Connecting across disciplines to share knowledge and experience regarding the SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, and AESTHETICS of color.



Grow your color knowledge and connect with color professionals through our FREE programs!

Follow links in Upcoming Events below to learn more about these opportunities on the color horizon.

NEWS FLASH: We are pleased to announce our new Student Support Grant! This grant is designed to assist undergraduate and graduate students with activities pertaining to color. Details and application forms here.


Upcoming events

    • 19 Mar 2024
    • 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
    • virtual
    Register

    What is Colorful Connections? 

    It's 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!

    March 19, 10am EST
    • 22 Mar 2024
    • 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM
    • virtual
    Register
    International Colour Day

    The Colour Literacy Forum is an international, collaborative effort to align university-level colour education with current design needs in the culture. The goal of the Forum is to connect faculty, students, and administrators with interdisciplinary professionals to provide cutting-edge research, curricula, tools, and resources.

    The Colour Literacy Forum is a virtual gathering featuring presentations and discussions related to updating and expanding colour education in art and design programs at the university level. The forum convenes for three events per year to share information and offer dynamic networking opportunities for participants.

    Register using the button at left. For complete details visit Colour Literacy Project.


    To celebrate International Colour Day, the Colour Literacy Project is kicking off its next Forum series: Colour in Context. In this series, we will explore how the spatial, philosophical, cultural and historical contexts all affect the ways we perceive colours. Part 1 focuses on how the spatial juxtaposition and illumination impact colour perception, and the challenges we face when attempting to reconcile objective reality and subjective perception.

    Speaker Valtteri Arstila will present THE IDENTITY AND AMBIGUITY OF COLOUR FROM A PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVE

    Colours are often thought to be inherent properties of objects, for example,
    defined by how surfaces reflect wavelengths of light. Concurringly, colour
    vision is likened to colorimetry, which suggests that we can perceive colours
    accurately under optimal conditions. However, this position, known as colour
    objectivism, faces significant challenges due to the substantial variations
    in individuals’ colour perceptions and differing observation conditions.
    Consequently, it has been argued that finding a non-arbitrary and sensible
    method to determine the true colour of any given object is difficult, if
    not impossible. This debate underscores the complex interplay between
    objective reality and subjective perception, prompting a reevaluation of
    our understanding of colour. It raises the question of whether the colours
    we perceive directly reflect external reality or whether our minds construct
    them.

    Valtteri Arstila is a Doctor of Philosophy, and Full Professor in theoretical
    philosophy at the University of Turku. His research focus is on the empirically
    informed philosophy of mind. In particular, He has been interested in (i)
    subjective time, (ii) the relationship between
    experiences and cognition, and (iii) sensory qualities (especially colors and
    sounds).


    Speaker Harald Arnkil will present COLOURS ARE CONTEXTUAL

    Colour seems to have many identities. Colours can be given precise
    designations in colorimetry and determinate colours are strongly
    identified with substances such as pigments and dyes and with flowers,
    minerals and other natural and man-made objects. People also have finely
    nuanced preferences for precise hues, tints and shades of colour. Yet,
    colours as they are perceived, seem highly dependent on context. They
    are susceptible to change with both spatial juxtaposition and illumination.
    Josef Albers said in the Introduction of his book Interaction of Color
    (1963) “In visual perception a color is almost never seen as it really is -- as
    it physically is.” What exactly did he mean by this? Albers seems to have
    suggested that colour has two separate existences, the perceived and the
    “physical”. In this talk, I will discuss the identity and variability of colour
    through visual examples of both 2D and 3D situations, not forgetting the
    effect illumination has on our perception of colours.
    Harald Arnkil is a Finnish artist, writer, colour researcher, and founder and
    former president of the Finnish Colour Association. He graduated from
    Finnish Academy of Fine Art with a degree in painting, and taught art and
    colour at Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture. Harald
    has published many papers on colour in art, design and architecture,
    and is the author of Colours in the Visual World, a textbook for artists,
    designers and architects. He was a member of the Nordic SYN-TES
    research project which focused on colour and light in spatial contexts and
    is a member of the Colour Literacy Project team. Harald’s paintings have
    been exhibited widely, and his art is in many private and public collections.


    These talks are part of the ISCC's celebration of International Colour Day

    • 23 Apr 2024
    • 2:00 PM
    • Virtual
    Register

    Blue – The Science of Nature’s Rarest Color

    Abstract:

    The color blue has challenged scientists for as long as they have investigated the natural world. From trying to isolate the blue of the cornflower or producing a blue rose to investigating why the word for “blue” appears to come particularly late in most languages: In his talk Kai Kupferschmidt will delve into the history and mysteries of the scientific investigation of how nature makes blue and how humans talk about it.

    Bio:

    Kai Kupferschmidt is a science journalist based in Berlin. He has worked as a freelance editor and writer for numerous German newspapers and is a contributing correspondent for Science Magazine. Kai has been fascinated by the color blue since he was a child and has written a book called “Blue: The Science and Secrets of Nature’s Rarest Color”, that has been translated into several languages. He has received numerous awards for his work, including the Media Prize of the German Aids Foundation and the NIHCM Trade Journalism Award (shared with Gretchen Vogel). He is currently an MIT Knight Science Journalism Fellow focusing on misinformation and still discovering new things about the color blue.



The Inter-Society Color Council advances the knowledge of color as it relates to art, science, industry and design.
Each of these fields enriches the others, furthering the general objective of color education.

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