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Foundations of Color

with Mary Jane Begin

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Introduction

5m 20s
1. Welcome
  
  1m 10s
2. Traditional media to digital: The long and winding road of color
  
  3m 48s
3. Exercise files
  
  22s
1. How Color Shapes Meaning

14m 40s
1. Introduction: How color shapes meaning
  
  2m 23s
2. Universal, cultural, and personal symbols of color
  
  2m 52s
3. Concepts made clear
  
  4m 1s
4. Brand identity and language
  
  2m 53s
5. Sequence and pattern
  
  2m 31s
2. The Color Wheel

14m 18s
1. What is the color wheel?
  
  2m 20s
2. Primary colors, primary concerns
  
  3m 59s
3. Playing with complementary colors
  
  3m 40s
4. Tertiary colors: The basics of brown and gray
  
  4m 19s
3. The Elements of Color

17m 20s
1. An overview of elements
  
  2m 48s
2. Value is not a moral judgment
  
  2m 26s
3. Saturation to neutralization
  
  3m 22s
4. Temperature: How hot is hot?
  
  3m 12s
5. Textures, marks, dashes, and dots
  
  2m 59s
6. Seeing through color: Opaque, translucent, and transparent
  
  2m 33s
4. Contrast

12m 25s
1. What is contrast?
  
  3m 10s
2. Creating focus: Living on the edge
  
  1m 15s
3. Creating the readable image
  
  4m 6s
4. Connecting contrast with content
  
  3m 54s
5. Color and Light

17m 29s
1. Illuminating light
  
  1m 54s
2. The effect of contrast in light
  
  1m 53s
3. Value and saturation
  
  2m 27s
4. On temperature
  
  2m 58s
5. On complements
  
  2m 10s
6. Secondary and reflected light
  
  3m 5s
7. RGB vs. CMYK
  
  3m 2s
6. Palettes

14m 24s
1. An introduction to palettes
  
  2m 15s
2. Limited palettes: A harmonious color palette
  
  2m 35s
3. Harmony and discord
  
  2m 33s
4. Unifying color grounds
  
  2m 40s
5. Unifying glazes and layers
  
  2m 13s
6. Charting a color family
  
  2m 8s
7. Color Shape, Texture, and Context

20m 25s
1. Balance of shapes: How much is too much?
  
  3m 36s
2. Weaving textural color
  
  2m 50s
3. Color in context
  
  2m 31s
4. Color blindness
  
  3m 15s
5. Challenge: Deconstructing color
  
  1m 28s
6. Solution: Demo of deconstructing color
  
  6m 45s
Next Steps

1m 3s
1. Conclusion
  
  1m 3s

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Foundations of Color

Video duration: 0s 1h 57m Beginner Aug 20, 2013

Color is a fundamental element of our lives. Understanding how to use it for visual communication in a variety of contexts is essential for designers and artists. This course is about learning how to use color, not only to create more effective designs, but also to tell a story. Illustrator, professor, and author Mary Jane Begin explains how color intertwines with brand identity, how it affects the mood of a piece and directs the viewer's attention to areas of interest, and how it can connect images or create space between elements. She removes the mystery surrounding the color wheel and color relationships; shows how to layer, mix, and digitally alter color; and use light to integrate temperature, translucency, and contrast.

These lessons are applicable to a number of fields, including graphic design, photography, and illustration, and both traditional and digital media. Dive in and get a fresh look at color that is sure to revitalize your creativity and your work.

Topics include:

Understanding why color is essential for you as an artist, designer, or human being
Storytelling with color
Understanding brand identity and color language
Reviewing the history of color usage, from print to digital
Working with the color wheel
Understanding value, saturation, and temperature
Seeing through color: opaque, translucent, and transparent
Creating contrast
Exploring depth of field
Seeing complementary relationships in light
Achieving harmony and discord in a palette
Understanding color blindness

Subject:: Design
Author:: Mary Jane Begin

Welcome

(MUSIC). Can you imagine, if you suddenly saw your world without color? Unthinkable. Color lives and breathes all around us. It is a part of our every waking moment. We exist in a world of color. As artists, translating what we see from the three dimensional to the two dimensional world can be the greatest challenge. I love using color, and talking about how it can be used most effectively. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned professional, I want to share what I've discovered with you to empower your work and enhance your own color intuition.

We'll explore both digital and traditional media using examples of graphic design. Painting, photography, and illustration. I'll uncover the basic elements of color, to the methods of mixing, layering, and charting color. We'll compare pigments to pixels, and explore how light can be used dramatically, with temperature, value, and contrast. So, let's toss fear out the window and dive into color with eyes wide open. I can't wait to be your guide.

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