Sharing KNOWLEDGE + EXPERIENCE about COLOR

  • Research 
  • Design/Arts 
  • Industry
  • Education

The Color Council (ISCC) is the principal interdisciplinary society in the United States dedicated to advancing color research and best practices in industry, design/arts and education.

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Rochester Institute of Technology

June 16-18, 2025

Deadline for Proposals:
December 15, 2024

ISCC is soliciting presentation, poster, and short course proposals from color practitioners, researchers, students, and professionals on the topic of Color as Communication. Our theme probably includes some aspect of what you already do with color! Come share it with us, and learn about what others are doing as well.

Presentations may be technical or non-technical, papers are not required and 
proceedings will not be published.
Find out more HERE.


Upcoming Events

    • 21 Nov 2024
    • 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
    • virtual
    • 27
    Register

    Colorful Connections is an opportunity to gather informally with other members of ISCC for a little socializing, networking and learning from each other. Discussions are wide-ranging and depend on attendees, their current interests and past experience. Consider this the online version of coffee breaks and happy hours at a color conference. BYO coffee or beverage and join in the conversation! 

    Note that this is Members Only event. Not a member, no problem - Join here!

    • 03 Dec 2024
    • 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
    • virtual
    Register

    "Chasing Colors: Evolutionary Insights into Why We See Red (and Everything Else)"

    Julia Hartling, Ph.D.

    Abstract

    Why do humans have color vision? The absence of color perception does not seem to impact our comprehension of the world - we don't need it to see motion, recognize faces, distinguish depth, and we enjoy watching black and white movies. Yet color vision and its associated vast neural circuitry has been maintained in humans and many other animals. There are two main hypotheses as to why our ancestors evolved trichromatic color vision. One theory is that it boosted our ability to find ripened food, and the other is that color vision enhanced our discrimination of emotional states, improving our ability to choose mates. Either way, here we are, animals with trichromatic color vision, maybe even moving into tetrachromacy. Most of us see hundreds of colors, but why do we each have our own preferences? There is a theory that favoring an object of a certain color translates into a general preference for that color, e.g. if you like red apples, you will like the color red. Colors carry complex meanings, can streamline our ability to make complex decisions, and therefore are adopted by virtually all human cultures to be powerful societal symbols. To what extent are color preferences universal or individual, and how do they vary with age, sex, and culture? We shall explore these questions and more as we consider our relationship to color.

     

    Bio

     

    Julia Hartling was born in the Soviet Union, and came to the USA in 1994. She has a Ph.D. In Evolutionary Biology from Yale University. For her dissertation she studied the evolution of protein structures and sequences. Julia is also an artist and published illustrator, and she has participated in many personal and group exhibitions, as well as producing various illustrations by commission.

     


 NEWS!

Deadlines for our new Student Support Grant are May 15 and October 15, 2024! This grant is designed to assist undergraduate and graduate students with activities pertaining to colorDetails and application forms here.


Grow your color knowledge

Learn and connect with color professionals through our events, resources, and programs!


The Colour Literacy Project is an educational initiative to strengthen the bridge between art and science in 21st century colour education.

This project provides foundational, state-of-the-art resource within a STEAM framework. Teaching guides available for free download.

VISIT COLORLITERACY.ORG


Join students from all disciplines and network with color professionals. Discover state-of-the-art information about color in our lives and applications in the world. New episode every month. One-hour presentation on topics such as branding, architecture, paint, and more.

MORE ABOUT FLUORESCENT FRIDAYS


Consider this the online version of coffee breaks and happy hours at a color conference. BYO coffee or beverage and join in the conversation!

Socialize, network, and learn! Discussions are wide-ranging and depend on attendees, their current interests and past experience.

REGISTER FOR THE NEXT ONE


A deeper dive into a range of topics related to color. 

BOLD: Color from Test Tube to Textile

Presented by Dr Elisabeth Berry Drago, Director of Visitor Engagement at the Science History Institute. Recorded January 23, 2024.


We are sharing this webinar to non-members for free. Visit this link and enter your name and email address. 


A Look Inside Our Quarterly:

Join the Color Council to receive the entire publication!


Diffusion Material for Luminous Mosaic Images

In this editorial, Richard Travis presents a follow-up to his 2021 pair of articles about color education and additive color mixing, which also serves to remind us all to have a look at both of his preceding works.

Read more>>


Blue Morphos Have a Cool Color

I first encountered the blue morpho in Kai Kupferschmidt’s book, Blue: In Search of Nature’s Rarest Color, which I reviewed in Issue 504 of ISCC News. There I learned about a tricky problem that the butterfly appears to have solved through natural selection. Interference patterns can lead to brilliant structural colors, but the color you see generally depends on the angles of illumination and viewing.

Read more>>

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