HOT AND COLD COLOURS

Hot colours are red, yellow and orange. Black, although not strictly a colour, has the same effect.

Cold colours are blue, green and white.

Hot colours push things to the foreground; cold colours tend to merge things into the background.

The reader sees the hot colour first and the cold colour second. So use hot colours to draw attention to those parts of a page that you want the reader to see first.

Hot colours, even at a low percentage, should not be used as background colours or washes.

Use cold colours for secondary information or backgrounds, but not for key information that you want the reader to see first.

Colours, and what they mean

YELLOW

It is the most reflective of all colours and can dominate a news page even when  use sparingly.

Can mean Strength, or its opposite Cowardice.

Generally perceived as sunny and cheerful.

Combination of black and yellow is impossible to ignore. An attention-grabber.

Yellowy-green, however, should be avoided at all costs. It is seen as unpleasant, bilious and jaundiced.

RED

The hottest and most extreme of colours.

Dynamic, passionate, provocative, sexy, daring.

The colour of rage, anger, war, and violence.

It can actually make the heart beat faster, increase pule rate and increase perspiration.

GREEN

The colour of envy and contradiction.

The colour of vegetation, life and nature. The adopted colour of conservationists.

Can also mean decay, mould, illness and disease.

Also hope and help - the green cross has been adopted as the sign of pharmacists.

BLUE

The coolest of colours which is said to have a calming effect.

Strong, solid and constant. Dependable, reliable and committed. Inspire confidence.

Linked with the aristocracy - blue blood.

Quality - Blue Riband, blue chip.

Can reflect darker moods, but electric blue is almost as stimulating as bright red.

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