For an industry such as online gaming, using the right kind of design is paramount to success. Sites like casinos are a ‘shop front’, relying entirely on an online presence. For this reason, they must be wholly tailored to the needs and preferences of the target user. This can be achieved by conducting careful research and market research. Get this wrong, and visitor numbers are likely to be low. There’s also a risk of complete failure as customers flock to competitors who better meet their needs. That’s why sites like gamblingguy.com use customer surveys to find out what customers value most about interactive sites.
Photo, Christine Sandu.
Creating Brand Personality Using Artwork, Colour and Great Design: To attract players, gambling sites need to be appealing and fun to encourage new players and retain existing ones. As part of this, sites need to utilise colour well, have a correct format and an easy layout so users can navigate the site easily, sites may also choose to possibly follow a current trend.
Why Colour and Design Play a Central Role in Site Presence: Choosing the right colour for an online casino site is no easy feat. Especially considering there are 16.8 million colours to choose from. If a brand happens to have a logo already, they can use colours to inform their site’s design. Otherwise, they can use market research information to choose the right one. This is vital, as many colours have strong meanings, set the site’s tone, and have a strong emotional impact on visitors.
The site layout is something else that needs to be considered carefully. For an online casino, the layout should help draw players to essential areas. Sites can try different layouts, testing them on a sample audience using split testing to see which is most popular. An online casino may also want to use a current trend to inform the design of their platform. Now, platforms are becoming more and more realistic, with advanced visual effects, video and 3D VR experiences. There’s also an increase in customisable interfaces where users can change different parts of a site. Like font size, colours and user interface.
How Gaming Sites Show Personality Through Great Design: For casino and gaming sites, portraying the right brand image is essential. After all, this is a reflection of the brand and everything it stands for. Customers often form their first impression from a site’s design. Therefore, aspects like colour, fonts, and imagery need to be carefully chosen and used the right way. Fonts, in particular, need to be easy to read yet clear on the background being used. Audience and age group must also be considered. Generally, younger audiences prefer stylish and fun fonts. While the older generation favour clean and straightforward text because it is easier to read.
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Examples of Different Gambling Sites Webpage Design: If you visit Wink Bingo, you’ll notice that vibrant colours and pop art are used. They give the impression of a bubbly and fun experience. Girly colour schemes and female characters are also used. Considering the primary demographic of the site is women, this design is ideal. It definitely appeals to women that play bingo games online. Rainbow colours are also used within the branding of Wink Bingo, which could potentially represent the LGBTQ+ community who may also like to play a game of online bingo.
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In contrast, if you look at a classic sports betting brand, things are quite different from Wink’s girly design. Because the audience is mostly male, often most betting sites will use dark blue and green colours. The imagery shown on the sites are often male sporting icons, like footballers. The sites are also usually quite busy and complicated, reminiscent of walking into real-life bookies. With data-packed TV screens all around and betting slips aplenty, nothing like the relaxed layout of Wink Bingo.
Things change once again for a site with an equal gender split, such as the UK National Lottery. The theme is bold, yet bright colours are featured which perhaps instil confidence in the players. The site is also quite simplistic. Perhaps somewhat replicating the experience of walking into a newsagent to fill in a ticket, which is an uncomplicated process.
How Gaming Sites use Art and Colour to Appeal to their Target Audience: As already mentioned, different colours provoke different emotions. So, choosing the right one when designing an online casino is essential. In our opinion, shades of blue are a good colour for incorporating into a casino site because research has shown that this colour often conveys trust. Customers trust a site to be secure and look after their money. They also expect a site to offer fair play and excellent service, or simply a great experience.
For casinos which are male dominated, a combination of black and red might be used, as this is perceived as masculine. Contrastingly, a female-oriented site might utilise gold and white. On the other hand, for casinos who wish to attract a younger audience, orange might be a good choice. As this colour is perceived as fun and energetic. Online casinos can also use different types of artwork to appeal to their target audience. For casino sites, this is usually a combination of photography, illustrations and digital graphics.
There are a variety of different themes which an online casino may use. Mythology, fantasy and ancient history are popular, as well as TV, film and science fiction. Many online casinos are themed around Vegas for obvious reasons or sports. Comics and adventure themes are also popular.
Attracting Customers and Achieving Success with Great Design: Using the right design is essential for online gaming sites to attract customers and achieve success. Online casinos should carefully consider things like layout, colour and graphics to appeal to the target audience. Online gaming sites can conduct split testing and market research to ensure they set themselves up for success.
