Although the Web Design industry doesn’t follow the color trends that fashion and furniture follow, I thought it was time to give you a little color inspiration that you can use in your next web design projects. Here are the 10 hottest colors of the Fall 2009 season!
The thing with these colors that I found most unique is that they weren’t your typical fall colors such as pumpkin, brown, beige and other warm neutrals. There is quite a variety! Maybe this is a way to liven things up in a down economy.
American Beauty
This color really adds a nice punch in the case of this inspiration website with an American Beauty navigation bar. This is a true red and really has a unisex feel to it. Use it just as an accent color or if you are really brave, use it was your main color. This color is perfect for women’s products, patriotic websites, asian sites or for anyone in the arts .
Purple Heart
Purple Heart doesn’t have to be just for little girls. This color will make your design stand out. It’s perfectly unisex if used as just an accent. Using it as a overall color should probably be saved for sites that cater to women, tweens, or kitschy themes. This color was described as “sensual” which I don’t really get, but it does give me an overall happy feeling! Let’s call it the “feel-good” color of the lot.
Honey Yellow
Not really lovin’ this color at all on it’s own! But as seen in the inspiration site, the best way to use this color is to add other bold, dramatic colors to compliment it. I think the designer of this site really thought outside the box for color and turned this not so nice color, into something very memorable. I can also see this color paired up with dark brown or navy blue. I think for this color to work in design it really needs another strong color with it.
Iron
In my opinion this is a great color. Not as strong as black but still a great masculine color that shows strength and power. It pairs up nicely with American Beauty, Burnt Sienna, Raptured Rose… well just about all the hot fall colors! Almost any website can be well served by iron. I don’t think you have to give this color a second thought. This is a nice alternative to black!
Burnt Sienna
This color is soft. A nice mix between peach and pink this color would be ideal as an accent. This color will really need a strong color with it as we see in the inspiration site in order to make a dramatic effect. This is a fresh look on a neutral without looking feminine. If you pair this color with neutrals, you would get a very zen-feeling. This color is quite versatile and can can also lend itself to a bit of a Mediterranean or mexican flare. Spice it up with brick red, or gold for a crazy hot look.
Nomad
Nomad is such a nice putty color and so easy on the eyes. Use it as a background for text, or as the text color on a dark background. You cannot go wrong with Nomad. This is a timeless neutral.
Rapture Rose
Rapture Rose is a sweet innocent color but as you can see from the inspiration site, it doesn’t have to be only for little girls. This color is perfect for sites that target women, teens, girls. It’s perfect for theme sites that focus on love, pop culture, fun and food. Put a little rapture rose in your next design even if it’s just an accent.
Warm Olive
This has to be one of the most unusual colors. I was definitely thinking that I hated this color until I saw this inspiration website! I was afraid it was too close to pea green which didn’t leave me hustling to pitch this color to my next client. But, after seeing this inspiration site, I have to say, in certain circumstances it really looks nice. The designers of this site were fearless and I’m impressed. What do you think of Warm Olive?
Majolica Blue
This blue color is gorgeous and rich as well as soothing and mesmorizing. This is a dramatic color which can be used in so many situations and for so many target audiences. Perfectly unisex, this moody shade of blue leans a little in the direction of teal. I want to use this blue, don’t you?
Creme Brulee
Creme Brulee is like a soft sand color. It’s a color that you never tire of seeing. Creme Brulee can be mixed with ANY color on the color wheel. This color is definitely delicious!
If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy Web Design Color Trends for Spring 2009 or 25 Color Palette Generating Resources for Web Designing!
Thanks for your nice review.
You were too kind.
Thanks Linda you have created a awesome post. Described every color nicely. Where we can implement these. Nice collection specially for targeting Women across the web. I love to implement these in my next designs. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks linda for for giving the colours with hashcodes. I am a professional web designer and this will help me lot to design my web pages because some times i am confused about selecting colors. All these colours are awesome.
Glad that you liked the article and that it might help!
thanks for sharing this could help a lot.. thanks!! love the post!