TOPICS:

1. Lecture on Cultural Color Symbolism: You could dedicate a lecture to exploring how various cultures interpret and use color. For example, white may symbolize purity in Western cultures, but in some Eastern cultures, it can be associated with mourning or death. Red can represent luck and prosperity in China, while in some parts of the Middle East, it may signify danger or warning. You could highlight specific colors and their meanings in different regions and historical contexts.

2. Assignment on Cross-Cultural Color Design: One potential project could involve students designing a product, fashion item, or interior space that incorporates colors meaningful to a specific culture. Students would research the color symbolism and then justify their choices based on the cultural context. This could challenge them to think critically about how color can influence mood, perception, and cultural identity.

3. Case Studies: Use case studies to show how companies or designers have successfully or unsuccessfully used color across different cultural contexts. For example, a global brand might change its color scheme for different markets based on cultural significance or color associations. This could prompt interesting discussions about cultural awareness in design.

4. Guest Speakers or Resources: If you have access to any guest speakers from different cultural backgrounds or design fields, it could be great to invite them for a talk on how they approach color in their design practice. Alternatively, you could assign readings or videos that delve into the cultural significance of color.

5. Interactive Assignments with Cultural Context: Another idea could be for students to explore a color palette based on a specific cultural context, like creating a logo or ad campaign using colors that align with the values of a particular culture. Students could then present their designs, explaining their color choices through the lens of cultural understanding.

For other projects that could engage a range of design fields, here are a few ideas:

1. Fashion design with color themes: Students could design an outfit (or collection) based on a color theme that they feel represents a specific emotion or season. For example, a collection based on "dissonance" could involve colors that clash to create tension, with justification for how the dissonant palette reflects the theme.

2. Interior design color boards: Ask students to design a color palette for a specific room or space, but with a twist: they must incorporate dissonant color pairings. The catch is to design it in a way that’s still harmonious in terms of overall balance and atmosphere, forcing them to creatively manage dissonance.

3. Packaging design: Have students design a package for a product (like a beverage or luxury item) that uses an unconventional or unexpected color palette. They could focus on how color can evoke certain feelings about a product, especially using tension or contrast.

4. Game or virtual environment design: This could tie into your mural idea—students could design a digital landscape or environment, but using colors to create either a harmonious or dissonant mood. It would engage game artists and designers while still allowing for a strong color theory application.

5. Public space design: Students could design a public art installation or a park concept, with an emphasis on how the color choices interact with both the natural environment and the people who will experience it.

These projects could span different mediums but still offer students the opportunity to explore the color concepts you’re teaching.

NOTES

I'm trying to think of a way that I would satisfy every major. We could have a project towards the end that was a large mural, and that way it would engage interior designers and people interested in architects. It would engage graphic designers. It might engage game artists in terms of designing an environment. And I'm not sure whether we would start with a file in Photoshop that would represent the mural

A large mural project would require students to think about color in a large, spatial context. The Photoshop file could be representing the mural's overall structure, but we might also want to provide different templates depending on the students' focus. For instance, interior designers could focus on how color affects mood in a physical space, graphic designers might look at composition and branding, and game artists could explore how color impacts the player's experience in a virtual environment.

Perhaps we could break it into phases: the first phase could focus on color palette creation, the second on applying those colors to the composition, and the final phase could be about refining the design. This approach would let each group bring their own expertise into play, but still make sure the principles of color theory are consistently applied.

I'd like to add an actual street or building that was generated in mid-journey or AI-generated that would have a blank wall where the student could take their own original version of the assignment and apply it to that

Using an AI-generated street or building with a blank wall would give students the opportunity to visualize their designs in a real-world context. It would add a layer of realism and practical application, especially for those in fields like interior design, architecture, and even game design. This could guide them through adapting their work to fit the environment, considering elements like scale, perspective, and how the colors interact with the surroundings.

NOTES

There are definitely valid reasons why color theory is often taught as a separate course, but it can easily be integrated with 2D design fundamentals. Let’s break this down a bit:

1. Depth of Focus: Color theory, as a standalone course, allows for a deep dive into the psychological, cultural, and emotional aspects of color, as well as its practical applications. When taught separately, it gives students more time to focus on mastering color relationships, which can be complex. But as you mentioned, this doesn't mean it has to be its own class—especially for students who are already involved in practical design fields, like graphic design, fashion, and interior design.

2. Historical Context: Color theory often comes with a historical context (e.g., the development of color wheels, understanding pigments, etc.), which can be important, but not necessarily essential for all students. If you're already covering foundational design principles, combining color with composition makes a lot of sense and can be more efficient.

3. Practical Integration: When color is taught alongside composition, students can immediately see how their color choices affect the overall design—how they interact with shapes, balance, and visual hierarchy. This kind of integrated learning reinforces the real-world application of both concepts. As you said, teaching color through composition allows students to understand color as a tool within a larger visual language, which is often how they’ll use it in their careers.

Incorporating color into composition allows you to tackle multiple design principles at once, and it can be more engaging for students to see immediate, hands-on results. This integrated approach could be particularly beneficial for fields like interior design, graphic design, and fashion, where color and composition are constantly intertwined.