Chapter 2 in Beautiful Web Design was all about Color. It’s interesting now to see the different color combinations, tertiary colors, etc. And to learn which color combinations work well when.
Web Style Guide looks plain, with its black text on white background and blue hyperlinks, but it makes it easier to see. The site has a large column on the left, and narrow column on the right. One problem I see is under the menu on the right, there are advertisements that have nothing to do with the site (one of the limitations of using a server?) The menu stands out, because it uses a blue tint for background.
Universal Usability has a bar on top in either a purple tint or blue shade with a yellow logo. This bar appears on every other page within the site (a frame?). A desaturated version of this color is used as the border for a desaturated yellow background. The mix of these particular yellows and purples make the site look inviting, even if I don’t understand the content.
JJG.net has cool icons. The shade of blue used for links is a bit bright, and might put some people off – at first. That color on the black bar on top of each page looks good, though – bright blue on black gives it a hip techy feel. And it stands out on the white background.
Smashing Magazine: 50 Blog Designs uses variations of orange and grey in its color scheme. Other colors belong to sample blog pages/templates posted on the site. The number of links on the right seem overwhelming when I first glance at them, but on further scrutiny, I realize there are links that will be beneficial to me. Above each blog photo are no more than 3 sentences telling what’s good about the blog and a link to the actual blog page.