New York University 2 credits Arts Workshops
The course Is Design Color Coded? considers how color operates and is valued within different design disciplines. Why does the color white represent purity and cleanliness in some contexts while connoting death in others? Why does the color red signal danger or emergency in certain situations but represents prosperity and power in others? Why does purple-colored clothing connote high status in societies as distant as Ancient Greece (7th century BCE) and the Tokugawa period in Japan (1603-1868)? During this two-credit arts workshop, students will explore color as a constitutive element of most people’s lived experiences. Analytic exercises and creative projects will structure each course meeting, and it is expected that both historic and contemporary designs will inform the creation of new work. As students develop a critical understanding of how color contributes to our understanding of designed objects, we will also discuss how color affects our perceptions of race, gender, ethnicity, identity, and social status. Student projects will engage a range of different design disciplines including industrial design, fashion design, interior design, graphic design, surface coatings, and digital interfaces. Class meetings will include discussions, presentations of student design work, skills workshops, and field trips. Readings will include David Batchelor, Chromophobia; Mary Douglas, Purity and Danger; Catherine Keyser, Artificial Color: Modern Food and Racial Fictions; Michel Pastoreau, Black: The History of a Color; Sarah Street and Joshua Yumibe, Chromatic Modernity: Color, Cinema, and Media among others. Field trips may include Cooper Hewitt Museum, Museum of Art and Design, Tesla showroom, Kohler showroom, Supreme, Future Perfect and Christie’s. Note: Students should have a good working knowledge of the Adobe Creative Cloud programs Illustrator and Photoshop and the 3D modeling program Rhino before enrolling in this class.
Our subject experts help with essays, research papers, case studies, discussion posts, and capstone projects for these programs — written from scratch to your course requirements.
Program and course information is reproduced from each university's published academic catalog for informational purposes and may change. Always confirm current requirements with your university. We are an independent academic support service and are not affiliated with or endorsed by the universities listed.
Expert guides on essay writing, citation styles, study skills, and academic success.
View All Articles
Learn how to write a good research question for a paper. Narrow your topic, identify a research problem, and create a focused question with practical examples.
Learn how to choose a research topic you can actually research. Discover how to narrow broad ideas, find reliable sources, and develop a focused research question.
Learn how to cite sources in a research paper using APA, MLA, and Chicago styles, with in-text citation examples and reference-list tips.