Color for Creatives

What if working with color was easy?

That’d be nice, wouldn’t it?

Well, I wouldn’t call it easy, but I designed this course so that working with color won’t be as difficult as it is right now. And although I am comfortable pairing and working with all the colors of the rainbow, it wasn’t always like that.

In fact, if I scroll back through my Instagram timeline I gradually start to cringe more and more. What was I thinking using those colors together? How come I didn’t add more contrast? And why have I not deleted this yet?

Color has always been this mysterious and unknown skill to me. I’d look at my favorite illustrator’s work and marvel at their palettes. And then, I’d compare that to my work, followed by a long, slow sigh. Not even close.

You see, I went to design school. I took out loans and I paid the exorbitant tuition. And though I left with quite strong technical skills, I lacked some important fundamentals that continued to haunt me throughout my career.

Color was the big one.

I had some design sense and I could draw nice-looking shapes on occasion, but the biggest difference between where my work was and where I wanted it to be was--you guessed it--color. To this day, I still go through rounds and rounds of options trying to decide on what color would work best. It’s a problem, I know.

It took me a long time to realize this, but my color problem was not a technical one—I simply did not understand how to see color. And by see I mean, understand the purpose and context of color.

If you think about it, it’s kind of like typography. When done well, you don’t really notice anything wrong with it. But if not done well, you’re left with a feeling of confusion and discomfort.

So, while on my color-filled, educational journey I began taking notes. Saving bookmarks. Spending too much on books thanks to Amazon Prime. I was on a mission to understand color. And for the record, I still am.

Which brings me to this course, Color For Creatives. They say you should make work that you wish existed and that is entertaining to you. So, that’s what I did. This is the course about color that I wish existed back when I was first learning. It’s a blend of theory, contemporary analysis and hands-on work so you can learn the principles and then practice applying them to your everyday tasks.

Look, color is not easy. It’s a subjective experience for most of us. But it doesn’t have to be impossibly difficult. My goal is to make your color choices less arbitrary and equip you with the confidence and know-how to start making better ones.