When designing a website, one of the most common challenges is to develop an effective color scheme. The 25 sites that are showcased here have, in my opinion, done a great job of incorporating color and creating an attractive appearance. Please feel free to mention which ones are your favorites in the comments.
Update - The following sequels to this post have also been published:
This site features a large background image of a tree and a cloudy sky. The green of the tree and the grass look great with the blue sky.
Would you expect anything less from one of the leading graphic design blogs? Veerle uses a dark background and a lot of color throughout the blog.
The website of Destination Organice features several colorful images that are complemented by a bright red navigation menu.
With a colorful green background and other images that include a variety of colors, Emotions really stands out.
A blue and green background that is bright, but not too hard on the eyes.
This site uses a a blue background (sky) and the green leaves of a tree on the left side of the screen.
A very bright site that uses blue, green, pink, purple, and orange (not the fastest loading site though).
There are not a lot of different colors on this site, but the various shades of blue look great.
If a Tennessee winter isn’t full of a lot of different colors, a Tennessee summer is.
This site features a light pastel color scheme that uses less images than many of the other sites included here.
This portfolio site has an attract color scheme that is very easy on the eyes.
An excellent use of a background image to give color to a design.
This site uses a slide show effect with several different header images.
A nice color scheme involving green, blue, and black. The site sits on a wood floor background image.
There’s a rainbow of colors in this blog for web designers.
This site uses a nice variety of colors without making it hard to read.
Joomla Junkie shows that it’s possible to use a white background and still feature great use of color.
This blog uses a very colorful header image and a lot of colorful photos throughout the posts.
A variety of different colors and shades that come together to create a great color scheme.
This site has been featured in a number of CSS galleries. It makes use of a wide range of colors and it relies heavily on images.
This Australian design company uses a few different shades of blue and green rather than using a larger variety of different colors.
Celebrific features very bright colors as well as some lighter pastels.
This site uses a large background image, as well as blue, green, red, and orange in a pleasantly colorful appearance.
This church website uses a nice light color scheme of blues and greens.
This site uses a lot of graphics and photos to achieve its colorful look.
If you liked this collection, also see:
February 4th, 2008
This is a great list of sites… thanks for the mention of inspiredology… I really like pixelhouse and El Tesoro… both very cool sites.. keep up the great posts..
February 4th, 2008
personally i liked the web designer wall entry. i like the mix of color and art. but what i really noticed in the sites posted here is that you can never go wrong with nature. its always easy on the eyes.
February 4th, 2008
i am a web designer/developer for five years now and i must say this gallery of designs are amazing, it gives me ideas and some possibilities to develop sites like this. thank you
February 5th, 2008
very nice site.
February 5th, 2008
Looking at our traffic logs today and then finding this post, i have to say that this has made my week! To be included on a list of sites that we have personally admired for so long is any designers dream come true! Thank you very much for this post and considering us worthy to be included!
Chris (JoomlaJunkie)
February 5th, 2008
Thanks for the list of beautiful and inspiring designs. The “Emotions” site is especially fresh looking. Makes me want to whip out my photoshop and create something stunning…
February 5th, 2008
Hah you like to be out in the open don’t you? Lots of blue/green, trees and skies
February 5th, 2008
[...] 25 Beautifully Colored Websites: Good design is never accidental. Here are some tips for making your color choices more effective. I didn’t recognize any of the websites on the list, save for Veerle’s Blog, which I already peruse. [...]
February 5th, 2008
[...] one of the most common challenges is to develop an effective color scheme. The 25 sites that are showcased here have, in my opinion, done a great job of incorporating color and creating an attractive appearance. [...]
February 5th, 2008
Very good list and I’m sure there are many. many more that could be added here.
February 5th, 2008
Fantastic graphics!
February 5th, 2008
The colours on the Tenessee Winter site are absolutely wonderful. Blue is a colour that I don’t think gets used enough in contemporary web design.
February 5th, 2008
wouahou … some designs are very good !!! love it !
February 5th, 2008
Yeah i must say i totally agree with you. my personal favourites from your list are LifeLab, and Joomla Junkies. All are very good designs, but those two stand out from the crowd for me.
February 5th, 2008
Lovely… absolutely very nice design!!!
I am a great lover of new and original palettes, what do you think about the colours of my site? =)
February 5th, 2008
Chad and Chris,
You’re welcome for the mention. Thanks for taking the time to stop by and leave a comment.
Sterling,
Emotions is one of my favorites too.
Joost,
That wasn’t intentional, but I guess you’re right!
CFA,
Yes, there certainly are a lot more. Maybe I’ll do a follow up gallery down the road.
February 5th, 2008
[...] Web Site Design has compiled a list of 25 Beautifully Colorful Websites. In addition to screen captures of each site, there are links to the original sites so you can [...]
February 6th, 2008
wow… they are all awesome! I love their colors and designs! Thanks a lot for the compilation…
February 6th, 2008
Good selection of sites and demonstration of subtleties. Thanks for the information, I shall consider and by all means I use on the new progect
February 6th, 2008
Wow, thank you for including us :o)
There are some really great sites, I really like ‘Capture the Valley’!! ‘Inspiredology’ is also very cool.
February 7th, 2008
Good list of colorful and inspiring designs. Few I am already familiar with but most are new. Thanks!
Question – when you create such post with screen shots from other web sites, do you need to get permission from the web site owner? (from legal perspective). I want to create blog articles with other sites pictures and was not sure if I should ask for permission first.
February 7th, 2008
This is a great one as well, full of colors. Unique especially for a web hosting company
http://www.logicweb.com
February 7th, 2008
Justin,
You’re welcome. Thanks for commenting.
efimor,
I’m not a lawyer, so I’m not going to give any legal advice. I have had a number of comments when I do posts like this from people who own one of the sites that is featured, and it is always positive feedback. It gives them exposure and sends traffic there way, so I don’t think they mind.
February 7th, 2008
Uhhmm… I am in a web hosting company and it gives me a lot of ideas for my next design… I like all of your design especially the page shaded by blue, good for eyes and user friendly, easy to navigate..
February 7th, 2008
[...] this week I posted a gallery of colorful websites. Today I’d like to take a look at a few online tools that can help you to generate a color [...]
February 8th, 2008
Really amazing designs! Especialy Veerle’s Blog and El Tesoro.
February 8th, 2008
[...] 25 Beautifully Colorful Websites at Vandelay Design. [...]
February 8th, 2008
ah thx for including me in your list, … nice designs indeed … keep it up.
February 9th, 2008
[...] перевода от stussy, однако, пост взят отсюда. okbm(’http://blogrock.ru/archives/27/’,'25 сочных веб-сайтов’); Еще [...]
February 9th, 2008
Dadan,
You’re welcome.
February 9th, 2008
Aside from the fact that the Carsonified logo looks like a cheap rip-off of another site (which I cannot recall at the moment), there really is nothing much to say about it in terms of color. It has no business being in the list.
February 10th, 2008
First impressions last. Google won the hearts of its users because of its design simplicity. The Google homepage, for me, is the perfect model of unforced beauty which every webdesigner should learn from.
February 11th, 2008
[...] 25 adet jan janlı güzel site örneği. Bağlantı [...]
February 12th, 2008
WOW! Who says you can’t be beautiful and vibrant? Who says corporate websites can’t be fun. These are very inspiring. Thanks for posting. I’ll be submitting this to Digg if it’s not there already. Stumbled too!
February 16th, 2008
[...] Source from: Vandelay Design [...]
February 24th, 2008
hey,
thanks for including “ustvarjako” site here, we’re feeling very proud to be humble member of this great list
sasa
http://www.plastikfantastik.net
February 25th, 2008
[...] http://vandelaydesign.com/blog/galleries/colorful-websites [...]
February 25th, 2008
[...] few weeks ago I published a gallery of Beautifully Colorful Websites that drew a lot of interest from designers. I thought it would be appropriate to follow that up [...]
February 26th, 2008
[...] 25 Beautifully Colorful Websites [...]
February 27th, 2008
[...] few weeks ago, Vandelay Website Design published a gallery of very sharp colorful web sites. In response to the interest the gallery drew they have followed it up with a gallery of 25 [...]
February 28th, 2008
[...] 25 Beautifully Coloured Website Designs Showcases 25 great colourful websites in a social-media-friendly manner. [...]
March 4th, 2008
I also like this one http://www.flashgenesis.com
March 5th, 2008
[...] 25 Beautifully Colorful Websites [...]
March 10th, 2008
Gud websites list. Nice Collection.
continue friends
March 16th, 2008
[...] cschaper24 wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptWhen designing a website, one of the most common challenges is to develop an effective color scheme. The 25 sites that are showcased here have, in my opinion, done a great job of incorporating color and creating an attractive appearance … [...]
March 17th, 2008
[...] these examples are excellent sources of inspiration for any design project. Many of them involve excellent use of color, images, and graphics that draw attention right away. In addition, most church sites have a lot of [...]
March 24th, 2008
[...] from http://vandelaydesign.com/blog/galleries/colorful-websites/ [...]
April 8th, 2008
Nice collection. It has inspired me.
April 14th, 2008
[...] 25 Beautifully Colorful Websites [...]
April 16th, 2008
[...] :). Otras selecciones de sitios que presentan en Vandelaydesign y que bien vale la pena visitar: 25 Beautifully Colorful Websites, 25 Beautifully Dark Website [...]
April 29th, 2008
Cool Web
May 5th, 2008
[...] 文章来源：http://vandelaydesign.com/blog/galleries/colorful-websites/ 摘要翻译：envong 蓝色 在网站设计中，最常见，最具挑战性的便是如何建立一个有效的色彩搭配。下面展示的25个网站，我认为在这方面做了很多，用丰富的色彩创建了一个富有吸引力的外观。 [...]
May 12th, 2008
very very nice sites and designs,I will try to make lol.thx for topic:)
May 12th, 2008
[...] few months ago I posted a collection of beautifully colorful websites, and I wanted to follow up with 25 more sites that provide excellent inspiration when working with [...]
May 12th, 2008
A new post has just been published that adds 25 more colorful websites. You can see it here: 25 Beautifully Colorful Websites - Part 2
May 13th, 2008
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May 14th, 2008
[...] 25 Beautifully Colorful Websites Part 1 25 Beautifully Colorful Websites Part 2 Now More Than Ever: 50 More Excellent Blog Designs The Top 10 Very Best Dark Portfolio Sites! 25 Beautifully Dark Website Designs [...]
May 14th, 2008
[...] Colorful Websites No comments [...]
May 18th, 2008
Really cool list of websites. Thanks a lot for sharing.
I am really very impressed with the quality and creativity involved behind these great sites.
They have inspired me to design sites like above.
Cheers !
May 26th, 2008
Nice collection,pretty cool designs..
May 28th, 2008
Good list of colorful and inspiring designs.
thanks
June 28th, 2008
Nice collection,pretty cool designs..
July 10th, 2008
gold
July 14th, 2008
[...] 25 Beautifully Colorful Websites [...]
July 19th, 2008
very nice sites thanks
August 8th, 2008
[...] 60+ Unusual WP Blog Designs 25 Beautifully Colorful Websites [...]
August 26th, 2008
Wow, thank you, very nice sites =)
i had already know some of them, but not the El Teroso´s site…good one, love the layout.
September 3rd, 2008
[...] 25 Beautifully Colorful Websites Emotions web page design [...]
September 5th, 2008
nice post!Wow..what a colour..thanks
September 20th, 2008
[...] site tasarımları (örnek1, örnek 2) yerine minimalist tasarım anlayışına birçok tasarımcı da rastlıyoruz. bu tarz [...]
September 24th, 2008
[...] 25 Beautifully Colorful Websites [...]
September 30th, 2008
Man I would like to learn how to make website!
October 1st, 2008
[...] 25 Beautifully Colorful Websites [...]
October 2nd, 2008
Very nice. I love the subtle gradient style.
October 5th, 2008
I agree, a color scheme can make or break a website or blog.
Nice post.
October 5th, 2008
I love the inspireology one, the header is so cool!
October 14th, 2008
[...] websites are always a good source of design inspiration (See 25 Beautifully Colorful Websites, and 25 Beautifully Colorful Websites - Part 2). These 25 showcase designs make excellent use of [...]
October 17th, 2008
I agree with Andy, the http://www.logicweb.com one is also nice, should be added to the list.
October 30th, 2008
Good list of colorful and inspiring designs. Few I am already familiar with but most are new. Thanks!
Question – when you create such post with screen shots from other web sites, do you need to get permission from the web site owner? (from legal perspective). I want to create blog articles with other sites pictures and was not sure if I should ask for permission first.
October 30th, 2008
Sondakika,
No, I don’t ask for permission before featuring another website. And I don’t know of other bloggers that do. I think if you’re linking back to the site and clearly giving them credit for their work you should be fine. I’ve gotten hundreds of comments from people who are happy and excited to be featured and never one comment from someone who was bothered by it. If anyone ever asked me to I would remove their site, but most people are happy for the exposure and traffic.
November 5th, 2008
Dadan is my favorite. I think when you build a website something that stands out like Dadan is important. The uniqueness of just the simple tree, bright blue background and green grass really add character. I think it inspired me almost.
November 6th, 2008
this post is always on top!!!
November 21st, 2008
i like the “emotions” design… its great!
December 1st, 2008
[...] needs to be made. When it comes to color schemes, there are all kinds of possibilities. Some use a bright, colorful scheme to create an attractive website. The sites that are featured in this post are using a simple [...]
December 5th, 2008
I think that Web Designer Wall is the greatest!!!
December 17th, 2008
[...] tomar. Cuando se trata de esquemas de color, hay todo tipo de posibilidades. Algunos utilizan un brillante y colorido esquema de color para crear un sitio web [...]
December 24th, 2008
[...] 25 Beautifully Colorful Websites [...]
December 24th, 2008
[...] 25 Beautifully Colorful Websites [...]
January 3rd, 2009
[...] 50 Beautifully Dark Web Designs 25 Beautifully Dark Website Designs 30 Beautifully Blue Web Designs 25 Beautifully Colorful Web Designs 20 Websites with Unique Layouts 25 of the Best Photographer Portfolio Websites The Best Designs [...]
January 16th, 2009
[...] 25 Beautifully Colorful Websites | Vandelay Design Blog. [...]
January 19th, 2009
some great samples of clean and colourful web sites but some are rather empty and seem a tad poor when it comes to usability. But overall great for inspiration when it comes to Web Design.
January 22nd, 2009
You have inspired me. My partner was saying how dull our site looked and now I totally agree. Thaks for the inspiration.
January 24th, 2009
Love the Dadan website (first position) simplicity and large colour breaks. Wonderful work.
February 23rd, 2009
[...] 25 Beautifully Colorful Websites [...]
February 23rd, 2009
[...] 25 Beautifully Colorful Websites [...]
March 12th, 2009
Yea this all work is really color. all blog you posted are quite impressive. That is what make difference between work done and perfect work done
March 17th, 2009
awesome collection..I just loved them all…waiting for the 4th version
March 19th, 2009
[...] 25 Beautifully Colorful Websites [...]
March 28th, 2009
[...] 25 Beautifully Colorful Websites [...]
April 2nd, 2009
[...] websites are always a good source of design inspiration (See 25 Beautifully Colorful Websites, and 25 Beautifully Colorful Websites - Part 2). These 25 showcase designs make excellent use of [...]
April 8th, 2009
every color has a meaning so in designing,you must consider your colors before applying.
April 13th, 2009
Fantastic..I love this post..there are some ideas really nice..
May 7th, 2009
Great post. The website design from Emotions is brilliant.
May 29th, 2009
thanks alot for the designs, really apreciate it, great blog keep it up!
June 3rd, 2009
Inspiring list!
June 14th, 2009
thanks alot for the designs, really apreciate it, great blog keep it up!
June 15th, 2009
A great inspiration of colorful websites that worth to research on. Thanks for the round up.