Types and uses of colour palettes

To begin to construct a colour palette for your ecommerce website design you need a colour wheel. One of these is shown in the blog image.

In the previous blog we briefly discussed "warm" and "cool" colours. If you split your colour wheel down the middle between the red and purple segments you will have warm colours (reds, oranges, yellows) on one side and cool colours (purples, blues, greens) on the other.

There are several recognised ways to go about constructing a colour palette for your ecommerce solution using the colour wheel, and distinguishing between warm and cool colours is one of the first steps.
The following are the the most common combinations used in order to construct and effective colour palette for use on your ecommerce website design:

1.    Complementary
       The simplest of palettes, complementary colours are this directly opposite each other on the colour wheel. One dominant colour (usually for the background) can be used on your ecommerce website.

2.    Split Complementary
       This is a variation on the complementary palette, with the two colours adjacent to the opposite base colour. This one offers a degree of contrast, as with the complementary palette, but offers more harmony and is easier to work with.

3.    Triadic
       A triadic colour scheme is determined by selecting colours at the points of an equilateral triangle on the colour wheel. It is seen by many as the most effective colour scheme, as one colour can be used for the background of your ecommerce website, and the remaining two can combine to make up the content.

4.    Analogous
    Analogous colours are those that sit either side of any given colour on the colour. analogous colour schemes are often seen in nature and  will offer a calm and serene feel to your ecommerce solution.

5.    Rectangular
    The rectangular scheme consists of two pairs of complementary colours, usually two segments apart, and offers good opportunity for variation. It usually works best when one colour is dominant, but make sure you strike a good balance between warm and cool colours for your website design.

6.    Square
    The square scheme is similar to the rectangular, but all colours are evenly spaced, and offers the greatest number of combinations, which sounds good but can be a problem when trying to achieve a good harmony. It can be a tricky one to get right, but works well when done well.

For more advice or to get up and running with you your own professionally designed ecommerce solution contact the experts at Store Express on 0845 050 3500 or at sales@storeexpress.co.uk