EQUTE — Web site designers have gradually turned away from the old inoffensive dull web sites to more and more colorful designs.

Whether this is a product of the widespread use of LCD screens — with their softer light — or a collective groan at the same old same old is up for speculation. But will these bright — sometimes garish — colors work for your site?

Whether the site is designed for readers or shoppers, the key goal remains the same: keeping users engaged and at the site. Bright colors can be a great way to grab attention, and wild movement or an interactive interface can keep your users entertained and active.

There are some things to think about before you go into a site redesign, namely, will your users be turned off by the colors and movement?

Take Helveticons.ch for example, will your users be able to stand these colors? This works because it’s mostly about the icons. Reading text on these colors would likely be difficult, so if you’re a blogger or news writer, this type of design would probably not be in your pallet.

For more of a content-driven site, these bright colors and extreme movement can really help draw readers into your writing. Take IFancyASnog.com, for example, splashes the homepage with a giant rotating quote box.

It works like a big flashing sign, it could be a great spot to use a headline rotator for a blog. Or a quote like this site uses. Incorporating social media here could work too. Posting the latest comment to your Twitter account or your last Facebook wall posting could draw readers into your social network right on the homepage.

Then there is the blanket color approach, take FinelySliced.com.au for an example.

It’s not too bright, readers can still read the text without much problem — though extended reading could be a pain. This site works wonderfully as a personal or professional contact site or, as this designer did, portfolio. The color is loud, but it creates a good background for images.

As far as interactivity goes, everyone has seen the wild flash sites that draw the user into a puzzle before they get anywhere. While engaging, it’s hard to make it work for most sites that are trying to sell a product or deliver content. It’s best not to stand between a buyer and their product or a reader and their content, but interactivity can still be useful if it’s done right.

EthnoPort.pl does a great job with their flash interface. It’s engaging and fun, but very intuitive — there is no searching for the next flash button, even though it’s set up in an interesting overlapping circular system. This probably wouldn’t be the ideal site to host a blog or a high-volume sales site. It could work to show off products in a very artistic way. A designer wallet maker could use it, for example, to show of their work and direct users to the product page. But anyone selling more utilitarian goods should keep it straight forward. This could be ideal for a restaurant or event too, it’s an easy format to show off pictures that don’t need perfect framing — a portfolio might looked squished or claustrophobic when forced into a round hole.

While these sites are fun to look at and glean inspiration from, nobody should jump into a site redesign or new web trend without really thinking about it. Trends will pass and the same old same old might still be the best option.