By Blythe Langley
Designer

Be it blue.
Truth, calm, trust, hope, serenity, sadness … what does the color blue mean to you? Blue is one of the most commonly used colors in web design and development, and it will continue to be a hot color throughout 2009. What is it about the color blue that makes it so widely used across the Internet? Simply put, it’s versatile. In fact, Blue Iris was named the Pantone color of the year in 2008 showing its extension beyond the world of web development and into print advertising, brand identity development, fashion, home products and so much more.

Blue for you, blue for me.
Blue is a unisex color, appealing to both males and females. One of the most important things to consider within your website design and development is appealing to your target audience. If your target audience happens to be a broad demographic, including both males and females, then blue is probably a good choice. Versatility and unisex appeal help to make the color blue a very safe choice, but that is not to say that it is a boring color by any means!

Blue across the board.
Like all other colors across the spectrum, blue comes in a wide variety of hues, tones and shades. Navy, sky, powder, baby, cobalt, sapphire … just to name a few, and the list goes on. Choosing your variety of blue is a big decision to make when trying to convey the correct message to your audience. For example, a large portion of navy blue is going to have a much different presence within website development than a large portion of sky blue. With this in mind, make sure you are choosing the variety of blue that is appropriate for your message.

Blue around the world.
Your audience is a huge consideration when choosing your variety of blue. For example, blue may symbolize something different across various cultures around the world. In eastern countries, blue is a very spiritual color and considered the color of heaven. However in western cultures, it is used a lot in the corporate world, but can also have a tendency to represent sadness, tranquility and truth amongst some as well. The color blue can take on a different meaning for just about everybody, so it is important that you know your audience and use it accordingly to get the best results.

Pairing blue.
The different colors you pair with blue within your website design can also change the message it is sending to your audience. If you pair a mid-tone blue with a bright orange you are going to have a much more technical and energetic feel. Pairing it with a mid-tone green creates an organic and natural feel. If you decided to pair it with a charcoal gray, it will feel corporate and serious. There are millions of color combinations possible and each and every one of them will have just slightly a different feel, so be sure to always try a few combinations before settling with your final pick!

Blue in all mediums.
Blue doesn’t exist just in your graphical user interface design, it extends throughout the rest of the design world as well. Did you know that colors play a large put in the food industry? Have you ever asked yourself why the McDonald’s golden arches are yellow, or perhaps why you don’t often see a lot of foods that are blue? These concepts come from intelligent marketing techniques based on color research. The color yellow is an appetite stimulate. It creates the feeling of happiness therefore increasing the sensation of hunger. Its counterpart, the color blue, is an appetite suppressant because our minds have been trained to associate the color blue with things that are bad when relating to food, such as mold. It is rare in nature that we have foods that are naturally blue, as opposed to neutral colors like yellow and tan. Most people don’t realize this because their bodies react naturally to color stimulation without much thought.

These are just a few little tid-bits on the color blue. The color has proven popular in 2009, but will it stick around for 2010? We have our predictions . Contact us and see how we can improve your brand identity design strategy. Will blue be the right color for you?