but what makes a website appealing - Graphics?, layout content? Colors? all of the above? I presume its layout, because I doubt whether anything else is going to register in that time. It is a combination of all of the above and then some. While the layout is near to the top the colors can be above them. Your eyes will register a poor color choice before you even get to see the layout. The "COLOR PSYCHOLOGY" is something that is studied and reported on yearly by Pantone and the "Color Think Tank" ,yes this group really does exist. They dedicate a lot to just this area of expertise and there is a huge conference every year in Toronto that discusses what will be the colors of the next year. Color is light and light is energy. Scientists have found that actual physiological changes take place in human beings when they are exposed to certain colors. Colors can stimulate, excite, depress, tranquilize, increase appetite and create a feeling of warmth or coolness. This is known as chromodynamics. If you are designing your own site, think about the disadvantage you might be at when you don't even know about this field and someone else does. I know about it and understand a bit but once again Linda would have even greater knowledge on the subject. That is one reason why I charge less than she does for website design. That isn't to say my sites don't look as good or fair as well, but there is a knowledge base that you have to pay for. Now I have only scratched the surface on color, and it is the same with each component used to design a website. The knowledge base employeed in designing sites in always growing and changing. I wouldn't even think of doing a design today like I did even two years ago.

OK - I suspected as much. Peter do you know whether colours stimulate different individuals in different ways e.g When i was a kid I was very much into hard rock - I liked and still do the Progressive bands with a hard edge , but mixed in with all that was the 3 chords dull monotone minor 3rd mob whose album covers, media promotion were etc were always black. It was always a dead giveaway - these guys aren't really that good , anyway that's what it said to me but somebody must have been attracted to it. Then we could talk about he color Pink and all its various conotations for perhaps a year or so. I think I'm losing the thread here....

Hi Mark, If you consider the following which I admit is pretty common knowledge to those that make any study of colors and websites it does become pretty clear on how to proceed. The thing to remeber is that once you start you might find that you will recreate your look and feel as times as there are choices. You can create your website and then always change the color scheme to make it look like a completey new site. So give the following a read and see if it helps any: Web safe palettes Although modern computers are capable of displaying millions of colours on the screen, Web design is limited to only 216 colours. The reason for this is that Mac computers and PCs both use completely different colour palettes. However, they have 216 colours that are common to both. These 216 colours are considered “Web safe". Using the 216 Web safe colours means that your Web site colours will look fairly consistent on different computers Mac or PC, different operating systems Windows or Mac, as well as different browsers Internet Explorer and Firefox, to name two. Tips and Ideas Use a single colour for your website design, but change the intensity of it to create other colours but to keep unity. Try 2 pick 2 colours that are related, but not to similar. Create contrasting colour designs with contrasting colours, like a warm and cool colour mix. Try a colour that is getting close to white, and a dark colour. Use white backgrounds with black text for ease of readability and when in doubt use red to draw the eye to your subject matter. Use caution when using any colours text. You want your content to be readable and easy on the readers eyes. Keep your audience in mind There is no one colour that sells better, but the wrong colours can hurt sales. Limit your colour palette to no more than three colours to reduce visual clutter. Use colours that are appropriate to the theme of your web site. Use colours found in key photos or graphics on your web page for added harmony. Avoid harsh oversaturated colours. De-saturate colours to approximate colours found in nature and textiles. Improving colour picking skills The great fine artists are masters at manipulating the emotions through colour. Many of the principles they employ can be applied to web design. Learn how to choose colours to set the right mood in your web design from colour principles and methods in fine art. You might also want to learn to use a color pallete such as this one. You might at first find the information a bit much but if you take it one step at a time and go back and read everyday you can't help but learn.

Hi Shannon; ======================================== So what you're telling me is, even with the new look, I'm probably sc*#wed? LOL ======================================== LOL. You are funny. Nope, what I'm telling you is that we're going to talk you through building a winner. ;) Linda

Since I am selling skin care, cosmetic and aromatherapy products, I went with a green shade and before you even get to the middle of the page I put my new client and free sample offer. Feedback on that please, sensei..