Here’s a quick tip on color usage in web design from issue 42 of Before&After Magazine.
Help your viewer stay oriented as they drill deeper into your site by using tints of the menu color to convey successive levels; the lighter the tint, the deeper you are. A scale of tints makes it obvious at a glance that you’re moving deeper into the site. Dark base colors—any regular color with a lot of black—are the most versatile. Unless you’re selling Barbies, avoid bright red, which when tinted turns pink.
CreativePro members can download original content from Before&After Magazine, a beloved resource that taught a generation of newly minted digital designers how to design and communicate effectively with the written word. See our archive here.
© John McWade/Before&After Magazine, courtesy of Gaye Anne McWade.
This article was last modified on January 3, 2026
This article was first published on April 4, 2025
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