What should the 3rd Website's Colors be?

[WILL]

As I work away to get the new site software ready, I had some though about what kind of colors I would eventually use for the theme. We obviously can't just stick with the default colors, much like we can't just stick with the default logo. So...

What should the new color scheme be? Give me some ideas in this form:

Primary: Blue
Secondary: Gold
Tertiary: Black

This is just an example, give me your ideas what you would like. You can even give me HTML colors too.

[chronozphere]

There are a lot of cool color schemes. I don't have any specific preference. As long as the colors are not too bright (easy on the eyes). One good example would be a combo of orange/brown/black. I think the current blue/gray/white scheme is not that bad either.

It'd like to see some solid suggestions, as I think there are many viable options.

[dazappa]

Yes I like the current color scheme -- nice and easy on the eyes. I'd like for the theme to be similar to the current.

[paul_nicholls]

I also like the current scheme with the light blues/greys?

Not garish or loud, and is easy on the eyes

cheers,
Paul

[WILL]

Hmm... I was under the understanding that many were not overly crazy about the color scheme other than they liked the blue and white background. I must admit, I am fond of the blue for a couple of reasons. 1) It's a calm, cool colour and has the effect of relaxing the eyes/brain as you view the site. 2) It's been a part of the last 2 websites (PGD 1.0 and this one based on SMF) and well it has roots in the old Visual Studio IDE from Turbo Pascal.

As for the white... I don't know. If I used Black it would seem more like a gamer site and maybe more indie developer-eske. But for the White, it would have a more corporate/commercial feed to it.

Either way, I will for sure be adding more color to the site as I have a sense that it's lost a bit of character in the color department, default theme alone I mean. I'm not using a custom theme myself so that I see the site as most others do from the start.

I'm not crazy about adding all kinds of different color schemes and themes to the site this time around as it tends to make larger maintenance tasks a bit troublesome. Also I like the idea that everyone has the same feel and sense about the site, adding different color schemes and themes takes away from this and should the vBulletin software be upgraded enough that new themes need to be created, I'd rather only have to modify a single theme rather than a whole bunch.

I was originally thinking of having...

Pri: Blue (Most Prominent)
Sec: Yellow/Gold (Details)
Ter: White or Black (Background)

Sort of a throwback to the original site. Save for the big green tank on top.

What do you guys think? Still give me your color schemes, I'm curious so to what you guys would actually like.

[chronozphere]

Pri: Blue (Most Prominent)
Sec: Yellow/Gold (Details)
Ter: White or Black (Background)

Would be good.

I don't think there's anything wrong with the colors of the current site. It's just that the site doesn't look that neat. It needs a better design. Tweaking the colors could improve it though.

[dazappa]

I just mostly hate dark themes, they tend to scream unprofessional. At the same time if it's a well designed theme, having a dark background won't be a bad thing because the designer is intelligent enough to make the entire theme complimentary and not blinding.

Anyway, what I'd say is just set whatever theme you want to be the default (if you can find one you like) but allow registered users to change the theme to the default at least. I don't particularly like the default, but it'd be much easier on the eyes than something with a black background. Plus, being the official theme, you wouldn't have to support anything extra -> no maintenance cost.

[paul_nicholls]

I find sites that have a dark background (black, or close to black) and light coloured writing hurt my eyes if I look at them for too long, and when I look at other lighter sites later on everything looks darker for a while

cheers,
Paul

[Traveler]

When I choose the current smf themes, there were a lot of mixed opinions. I guess most liked them, while plenty of others didn't. I even think some made accounts just to vent how bad it was.
At first I only had the light theme, the (default) light blue/white one. Some people complained it was too bright, and more difficult to read. So I added a variation on that theme, a darker one, the brownish/blue one. I personally like that last one more, but the light version is nice too. Some however don't seem to like both and go for one of the standard smf themes.

The point is, whatever you're going to choose, there are always going to be people that don't like it. Some will argue that they cant see everything as clearly because they're colorblind while others will just say it's ugly and that you're a terrible designer.

With that said, I think its important to at least have a theme with a light background and one with a dark background. I don't really have a color preference. Your suggestion sounds good, but I would need to see it to be sure.

[paul_nicholls]

Very good points Traveler

An example screenshot or similar would be great

cheers,
Paul