Brighten Up Your eLearning with Some Color
Ever created an eLearning with a white background and black text? Probably. Most eLearnings look like this. For good reason, as black on white is safe and works well, meaning it is highly readable. But by adding some color, you can give your eLearning that extra touch and ensure the material sticks better with the participant.
It all depends on how you use color. With color, you can attract attention, enhance readability, or appeal to participants’ emotions. However, too many colors, colors that don’t match, or colors that reduce readability can cause eye strain and detract from your eLearning.
Which colors to choose? That depends on the emotions and associations you want to evoke. Warm colors, such as red, yellow, and orange, stimulate the brain and often evoke positive emotions in people. When you think of yellow, you probably quickly think of the sun and cheerfulness. And with red, passion and love. Colors like red and yellow are mainly used to attract attention or emphasize points (think of the yellow highlighter!). Orange is inviting and exciting and can be used, for example, to encourage the participant to click a button.
Cool colors, such as blue and green, are mainly calming. Do you need to explain complex material? Then use a color that is calming and stimulating, like blue. Green gives a sense of safety, calm, and nature, making it suitable for ‘green’ topics. Don’t forget that colors can have different associations in other cultures.
To prevent your eLearning from becoming one big coloring book, here are some guidelines:
– Use no more than three colors; two main colors and one accent color.
– For the accent color, it’s best to use warm colors.
– Ensure the colors match well. You can use a color wheel to see which colors, for example, form a good contrast or are in harmony.
– Be consistent in your use of colors.
– Test readability. Not all color combinations are suitable.
So, use color wisely based on the tips above to increase the effectiveness of your eLearning.
Happy coloring (but stay within the lines, of course)!