Color is of great significance in banner ads. A good idea, therefore, is to give some serious thought to the use of colors in your banner ads. Colors are a non-verbal medium of communication and they help in reading, learning, and understanding. You must also remember that the brain also understands colors faster than text.
Studies done over the years show that colors influence about 93% of consumers. It is, therefore, absolutely necessary that you don’t take the use of colors in your banner ads lightly. Visual appeal helps in increasing recognition by almost 80%. Here we’ll try to understand the use of colors in your banner advertisements.
Know these basic things about colors
It will be the best approach to start with the basics here. When you’re trying to understand the use of colors in banner ads, this is even more important. It’ll help you in making an effective use of colors in your banner ads. Colors are classified into the categories of primary, secondary, and tertiary. Blue, yellow, and red are the primary colors. You can make any color by mixing them properly.
You’ll get secondary colors by mixing two primary colors. For example, you’ll obtain the color green upon mixing blue and yellow. Orange color is the result of mixing yellow and red. Upon mixing blue and red, you’ll get the purple color. By mixing primary and secondary colors in equal quantities, you’ll get the tertiary colors.
You can also categorize colors based on their purity. One can describe pure colors as the basic shade or nuance of a color. Pure colors can change with the addition of either black or white. You can achieve tints by combining the black color with pure colors.
This makes them lighter in terms of expression. The combination of black with pure colors will help you achieve the shades. With regards to expression, this would make them heavier. You can also divide colors into many other groups, such as cold colors and warm colors.
Color compositions
Now, let’s take a look at how you can put the colors together. You can do this with the use of color compositions. The first is analogue, in which, you place the colors in the color wheel next to each other. They range between 3-5 colors. Since you place them next to each other, there’s a lot of harmony in these colors.
The next is monochromatic, which are those having a base of shades as well as tints. There’s variation here and it helps immensely while creating an expression that’s pure and organized. Next comes complimentary, which are those made from colors on the color wheel’s opposite sides. For example, orange and blue. You’ll notice that these two colors are highly contrasting.
Another one is triad, the three-color compositions. All of these occupy equal space in the color wheel. They help in creating diversity and a good balance. One good thing to note is that the use of too many colors create confusion in the banner ads. It is, therefore, suggested that you use a maximum of 4 colors. Your banner ad would be even more effective if you use 2-3 colors.