# Color for Designers: Exploration, Theory, & Application with Richard Mehl

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## Overview

Our response to color comes from the part of the brain where trust, loyalty, behavior, and decision-making occur. Every successful project relies on a designer making smart choices about color.

In Color for Designers: Exploration, Theory, and Application, Richard Mehl will give you a foundational understanding of color theory principles and demonstrate how to apply them. Richard has studied alongside design legends Paul Rand, Bradbury Thompson, and Herbert Matter, and in this class, he'll share insights gleaned from 12 years of teaching and writing about color in design.

Richard takes an accessible approach to the serious study of color theory for designers. You'll be exposed to a relevant series of ideas and skills by exploring a range of analog and digital projects, including:

- Color terminology and meaning
- How to view color in context
- Contrast grids and color illusion
- Tips for creating a harmonious color palette

In Color for Designers: Exploration, Theory, and Application, you'll develop a new awareness and sensitivity to color that will strengthen your confidence in both your personal and professional design work.

#### After this class, you'll be able to:

- Effectively select and apply color to enhance your design projects
- Use color theory language to justify your design decisions
- Expand beyond your preconceptions and comfort zone when working with color

#### Who this class is for:

This class is for designers and color enthusiasts of all levels working across various media, ranging from floral design to user experience design. It's also an appropriate refresher in color theory for experienced designers.

#### About the instructor:

Richard Mehl has taught two-dimensional design, color theory, and typography at the School of Visual Arts for over 12 years. His students have gone on to become successful, award-winning designers and art directors for prestigious studios including Bloomberg, New York Magazine, Pentagram, the Guardian, the New York Times, and Sagmeister and Walsh. Mehl received an MFA in Graphic Design from Yale School of Art, where he studied with design legends Paul Rand, Bradbury Thompson, and Herbert Matter, as well as design educators Alvin Eisenman and Inge Druckrey, type designer Matthew Carter, and information design expert Edward Tufte. He's the author of Playing with Color: 50 Graphic Experiments for Exploring Color Design Principles. Mehl lives in Chelsea, New York, with his wife, Alicia, and their pug, Sheldon, where he also maintains an active graphic design practice.

## Instructors

### Richard Mehl

Richard Mehl has taught two-dimensional design, color theory and typography at the School of Visual Arts for over 12 years.

## Pricing

**Tuition:** $49