Review: Color Logic for Web Design

"Color Logic for Web Design" is part of a series of six books by Jill Marten called "Color Voodoo." Marten, with a M.A. Degree in Fine Arts, has worked in interior design, architecture, and web design. The book, the fifth of the series, is a useful reference for web designers. It is concise, a quick read, and presents a significant amount of valuable information aimed directly at web designers. It is written in an easy to understand, no-nonsense, style with many illustrations to visually describe the various theories and relationships examined.

"Color Logic for Web Design" presents criteria for evaluating the primary characteristics of color. Today's technology provides us with unlimited tools for communicating visual information. The Internet is one of these tools, however it is still in its infancy. An understanding of color theory is important in creating effective designs. The concepts provided by this book are to be used as exercises in the production process of web design. In comparison to other forms of visual communication, web design is the most flexible environment. The logical and engaging visual effects created by color are an important consideration in designing a web page.

This pictorial guide to color design theory is split into three sections. The first is an introduction to the basic terminology of color. It explains the distinctions between subtractive and additive color systems, as well as introducing the principals of light and print color theory. Knowing how to describe color variations is the first step in analyzing the effectiveness of a web page.

"Designers are challenged with an inequality of shapes and colors. The goal is to achieve balance - not symmetry." This quote is from the second section of the book which concentrates on color harmonies and their relationships. Here Marten describes how different color combinations can make your web page appear more dynamic, or more subtle.

The third section is dedicated to the contextual relationships and three-dimensional effects of color. Substance, surface, color interaction, area and movement are some of the topics discussed using web pages as examples. This sections ends with a list of helpful tips to remember as well as some general guidelines for both trained and non-trained artists

All in all, this book may be something worth holding on to, for reference purposes. It delivers a lot of information with little effort. Recommended for those without a fine arts or design background.