Help with Color and layout of site

Hello all,

I'm trying to design a web site and the hardest part for me is the actually design of colors and layout of the pages. I'm not asking for help with my specific site or design, but just some general guidelines to follow when selecting colors and coming up with the design.

-Is it better to use a dark background with a lighter color for the main content or vise versa?

-Should you pick the colors first or work on the design first?

-How do you go about picking out colors?

Also any tips and tricks or good tutorials with some good information?

I appreciate all the help!!

Really you need to find out what kind of website it is. Then you can look at color meanings and find a good main color then look up some color combinations to go with that color (colorcombos.com is one I use a lot). Most times a light background with dark content is ideal but it all depends on the mood of the website. You definitely need to plan the site instead of diving right in.

How do you go about picking out colors?

Click to expand...

You need to know the product/service and the target market/audience.

Is it better to use a dark background with a lighter color for the main content or vise versa?

Click to expand...

depends on the above

-Should you pick the colors first or work on the design first?

Click to expand...

Depends on the above and the one above that.

chrishirst said:

You need to know the product/service and the target market/audience.

depends on the above

Depends on the above and the one above that.

Click to expand...

agreed.

a website is designed to attract the audience.
The audience clicks on site for the product/service, a would want to know more if it is more appealing (of course other factors play here to) but is must appeal to the audience to make a good decision on what they would want to do next.