Red Color in Design: Trends and Best Practices

Using the color red in web page designing is a very smart move. Why? Because the color red is such an attention-getter and its “loudness” helps it stand out very noticeably. A person’s eyes gravitate naturally towards those bold, stunning colors, and with the right use of red, the design can take on its own personality and theme within the piece.

When a designer chooses to use the color red, he should make sure that it’s a true red and not a blend or contrasting red that would change the integrity of the color. There can be many varying shades of red, and each with the designer’s own opinion of what he perceives as the true color.

If the design does use varying hues of red, the designer should make sure that the hues are used as contrasts, and do not target on the main points of the site, so as not to confuse the visitor. But, there is nothing more stunning than the rich red color used that is not altered in any way in the project.

Here are a few examples of how the color red in design has the potential to affect a project:

1. SmashMobile

SmashMobile’s use of red is “splashed” across their design project in a way that makes the page look fun and inviting. There are several patches of red on the material covering the phone and a varying contrast of the title of the company. The splash effect of the red is what makes the design fit with the theme of the page, making it effective in connecting the color with the marketing message.

2. Chrome Bagstore

In this design, the web designer has very craftily used splashes of red to highlight areas that the eye will pick up quickly. To do this, she also makes the background very dark and contrasting, but does not alter the view of the piece. The red pops out on the page from different aspects including a place on the menu that highlights the cart icon, and also where there is more information about the company. The product line is subtly tucked in the contrasting background, causing the viewer to focuses tightly on the space.

3. Gorilla Coffee

This design is almost saturated in red, but that’s what makes it so stunning! Almost every inch of the page is covered in the color red, with a few contrasts on the font and image that’s on the front page. It fits very well with the theme of the site since it’s focusing on an aggressive slant to sell the product. Red gets the reader’s attention, and since it’s all over the page, you can’t help but to take notice.

4. Sexy Social Media

Sexy Social Media red design sports a stylish logo and an effective font choice:

5. Web Design World

Web Design World effectively combines dark and light red shades:

Red used, even in small nuances, is very effective as an attention-getter in any web design campaign. In many cases, it’s best to use it in sporadic patches, depending on what the marketing angle is and what the goal of the project is as well. But if it’s used tastefully and within a theme, it can be a very positive presentation for a theme or project and increase readership and marketability.

Sonia Mansfield is the content editor for PsPrint and editor of PsPrint Blog. PsPrint is an online printing solutions company, which you can follow on Twitter and Facebook.