The importance of color to web design →

Tommi Kaikkonen explains why so many websites have light-colored backgrounds:

The whole Google network of websites and applications is based primarily on white. They aren’t very exciting or arousing to our senses. But what if they switched the background color to a different one, such as red? My guess is that while the sites might look more exciting, you wouldn’t be as comfortable using them. The color red causes a non-conditional physiological reaction, increasing your heart and respiratory rate. This reaction is something we humans are born with.

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