Game Design

Color in game UI design: health bars, maps, HUDs, and the ambient world

Game interfaces require color to perform simultaneously as functional UI and as part of an immersive world. The HUD must be readable at a glance during fast action; the map must communicate spatial hierarchy; the health bar must communicate urgency without becoming alarming. Meanwhile, all of these must coexist with the visual world of the game itself — the ambient colors of the environment, the lighting model, and the art direction. Getting game UI color right means solving functional legibility and artistic coherence at the same time.