Color Model Environments focuses on the developments in color education for artists and designers who work in three dimensions. The viewpoint maintained throughout this book is that an awareness of the vocabulary of design and the fundamentals of color and light are basic to all personal explorations in three-dimensional design and that incorporation of these elements, including knowledge of the properties of materials, lends direction and support to individual expression.
Many of the student examples herein cover the first decade in my color classes at the Lawrence Institute of Technology. Several student projects, however, have been loaned from design instructors throughout the United States and Europe. I am grateful to all these individuals whose involvement represents a wider experience than my own.
To begin thinking about color, light, and form we must first of all recognize that although these subjects are the fundamentals of the designer's education and background, together they represent an interdisciplinary involvement. The disciplines of physics, chemistry, psychology, and art all have a special interest in the subject of color and light. The physicist has an interest in the theories and sources of the sensation of color and the related principles of optics. The chemist is involved with formulations relating to the physical composition of pigments and their applications. Psychologists acquire information about how color is perceived and how it influences one's emotional responses; and physiologists are interested in how one senses color. The artist and the designer are also concerned with these factors but must seek an understanding that leads to the development of a personal and distinctive visual vocabulary that will lift the human spirit. Together, at the point where science and art meet, their common cause has resulted in a greater assimilation of information touching many of the disciplines concerned with the subject of color.
Many artists and designers have a background of early experiences that have provided lessons aimed at self-discovery, the development of the power of perception, the ability to analyze spatial relationships, and an understanding of the principles of design that contribute to the unified organization of form. A basic question asked by students concerns the relative value of the "languages" the designer works with: words, drawings, and models. The use of many methods is an essential requirement, and all are prerequisites for the thinking process needed to deal with the complexity of three-dimensional objects.
To aid those who are beginning three-dimensional design, an opening presentation of many of the fundamental resources and materials of the design studio is provided. In addition, discussion has been extended to include direction for the construction of basic forms, description of the principles of three-dimensional design, and introductory projects that explore perception and planning. Each of these projects focuses on specific forms in individual and group studies and are illustrated by drawings that express the subtlety of values that define form.
All the projects have been ordered into groups that relate to the elements and principles of design; the structural sense of color; the interaction of light and form; the application of color and light to linear, planar, and volumetric form; and the plan of color and light in an environment. In addition, examples from practitioners of the design disciplines—art, architecture, and interior design—from the United States and Europe have been assembled. Some of these designers are already familiar, while others are just beginning to gain significant exposure for their work. The works of student and professional artists and designers have been organized within the subject areas of the book to reflect a relationship between the visual and physical properties of dimensional form and to support the following criteria for the role of color in design education:
• To experience the qualities of color and light and their combined effect on form in planning and practice.
• To acquaint one with the special possibilities of color.