Color for UX design
Maria Matveeva
Head of Design at DockYard @rgbcolor @dockyard
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Photo by Elliott Engelmann
Where do I start?
How do I explain decisions to a client?
How do I deal with differing opinions?
How do I know the colors will work well?
There’s too many options!
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Moscow
Sacramento
Montréal
Baltimore
Washington, D.C.
Boston (to be continued)
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UX Design
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DockYard.com @dockyard
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Photo by Elliott Engelmann
Where do I start? Contrast.
How do I explain decisions to a client? Focus on goals.
How do I deal with differing opinions? It’s OK.
How do I know the colors will work well? Test.
There’s too many options! Pick a process. Follow it.
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Are we in control?
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1. Art History
2. Culture & context
3. Color theory
4. Making it work for UX design
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1: Art History
ART HISTORY | CULTURE & CONTEXT | COLOR THEORY | MAKING IT WORK FOR UX
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Natural System of Colors, Moses Harris – 176
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Pigments
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Holy!
Also holy!
OK for commoners
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14th - 15th century
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The Milkmaid
Vermeer (c. 1658)
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Industrial Revolution
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1. Chemical pigments
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William Perkin’s Mauve
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Ooh! New
pigment!
Real artists use
tasteful muted colors
Average
Artwork
Saturation
All art since the 1500s
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2. Tube paints
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Winsor & Newton, John Goffe Rand
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One color at a time
Slow process
Prepared by artist
In studio
More colors at once
Fast, spontaneous
Available to buy
Portable
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First WYSIWYG editor
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The Hay Wain
John Constable
(1821)
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Haystacks, Midday
Claude Monet
(1890)
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The Night Café
Vincent Van Gogh
(1888)
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Self portraits by
Vincent Van Gogh
(1880s)
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1914—1918
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Things get weird & scary
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Vassily Kandinsky
1936
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Vassily Kandinsky
1936
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Vassily Kandinsky
1936
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Color as content
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Mark Rothko
1950s
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IKB: the International Klein Blue - first pigment as art, 1958
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trendlist.org
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Any color you want!
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Andy Warhol
1960s
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Andy Warhol
1960s
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Unchangeable pigment
Color for realism
Impression (from nature)
Expression (from the inside)
Color as content
What color would you like?
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2: Culture & Context
ART HISTORY | CULTURE & CONTEXT | COLOR THEORY | MAKING IT WORK FOR UX
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What’s wrong
with this fence?
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“Wine-color” sea?
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Dark Light
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Which
one is the
blue?
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粉红, fěn hóng,
literally "powder red"
红
“red”
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JeongMee Yoon
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1637
Anthony Van
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“Money” or “The Prophet”?
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Mary or URL or Krishna?
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Communism or traditional bridal-wear?
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A monk’s robe, or an alert message?
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Politics +
Cultural context +
Language differences +
How important is color?
Check your assumptions
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3: Color Theory
ART HISTORY | CULTURE & CONTEXT | COLOR THEORY | MAKING IT WORK FOR UX
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COMPLEMENTARY
Vibrant when used together
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ANALOGOUS
Colors strengthen each other
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ETC…
Colors in relation to each other
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HUE
most common understanding of “color”*
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SHADE
how much black?
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TINT
How much white?
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CHROMA
(Also “saturation”) - how close to gray?
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GRAY EQUIVALENT
How light or dark does the hue appear?
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GRAY EQUIVALENT
How light or dark does the hue appear?
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Difficult to read -
only hue contrast
Difficult to read -
only hue contrast
Easier to read -
value contrast
Easier to read -
value contrast
Value contrast → Readability
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Value contrast → Readability → Accessibility
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Color Sphere
Albert Munsell – 1900
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vs.
Munsell color system
Photoshop color picker (HSB)
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4: Make it work for UX Design!
ART HISTORY | CULTURE & CONTEXT | COLOR THEORY | MAKING IT WORK FOR UX
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Photo by Elliott Engelmann
Where do I start?
How do I explain decisions to a client?
How do I deal with differing opinions?
How do I know the colors will work well?
There’s too many options!
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Is it pretty?
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(Do I like it?)
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Defend your
decisions
Color has a job to do
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Show related Symbol
!
Psychology
Represent data Aesthetic
Branding
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Google “UX design color guide”
guidance may vary
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A system
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1. Resolve the contrast
in grayscale sketches
2. Select the color
for audience and goal
3. Refine
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1. Resolve contrast
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2. Select the color
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2. Select the color
× (Users) × (Goals) =
}
{
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Brand color
Active, engaging
Not reserved
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I want this
gold color
to “POP”
Complimentary
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Branding
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Refine → awesome
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1. Don’t forget proportion
2. Sketch in color
3. Use hue contrast sparingly
4. Not-black and not-white
5. Adjust one thing
6. Remove colors
3. Use hue contrast sparingly
Difficult to read -
only hue contrast
Difficult to read -
only hue contrast
Easier to read -
value contrast
Easier to read -
value contrast
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ColorBrewer.org
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4. Not-black and not-white
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5. Adjust one thing at a time
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vs.
Munsell color system
Photoshop color picker (HSB)
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6. Remove color
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6. Remove color
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6a… or don’t remove color!
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1. Don’t forget proportion
2. Sketch in color
3. Use hue contrast sparingly
4. Not-black and not-white
5. Adjust one thing
6. Remove colors
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Have a backup
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trello.com
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Steps to color success:
Grey
sketches
Key words:
tone, subject
Colors relate
to keywords
Combinations
and color theory
Proportion,
refinement
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WHAT TO EXPECT
- Avoiding surprises earns you…
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Photo credit: Flickr user mariachily
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Thank you!
Maria Matveeva | @rgbcolor
#UXPA2016 | http://www.uxpa2016.org/sessionsurvey