What is the easiest color to read?

Answer 1

The colour of the text is only half the story- the medium is just as important. The contrast between the writing/typeface/font and the colour of the background is more important than the choice of either colour.

For instance, the norm is to have a black typeface on a white background; this is popular with websites and forums as it emulates black ink/print on paper. However, white on black is at least as readable. The problem with these (especially on a backlit screen) is that the contrast is very high, and the resulting effort to read can cause eye fatigue and head aches in some. At least in book print, the paper is not always such a brilliant white.

Some combinations work better still for ease of readability. It might sound strange, but orange on brown is actually more readable and easier on the eyes; having contrasting shades of similar or complimentary colours reduces contrast without making the text unreadable.

As a side note, using a light colour against a black background will also save energy on OLED displays, and this might be something common to many new types of display system in the near future. Something to keep in mind as more and more people do their reading on electronic devices (though electronic paper devices such as the Kindle or Sony book readers would not benefit from this).

Using black on grey (or grey on black, or grey/dark grey and vice-versa) can achieve the same effect- reducing eye strain by lessening contrast while maintaining readability.

Try a few different combinations in your favourite word processor or art package and see for yourself what works. Try to stay away from using colours with matching luminance; not only does this look awful to the average eye, but certain colours can be very difficult to differentiate for those with colour blindness. Try to remember to maintain a contrast in luminance with complimentary colours for the best results.

Ultimately, what works for you may look horrid to someone else, so see what others think of your choices and adjust accordingly.

You can use the garish nature of clashing colours to great effect in the right circumstances. Lime green and lurid orange can be used for signs that need to really stand out, and is an apparent favourite with party banners. It would not do to attempt to read a long passage of text like this, but it cheerily highlights "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" or "WELCOME HOME", and rather appropriately seems to suit the word "DISCO".