There are 18 decillion different colours. But If you’re like me and have no idea what a decillion is, don’t worry – I’ve saved you from having to Google it! A decillion is 33 zeros. So, there are 18,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 different colours out there. Now let’s start again… there is an infinite number of colours out there, so how do we know if we’re using the right ones?

As a multimedia designer for connective3, it’s typically my job to ensure we’re using the perfect colours in every scenario. Working in a fast-paced digital marketing agency is extremely fun. I love being faced with new challenges, and we’re constantly working with exciting new clients. Some brands have strict colour palettes; others can be more playful and allow you to push the boat out with creativity. However, choosing the right colours is always a key factor in the design process.

Colours play an immensely important role in the world we live in. They can represent emotions, contribute to actions and influence reactions. Colours are not just different crayons on a piece of paper – as some of my colleagues would say.

Colours have the magnificent ability to influence decisions because they subconsciously represent actions in our day-to-day lives. The perfect example of this is traffic lights. Who sat down one day and decided red, amber and green would universally represent stop, wait and go?

Breaking down colours

To get a greater understanding of the theory behind colours, you first need to understand the key terminology that comes with them. Here’s a breakdown of the various components that make up one colour:

Hue – The true colour of something, for example, red or green.

Saturation – The strength or weakness of the colour.

Chroma – How pure the colour is.

Value – How light or dark a colour is.

Tint – How much white is added to a colour.

Tone – How much grey is added to a colour.

Shade – How much black is added to a colour.

Visual representation

 

Colour models are also key elements in design which are often overlooked, but yet need to be determined at the start of a design process. You may be aware of the terms RGB and CYMK, but it’s crucial to understand the difference between the two. RGB stands for red, green, blue, and is used in the digital space as it’s how screens produce colour.

Monitors emit light, and with light, colours are additive meaning the more colours you add – the brighter the colour gets and vice versa. CMYK, on the other hand, uses white as the natural colour of the print background, and black as a combination of coloured inks. CMYK stands for cyan, magenta, yellow and key (black), and is the colour model most commonly used in print.

A key takeaway: Use the right colour model from the start to ensure consistency, as it’s a real pain to go back and edit.

The colour wheel

All colours are a mix of red, yellow and blue (the primary colours), with white/black being added to create different shades, tints and tones of them all. The colour wheel is an arrangement of all colours on the spectrum, based on their relationships. It displays primary, secondary and tertiary colours and is useful in creating harmonious colour schemes. Check out this diagram of colours below:

Visual representation

Colour Wheel

 

What do colours actually represent?

Colours have vastly different meanings all around the globe, so it’s important to do research for the area you’re going to represent. Nevertheless, here are some of the key connotations linked with colours:

Red: Love, anger, danger, heat, passion.

Purple: Royalty, wisdom, honour.

Pink: Romance, tenderness, love.

Beige: Conservative, unification, quiet, calm, and simplicity.

Yellow: Joy, happiness, summer, sunshine, hazard or illness.

Orange: Energy, warmth, vibrancy, enthusiasm.

Cream: Elegant, pure, calm.

White: Purity, simplicity, winter, innocence, cleanliness.

Grey: Security, maturity, boring, intelligence.

Black: Power, wealth, mystery, fear, anonymity, death.

Blue: Calm, responsible, peace, water, sky.

Green: New beginnings, nature, good luck, fortune, envy, and health.

Brown: Earth, stability, the outdoors.

 

Colour combinations and accessibility

Picking the right initial colour is only half of the battle. You’ve now got to figure out what works best alongside it. Choosing colours is also really important for accessibility. The human brain is generally very good at distinguishing colours, shapes and patterns.

However, there are a significant number of people who have to deal with colour blindness, meaning that they struggle to see and distinguish between some shades and colours. But don’t worry, there are some extremely helpful tools and guides that make life really easy.

Here is a guide to accessibility in the digital world, including much more than just colours, with guidance spanning from font size to audio levels. Adobe Color has recently added a feature which allows users to test contrast, and it also suggests similar colours which provide a better contrast ratio.

 

Here are the different ways of combining colours to get the perfect palette:

(Each palette example is built around the connective3 primary red)

Analogous Colours: Simple, visually pleasing and a calming display

This is when three (or more) colours are right next to each other on the colour wheel. They are usually composed of one dominant colour – typically being a primary or secondary colour – alongside shades of tertiary colours. Using a good mix of light, dark, and more muted colours is a top tip to make this a successful palette.

Monochromatic Colours: Basic, Uniform and professional

This refers to a selection of different tints, tones and shades of a single hue. This can be an easy way of creating a harmonious and cohesive palette.

colour palette

Triad Colours: Vibrant and unique

This takes colours that are equally spaced around the colour wheel in a triangle, and is often used to create a unique and vibrant palette.

Complementary Colours: Common and contrasting

These are the hues which are located directly opposite each other on the colour wheel. Complementary colours are made up of one warm and one cool colour. This provides simultaneous contrast, which is the highest contrast available on the colour wheel.

Square Colours: Uncommon yet vibrant

Four colours are sourced at an equal distance from each other on the colour wheel. Use different shades and tints to ensure there is a contrast in the palette.

Compound Colours: Unique yet complementary

Instead of using colours that are opposites, it uses colours on both sides of the opposite hue. This usually entails a mix of 3 primary colours to create a contrasting, unique look.

Compound colours

6 steps to help you choose the right colours

  1. Colour model is essential – Figure out where your design is going, if it’s going to be printed, then use the CYMK model from the start. This will help you keep your colours consistent.
  2. Consider the meaning of colours – Think about what your design represents, don’t choose colours that are too far aligned from the sector you’re designing for.
  3. Look at trends – Colours are constantly going in and out of “fashion”, so make sure you’re not using outdated, eye-piercingly vibrant colours. For this, you can use sites such as Coolors for inspiration to see what’s trending right now.
  4. Make sure your colours work well together – Don’t use colours that have no business being together, use the colour wheel to determine what works and what doesn’t. If you want the easy way of doing it, then use an online colour wheel such as Adobe Color. This lets you to input what you want your primary colour to be and cycle through the different combination options, such as complementary and analogous colours. Palettes can also be directly imported into your creative cloud for ease of use!
  5. Don’t just settle for the basics – Play around with shades, tones and tints to get your favourite colours.
  6. Don’t use too many – Pick your favourites and what works well with them; designs should (in most cases) be a 60-30-10 split between colours.

After all, you don’t want your branding to look like this…

So, do what the image says… if you can actually read it!

*Disclaimer – c3 cannot be at fault for anyone whose eyes have burned after looking at that image!*

If you’d like to discuss the perfect colour palette in more detail, or want to know how we can elevate your brand, please contact us for further information.

In 2022 Airbnb launched its new homepage design. This is specifically aimed at supporting holiday-goers looking for Instagram-worthy accommodation that meets their needs (in a post-pandemic world). We’ve seen a vast range of holiday websites change their marketing strategy, but this move by Airbnb has stood out for us the most.

In line with this change, we have conducted research to understand what users think about the new designs, and how it compares to the original. This identifies if it will aid a user, helping them to find the accommodation type that they desire.

Head of Creative Design, Jane Seymour, gives her perspective on how user-friendly Airbnb’s designs are, and how they appear from a design perspective.

What has changed for Airbnb?

Previously, the homepage by Airbnb was very focused on a user inputting their requirements. For example, location, dates and the number of people presented them with the most relevant results.

Now, the new homepage provides website users with an array of quirky accommodation options, alongside the same search functionality. To further support the large range of accommodation that’s on offer, Airbnb also added in filtering functionality. And this allows users to search for anything from “OMG!” to “Tiny home” categories.

Old design:

 

New design:

Is the change a positive one?

Out of 15 people that we surveyed, only 1 thought that the new homepage was an improvement and would aid their browsing experience. Core themes that came out of the research showed us that people thought the old homepage was:

  • Simple and engaging.
  • Less busy and less overwhelming than the new homepage.
  • Straight to the point.
  • Impactful

Here is what Head of Design, Jane Seymour, has to say about the designs: What are your thoughts from a design-specific perspective?

Simplicity. Something we all prefer, right?

Well, that certainly seems to be the general consensus based on feedback on Airbnb’s latest homepage update. We gathered a range of opinions on the new vs. old designs and usability; there was certainly a theme.

The majority of the group much preferred the old-style homepage, using phrases such as “simple”, “slick”, “clean”, “less busy”, “less confusing”, “minimalist”, and so on. On the other hand, after really delving into this big homepage change, we explored how this could be a much better performing experience, to aid holiday shoppers and encourage a more creative experience.

What are the pros and cons of this bold new change?

Pros:

  • Let’s face it, it may be different to what we’re used to, but it still looks great. It’s well designed, well laid out and pretty easy to use because of it.
  • There is a nice use of iconography. These simple and understated shapes are an effective visual nod to each of the categories. They represent each of them well, and its generally clear what you’re going to get if you click on them.
  • Airbnb has done a good job of keeping things familiar so that users don’t feel like they are using a completely different page. The same logo placement is used, the same account nav, and a similar-looking search bar is placed in the centre. (I’ll touch on this in cons)
  • The use of photography is striking. After all, that’s what sells this product, and its photo-focused approach highlights this.

Cons:

  • It’s different. It seems like an obvious point to make, but people tend not to like change, especially with something that seemed to work so well before. As we know from our survey, the majority of people preferred the old design. So if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
  • Browsing or tailoring? The new, image-focused homepage gives the impression of a shopping product page. By implementing this layout, we automatically use it as a browsing exercise. And although this functionality isn’t new to us as consumers, it comes away from the way we previously would search for holidays. This makes it less of a ‘tailored to you’ kind of approach and depersonalises the UX.
  • Is it too busy? Maybe not when you compare it to other sites, but if you look at how simple the old homepage design was, the high population of images and information that you are faced with from the offset seems a long stretch from the minimal and clean style it once was.
  • Search bar. Because of the new focus on the imagery, the focus has been taken from the search bar. Although it still sits in the same spot, top and centre, it appears smaller and less important. Again, this backs up the idea of pushing users towards a browsing experience, rather than a tailored one.

So, are Airbnb going to be the ones to change the way we shop for holidays? They have definitely made an impactful move. But is it too much of a change for us to get used to? Only time will tell!

Are you a fan of the new Airbnb homepage? Reach out to us on LinkedIn to let us know your thoughts. Or get in touch for more information on our offering.