Blue & Green
1st edition — by Patrick McNeil — Dec. 4, 2006
The Design Element
The blue and green combo is one of those trusty old stand buys. A combo that always looks great and almost always comes across as conservative and safe.
This is most certainly not to say that it isn't a great choice, or that it can't have an impact on its viewers. The samples below don't appear stagnant or boring, but rather vibrant and alive. Perhaps that is just what is intended. These colors of nature connect with everything that is life giving. Green for plants and growth; blue for air.
Consider some alternatives like green and brown or blue and brown; other combos that allude to nature. These combinations have completely different connotations and certainly give an entirely different meaning to sites using them. It is amazing to see how much a difference color choice can make in how a site feels.
Perhaps this is why the combo is often seen in use on software related sites. Those sites want to draw on the friendly "natural" feel of the colors and convince potential clients that the application is not hard to use. Sure this is a subtle connection, but in design every element matters, and every element adds up to the cumulative effect of the design. Color is a critical choice. Choose wisely!
Connotations of blue : Patriotism, stability, power, trustworthiness,
conservative, water, coolness, fun, cold, defeat, trouble, calm, strong,
steadfast, light, friendly, confident, safe, corporate, intelligence, unity,
sad, depression, old-fashioned, mourning, richness, superiority, truthful,
loyal, faithful, noble, scholarly, unexpected, harmony, unity, clean, and
technology.
Connotations of green: Nature, environment, money, wealth,
family, harmony, health, peace, posterity, soothing, relaxing, springtime,
youth, humor, fun, happiness, life, growth, jealousy, envy, novice, restful,
calming, balance, stability, summer, organic, recycled, plants, trees,
fertility, fresh, good luck, and vigor.
Sample Usage
Links
Genopal (Color pallet creation software)
COLOURlovers (Excellent color pallet collections)
Kuler - pallet builder from Adobe /
ColorBlender.com (The
best tool I have found for easily creating beautiful color pallets)
Great color browsing resource (Named colors, by hue, etc)
Color
Scheme Generator
Color
Blender (On MeyerWeb)
Color In Motion
Color Schemer Online v2
Color Schemer Gallery
Color Symbolism
