Tutorial #26

Dynamics of Color

Ati Gropius Johansen, designer and illustrator
Hal Shubin, Interaction Design

Monday, April 15, full-day

Benefits

You will learn how colors interact, how to create diverse visual effects with colors, and how to use color effectively at the user interface.

Origins

This tutorial is offered at CHI 96 because of enthusiastic recommendations from HCI professionals who have taken it at museums and software companies. They say it changes the way they view their UI design work and the way they view the everyday world.

Features

based on the teaching of Joseph Albers and the method of the Bauhaus foundation courses
participants create collage studies to learn about color concepts
topics include transparency, light intensity, color mixtures, advancing and receding colors, creation of space and depth, and color relationships
effective use of color dynamics in user interface design

Audience

User interface designers. No previous study of color or art is required.

Presentation

Hands-on exercises, performed individually and in small groups. Demonstrations of color use in user interfaces. Participants take home their collage studies instead of tutorial notes.

Instructors

Ati Gropius Johansen is a designer, book illustrator, and teacher. She is the daughter of Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius. Ati has offered courses at the DeCordova Museum Art School, Boston University, Worcester Art Museum, and Sun Microsystems, among other places. Hal Shubin is the principal of Interaction Design, a user interface design company in Belmont, Massachusetts, USA. His background includes almost twenty years of implementing and designing software systems, and he has studied with Ati.