In the process of designing my travel app I wanted to get the right colour scheme to suit the theme that I wanted for my app. I have done some research into colour psychology previously, link here, and now I have researched colour regarding travel that I have included below.

Colour and Travel

From reading articles I have discovered that many travel apps usually use the colours:

• yellow
• blue
• red
• green

These colours are more popular among travel apps because they are relatively brighter and can actually evoke feelings of happiness and gaiety. Within the travel industry companies want to give their customers vivid impressions because that is what people on holiday are seeking, a bright striking colour palette helps with this and attracts the attention of the online audience.

The images below are of a travel app, I have included them as I love the combination of the yellow and blue. This palette in particular isn’t too overwhelming and distracting but it bright enough to grasp the attention of the holiday makers.

Colours attract the attention of users and increase brand recognition, memory and participation. Here are a couple of examples how how colours in apps (regarding travel)  can make you feel and react.

Yellow: yellow is associated with happiness and joy, which is what most customers experience when booking or researching a holiday. it is very cheerful and accessible, it is ideally what you want your audience to feel when thinking of a holiday.

Blue: The most universally liked colour in design by both men and women. Blue has been shown to inspire feelings of trust, making it a favourite among brands as they want to appear trust worthy, this is a vital factor that businesses want to achieve especially in the Travel and Tourism sector.

92.6% of people say the visual dimension is the 1st influencing factor affecting their purchase decision rather than taste, smell,

Vibrancy of colours

Each colour evokes specific moods,  the brighter warm colours such as:

• red
• orange
• yellow

These colours tend to energise a user and make them more alert and excited, while darker colours like:

• green
• blue
• purple

These colours tend to make users feel more relaxed and at peace, giving of a tranquil vibe.

My original colour ideas

I original hoped to have a warm colour scheme, I wanted my app to be eye catching and most of all welcoming, and to invite users in. I thought that a sunset style colour palette would portray this atmosphere so I investigated the idea further. I didn’t want to go for the typical travel app colours like blue, with research on Adobe colour I have included a few colour palettes that I found which I was initially considering and had caught my eye.

Softer

More virbant 

I prefer the softer colours I feel like the palette below will be a tad too strong for the style I want, this could be too distracting for my illustrations. I want to make sure that my illustrations are the focus and that my colour choices compliment my illustration style, and don’t overwhelm the user.

Extended sunset palette

The addition of the the blue colour is nice here and will maybe break up some of the colour within my designs. I think the first palette here has too much blue for me I am very much leaning towards the purple, lilac tones alongside warm orange shades. I like the second shade range the dark purples tie in with the blues nicely.

What have I learned?

This research is definitely something I need to go back to, I have realised that I want a warm colour palette with only a few tones to keep it simple and subtle, as I want my travel app to be warm and welcoming and I also want it to attract my target audience. I am happy that I have an idea of the type of colours that I want to work with for my app and I now know the atmosphere that I want my chosen palette to portray, and I know the direction I want to go in.