Ultra Pop
1st edition — by Patrick McNeil — May. 5, 2006
The Design Element
I call this grouping of sites Ultra Pop because the colors used quite literally
pop out of the page. When I was previewing them on the Daily
Slurp I had a bit of a larger thumbnail to look at, it seemed like my
monitor was glowing, I don't think the thumbs below show this quite as well.
I have been really looking forward to this article. Not so much because I
have anything spectacular to say, but because I really love the sample sites.
I am fond of this group I think because the idea of using these ultra saturated
colors embodies what the new internet is all about. They are fresh and fun
colors, that evoke friendliness and ease of use. So many new little apps
are coming out and many of them are treated with this fresh color style.
The web is moving away from things that look like programmers built them
and more towards mainstream easy to use well designed applications. The psychology
of the colors used couldn't play into this more.
I consider myself a very technical
person and having recently setup a home stereo receiver this is fresh
on my mind. Just looking at the front of the big black unit was daunting,
all these tiny little buttons with cryptic meanings. I knew it did all sorts
of stuff but figured it would take some learning. My wife won't even bother
to look at it, it appears hopeless to her. I am not suggesting that Sony
should start making their stuff bright red, but I think it illustrates the
issue. Clearly I am not going to give up on my stereo, I bought it. But,
I haven't bought your web site yet, and if it looks and feels easy to consume,
I just might hang around long enough to find out.
This isn't for everyone and it won't work in all situations, but there are
strong connotations and power in the colors you choose. Choose them wisely.
A few connotations of ultra pop : Fun, fresh, new, young,
hip, easy, simple, exciting, happy, and cheerful.
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
