Web Design: Color and Contrast and How Young Guns Abuse It

People are generally obsessed with colors. When the first color television was introduced to the market in 1953, people from the upper class promptly (and without hesitation) disposed of their black and white TVs. Although the technology was not as perfect as expected and unlike how it was mentioned on print ads, consumers gladly embraced it for one simple reason: having 5 primary colors on your traditional entertainment set is better than 2.

Color has become an important element in media since the early 1950's and ever since people understood its importance to everyday living. Even Web design professionals cannot imagine a design without color, or designing with only black and white (and its lighter and darker hues) - although there are special projects that require only these two mundane colors-as their staple option for every project.

Now that the Color TV's bright history is not as fascinating as it first happened, people from the design industry seem to be showing little respect for it. Designers-especially the young guns-have been abusing its importance, which resulted to hundreds of color-sick and contrast-ill websites. Even young pros like Jacob Cass and David Airey have blatantly showed their ire and concern for these designers on their blogs. Some Saul Bass protégés also say that these designers have been ruining the colorful industry for years. They should go back to design school to [at least] understand the basics of the Color Wheel and learn how it works. Literally, there is one big alarm shocking the modern web design industry today.



Reading design blogs and magazines for years have opened me to a realization that web design is slowly transforming into a fad. Just like photography, writing, and painting. At this point, the ubiquitous YouTube videos on the Web is a cheaper-the cheapest, the most accessible-way of learning codes and all the basic things about designing. Yet, what people would hardly learn on these free videos, blog posts, and magazines are the basic and deep understanding of colors. It requires vast experience to understand how colors intertwine with each other, says one French contrast expert. That is why colors are superbly abused these days. Because of these ever-present lousy tutorials on the Web, aspiring designers are too apathetic about going to a formal school or approaching a seasoned mentor to learn the basics, the real rudiments of Web design, including the importance of color and contrast, not only to modern media but to our daily lives as well.