Colors?

[Neo]

I love to code things in css. I also love to use photoshop to create graphics to eventually code them using css and turn them into a nifty layout or style or whole new website.

However, I have the damnedest time with colors. More specifically color schemes.

Don't get me wrong, I know of places like http://kuler.adobe.com/ which are awesome, but it's when I get down to #ddd type coding that I totally screw up and colors look strange to me.

I'm trying to code a new layout for Kupatrix, but I'm having trouble. Partly because I like the current design, and partly because when I go to try to do light designs, I just get screwed up.

Which is stupid, because I can work on sites that are light to begin with just fine.

I just was wondering if anyone else around here does anything similar? Or if anyone has any good resources on colors -- or choosing colors and such.

And I know, not exactly a creative concepts topic, but it's not exactly a ML topic either ><!

On top of this, I don't really like to start layouts in photoshop... rather I prefer to rely on css for the majority of the design, and only boot photoshop up for any graphics I need (headers, buttons, corners, etc...)

-Neo

[GrassDragon]

If you're having problems choosing colors, you might try booting up PS and just making big dots with a lot of colors and eliminating a bunch until you find some you like. I normally make big overlapping circles with different colors to see how they look next to each other. And if things look weird at the end, you can always just do a find/replace at the end to change out a new color.

This idea of color schemes is more the artsy side to design :P

[T-Dawg]

Easiest way to choose colors is pick a background neutral color: in this case grey or white.
Then pick colors you like, usually one over from each other on the color wheel. (Ie blue and green; red and orange). From there use tints of those colors.

For instance take a mostly white background and add in a blue, light blue, and a green.
Or Purple, Light purple, and Red.

Sorry if this sounds muddled Neo, its the best I can explain it without pictures and diagrams.

[Neo]

I know what your getting at, but sometimes I'll do something similar -- and then stare at say a purple, or deep purple/blue and think "that looks wierd" or "that's not dark enough (or light enough)" and end up butchering the color choices.

That and I'm not the biggest fan of white backgrounds. Though neither can I choose a good grey background (I think they either look to much like the default background from back during the early internet days) to dark, or so light that I should just use white.

I dunno. bleh.

Besides I'm not the biggest fan of "let's make sites look like books!" =/ But I really want to switch my own site over to a good light color scheme... Heh. I suppose we'll see. I did do a few mock ups for basic layouts that I might draw upon

-Neo