To black and white pages. In my web logs ... Remember tha

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Black on White and When?

• Michael Heavener, ABC
• heavener_at_heavenr.com

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Whats wrong with color?

• Why shouldnt we use it?
• PowerPoint supports up to 65536 colors
• Some pictures have thousands of unique colors
• And monitors support millions of color

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Umm

• Is that bad?

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Well no

• Using color CAN be good
• It adds
• Visual interest
• Excitement (stimuli)
• Consistency
• Direction
• Contrast
• Identity

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In fact

• Studies show color is the NO. 1 factor
• In return visits to websites
• In sales growth
• In traffic safety

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Expert marketers

• Study color seriously
• They do surveys and focus groups
• To determine what grabs attention most
• To pick exactly the right color to provoke buying

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Color studied for centuries

• There are, literally, thousands of
  studiesresearching the effect color has on us
• It
• Calms worries
• Relaxes unnerves
• Causes anxiety restores peace
• Reduces appetite boosts potential
• and more

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There is a caveat

• Color also ranks No. 1
• In reducing reading comprehension
• Color is fatiguing
• It makes the eye tired quickly

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Okay, I softened the color now

• Is that better?

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You may not realize it

• But your eyes were getting tired
• They were working very hard to separate
• The dark green headlines
• And black text
• From
• The bright red background
• And horizontal stripes

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By the end of the presentation

• You might find you had
• A headache
• Blurred vision
• Your eyes might water
• Youd feel physically exhausted
• Youd complain I was boring
• All physiological symptoms of eyestrain

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In other words

• To much color
• Is too much of a good thing
• Like eating too many grapes
• Or drinking too much lemonade

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One more change

• The easiest text to read
• Is black letters
• On a white background

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It reduces eyestrain

• The contrast is excellent
• The words stand out distinctly
• There is nothing to distract

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Personally

• I prefer this
• I like a little color

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But the trade off is

• I cant put a lot of words
• On screen
• At once
• I cant expect you to read volumes

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So this

• Has a right time and place
• When used correctly
• And limited to short presentations

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Even this

• Can be effective at times
• But notice
• I changed the text to white
• To increase the contrast

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Color behind text

• Is good in limited quantities
• Is good when faded back
• Is good when it matches
• Mood of presentation
• Design schema
• Images used
• Corporate logo

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Consistency is important

• Again, you may not be aware of it
• But Ive made you tired
• By jumping the colors around
• It is important to set a color style
• And stick with it

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In my web logs

• I get the highest number of return visitors
• To black and white pages

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Remember that solid red page?

• Pages with white text on solid color
• Are my LEAST visited web pages
• People find them...
• boring

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Theres a lesson

• I stopped using backgrounds and heavy colors
• Unless the color itself is whats important
• Or it offer visual clues to explain whats being
  said
• Or it matches something previously used
• To provide consistency

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White is the

• Most underrated
• Least understood
• Least used
• Color of all

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Yet, it can be

• THE most effective
• Dont be afraid to use white
• Reduces fatigue
• Makes message strongest thing seen
• Leaves a lasting impression

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Like Oriental art

• Note that
• Less than 50 of canvas is illustrated
• Yet the illustration is ALL you see
• White is invisible
• like air

Image from Love - Vintage Asian, Oriental, and
Calligraphy Posters
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Questions?

• heavener_at_heavenr.com
• 425 208-5130 or 425 885-0961

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