Color Symbolism

To begin with, here are some sayings that illustrate the symbolic effect of colors:

• Till he's blue in the face
• The black sheep of the family
• The yellow press
• To be caught red-handed
• In the pink
• Bleed sb. white
• Silence is golden
• Every cloud has a silver lining
• Green with envy
• Gray prospects

As outlined above, we can assign our feelings and emotions to certain colors.
Colors arouse so many different feelings, because we have made specific experiences with any color in the course of our life. We remember these experiences when looking at a certain color. And if we have made these experiences so many times that we have internalized them, they trigger off automatic-unconscious reactions and associations (so-called psychological effects). Compare: Eva Heller, Wie Farben wirken, p. 13)
 
But we have to take into account that the psychological and symbolic effect of a color very much depends on the context in which the color is perceived: A green strawberry, e.g., is associated with being unripe. When looking at the green nature, green woods and meadows, however, the association is totally different: Now, we associate green with something positive, something fresh, healthy and relaxing.
The effect of a color is also influenced by a country's culture and tradition: In northern Europe, green is an ordinary color that can be found everywhere. Green does neither symbolize wealth nor better living conditions. On the other hand, green is a symbol of paradise and luxuriant oases for a people living in the desert.
Even a people's language can give information about color effects: As regards the color words in the Eskimo language, there are numerous names for white. The fact that different color associations prevail in different countries is very interesting for web design:

"According to the new sciences, all emmentropic human beings are able to perceive the same range of physically measurable light beams as color sensations and also to discriminate the same multitude of hues. This human color vision mainly depends on the structure of our visual organs, the eye and its associated brain centers. Therefore we could expect to find the same variety of color names in every language. But a comparison of languages reveals that this is not true.
The languages do not subdivide the color band of the solar spectrum in the same way. Number and influence of the available color names are different (even if the European languages might meanwhile have adapted largely)."
Die Grammatik, Duden, p. 446

So, the symbolic color effect has to be handled with deliberation. A fundamental knowledge of this color symbolism, however, certainly is an enrichment of your creative abilities and therefore an additional instrument in web design.
 
In some puplications it is recommended handling color symbolism with the "utmost caution". Some experts even completely disapprove of using color symbolism, because it depends on culture, religion and context. Such conclusions are most often due to sweeping judgements and lacking knowledge. I don't see any reason for not using color symbolism. Those who do not deal with this topic might once use colors with which they cause an unintended effect, because they are not aware of the colors' symbolism. Knowing about color symbolism does not only imply to use colors adequately, but also to avoid using inappropriate colors.

Of course, we have to take into account that the color associations described on this web site only apply to certain cultures: To the European area and similar cultures such as North America. But it is also useful for people from other cultures to know about the respective color symbolism: That is e.g., if they intend to publish a translated web site in those countries. The association charts help to find out, whether the chosen colors really are appropriate. A web site that tries to convey the impression of "lovely", "tender" and "soft" should not be designed in the color combination black/red; in this case, white/pink color combinations would be suitable.