SpyreStudios

Web Design and Development Magazine

  • Design
  • Showcase
  • Inspirational
  • Tutorials
  • CSS
  • Resources
  • Tools
  • UX
  • More
    • Mobile
    • Usability
    • HTML5
    • Business
    • Freebies
    • Giveaway
    • About SpyreStudios
    • Advertise On SpyreStudios
    • Get In Touch With Us

Shades of Gray in Web Design Inspiration

October 23, 2015 by Veronika

Shades of Gray in Web Design

A symbolism for dim bluntness, gray has always been considered an inconvenient choice for а prevailing color in web and print design. Gray is a color emerging on the borderline between two highly contrast colors. It’s achromatic entity takes a neutral position among other color palettes being considered as a sign of absence.

Gray is the color with no colour inside on the line amidst the powerful absorbing Black and the sheer and elegant White. In antiquity, grey had become a representation of social status. Being the color of undyed wool, gray has been worn mostly by peasants. In the Renaissance and Baroque era, the color Gray has become an important background color in Grisalle painting and the work of famous artist, such as Rembrandt and El Greco. Being an excellent highlighting color for gold shared and skin tone, as well as a harmonious addition to both black and white, gray has been a prime choice in both art and fashion. In the 20th century, gray grew to become a predominant color in modern architecture.

Today, different shades of gray are used widely in all forms of design, including web, print and textile. Gray’s been used as a prevalent color in minimalism as a symbol for clarity and a highlighter for both saturated and pale color palettes. While print design and photography widely adopt gray shades, the excessive use of gray in user interface design has remained a taboo. Being used with a thing layer of washed out colors in minimalist web design, gray has been accepted as a prime signal for inactivity. Yet, the popularity of minimalist art has started integrating gray shades in a wide array of design branches, being a symbol for stature and purity. It has been a prime color choice for big names like Apple and appears to an audience which favors figurative simplicity ,rather than boldness, in its style choices.

 

Beautiful gray website

ArtAndCode

The interactive use of gray in this design company website provokes visitors to search for color. Rather than aiming to grab attention with illustrious artwork, this website relies on simplicity to positively affect user behavior.

 

Luxury gray website

Adwyse

Widely used as background color for golden shades in Renaissance and Baroque, gray presents the perfect option for predominant color in luxury web design. Being a sign of high social status and wealth, the combination of black, gold and gray is a powerful tool for attracting users who search for affluence rather than mere simplicity.

 

Creative gray website

NoLeath

Used as a symbol for bluntness and poor stature, the gray shades incorporated in the NoLeath website are an interactive tool for capturing user’s attention. The transition between the gray image and the color-rich shoes exposition which makes a strong statement showing the high contrast between the peasant color and the highly saturated shoe designs.

 

Minimalist gray website

NizoApp

The Nizo website perfectly incorporated the use of gray in minimalist design. The gray background, strict arrangement and pale object coloring are a triumph of minimalism built within the borders of modern web design.

 

Security gray website

Smart Business Internet

When it comes to cyber security, the predominant achromatic appearance of the website aims at representing the “gray” area of the web, where insecurity is represented by dark gray shades while creative solutions use yellow as symbol of creativity in problem solving.

 

Gray product background

My Own Bike

One of the most famous examples of the use of gray as product background which speaks of minimalism and style is the My Own Bike wbeiste. The site design wisely adopts gray’s highlighter qualities in presenting a clean product design which attracts the right audience with the website’s elegant simplicity.

 

Vintage gray website

Rigas Geto Muzejus

The website design of the Riga Ghetto Holocaust Museum uses gray as a powerful statement and reminder of the forgotten faces from the holocaust. It is a window into the story of Riga Ghetto which incorporates gray to depict distant memories and tragedy in a beautiful, sensuous and provocative way.

Artisan gray website

White Frontier

The website of the Chech beer White Frontier is an gorgeous example of the use of gray as a highlighting background, which have been creatively intertwined with artisan elements and contrast colors creating a feeling of timeless quality and high-standard craftsmanship.

Filed Under: Inspirational Tagged With: Design, gray, website

Recent Posts

  • 31 Fresh Design Elements for Spring and Easter
  • 10 Templates for Music Concert Flyers
  • How to Build a Web Scraper Using Node.js
  • Best PHP Books, Courses and Tutorials in 2022
  • How to Get Your First Web Design Client

Archives

  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008

Categories

  • Accessibility
  • Android
  • Apps
  • Art
  • Article
  • Blogging
  • Books
  • Bootstrap
  • Business
  • CSS
  • Design
  • Development
  • Ecommerce
  • Fireworks
  • Flash
  • Freebies
  • Freelance
  • General
  • Giveaway
  • Graphic Design
  • HTML5
  • Icons
  • Illustrator
  • InDesign
  • Infographics
  • Inspirational
  • Interview
  • Jobs
  • jQuery
  • Learning
  • Logos
  • Matrix
  • Minimalism
  • Mobile
  • Motion Graphics
  • Music
  • News
  • Photoshop
  • PHP
  • Promoted
  • Rails
  • Resources
  • Showcase
  • Tools
  • Tutorial
  • Twitter
  • Typography
  • Uncategorized
  • Usability
  • UX
  • Wallpapers
  • Wireframing
  • WordPress
  • Work

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

SpyreStudios © 2022