is that anyone can compare two different designs but only designers can come up with the designs in the first place. For most non designers, we don't think of shades of colors as moods. Designers, on the other hand, sees shades as moods. For example, brighter shades of red are more playful whereas darker shades of red is more serious. Darker shades of blues evoke a more serious tone whereas lighter shades of blue is more playful.
Color theory
Designers uses color theory to manipulate human psychology. Designers sell their product by evoking emotions. Different colors convey different moods. Red conveys love, energy, excitement and intensity. This the the reason that a lot of sports car ads have red cars. The color yellow conveys joy and intellect. Green conveys freshness safety and growth and can be seen in many food ads. Blues tend to evoke trust, stability and serenity. Most job training experts recommend that we wear light blue to a job interview to convey trustworthiness.
Color combinations
There are several ways to combine colors, as a designer, the color choices are not random. A color wheel is a designer's best friend when choosing colors. One way to choose a color combination is use use analogous colors, choosing two colors that are next to each other on the color wheel. These combination looks harmonious and is easy to look at so it is used for background screens. Complementary colors are used when designers want to stand out and is used for logos and screenshots. Complementary colors clashes and is hard to look at for extended periods of time. Triadic colors is when a designer selects three colors that are equidistant to each other on the color wheel. Triadic colors looks more balanced than complementary colors while still grabbing attention but were overused in the nineties so looks dated. Monochromatic colors are when a designer uses the same color but different shades. This makes the design look more modern.
When designers combine colors with shades, designers can evoke a more nuanced mood to potential users. We can design opening screens and icons with flashier designs to grab the user's attention while using more subdued combinations so the user's experience is positive. We can use colors and shades to evoke certain emotional responses from the user to give a pleasing experience to the user.