Website icons are small illustrated symbols that are easy to recognise. A telephone symbol for example, is a popular website icon used instead of the phrase “Call us”. Using icons in this way can help to add more visual content to your website, and can be very useful for text heavy websites. Being visual, they are also more likely to draw attention to the different parts of your website too. Choosing the right colour for these icons is very important, and one of the emerging design trends is to use a colour gradient to add colour to these icons. But is this effective? And what should you consider when using colour gradients for website icons? Well, here at Pumpkin Web Design Manchester, we build websites specifically tailored to the requirements of companies and businesses across Manchester and the North West, including Blackburn and Chorley. We provide the perfect web design solutions for clients in all areas of business and industry. As a result, we have produced this guide to everything you should know about icon colour gradients.
Different ways to use colour gradients for website icons
There are a number of different ways to use colour gradients in web design, such as for background colours and design, or for the typography. But this can also be used for website icons too, and it can be very effective. You could consider:
- Using a mono-gradient- a mono-gradient uses one colour, fading out to white. This can be effective for small icons where there is not much space to move between the colour gradients. Simply choose a colour that suits your web design and company branding for the best results.
- Using a dual gradient- a dual gradient involves fading one colour into another. For example blue into green or red into orange. This can be a interesting way to combine two colours in a small website icon.
- Full colour gradients- a full rainbow effect colour gradient should probably be reserved for brands aimed at children, or a younger audience. This can be fun and quirky, but it probably would not be suitable for the majority of company personas, or target audiences.
What are the advantages of using colour gradients for website icons?
So, why should you choose this colour option for your website gradients? Well, there are a number of reasons, including:
- Drawing attention- a brightly coloured website icon will always get more attention than a simple black or outline icon. So if you need your website users to notice the icon for any reason, a colour gradient could be a good choice.
- Adding colour- for websites with a single colour design, or a simple white or dark grey background, a colourful icon with a visually effective colour gradient can add colour and personality to an otherwise blank canvas.
- Promoting company branding- using a colour gradient from one of the main company colours, or even combining two of them, for your website icons, can be a subtle and effective way to increase the company branding on your website. This can help to tie the website to the company branding more effectively.
For more information or advice about website colour schemes and trends, as well as icon design, get in touch with the experts today, here at Pumpkin Web Design Manchester.