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Color Academy

What color is, how we see it and how to use it: science, perception and practice with sources.

This academy was written in Turkish and is being translated into English lesson by lesson, in reading order. Lessons not yet translated can be read in Turkish.

65 of 257 lessons are in English so far.

Lessons in English

KE · Discovery

  1. KE-01Does color really exist?
  2. KE-02Why is the sky blue, and why is sunset orange?
  3. KE-03What color was the dress?
  4. KE-04From cave wall to OLED screen: a short history of color
  5. KE-05From the traffic light to the supermarket shelf: how color runs our lives
  6. KE-06What colors do bees, birds, and dogs see the world in?
  7. KE-07Does a color have a price?
  8. KE-08How do you progress in this academy?

RH · The Story of a Color

  1. RH-01Red: Why is the first color humanity named always red?
  2. RH-02Blue: how did blue, long the rarest color, become the world's favorite?
  3. RH-03Green: Why did nature's color become such a difficult and dangerous dye in history?

RM · Color Myths

  1. RM-01Do bulls charge at red?
  2. RM-03Did the Ancient Greeks not see blue?
  3. RM-05Is dark mode healthier for your eyes?

BI · The Science of Light and Vision

  1. BI-01What exactly is light?
  2. BI-04Why is a tomato red?
  3. BI-09Cones and rods
  4. BI-12What is color blindness, really?

DT · Color Language and Theory

  1. DT-01Describing a color in three words: hue, saturation, value
  2. DT-02When light mixes, you get white; when paint mixes, you get brown: why?
  3. DT-03Were the primary colors we learned in school wrong?
  4. DT-08Why do opposite colors make each other pop?

PS · Psychology and Neuroscience

  1. PS-01Is color psychology science or marketing?

TK · History and Culture

  1. TK-18Was pink always a girl's color?

EC · The Economics of Color

  1. EC-09The economics of the gray car

PZ · Marketing and the Consumer

  1. PZ-06Does a red button sell more?

VG · Data Visualization

  1. VG-02Why the rainbow colormap lies

UX · Digital Product Design

  1. UX-06How is the contrast ratio calculated? WCAG

GT · Graphic Design and Brand Identity

  1. GT-01From blank page to palette: choosing colors step by step

FS · Photography and Cinema

  1. FS-01Why did your photo come out orange? White balance

BI · The Science of Light and Vision

  1. BI-13Your brain's hidden color correction: color constancy
  2. BI-14Colors that fool your eyes
  3. BI-19CIELAB: arranging colors by perception
  4. BI-24Next-generation perceptual spaces: OKLab and beyond

DT · Color Language and Theory

  1. DT-04How was the color wheel invented?
  2. DT-05How does a color become "warm"?
  3. DT-06Are black, white, and gray colors?
  4. DT-07A color's family: tint, shade, and tone
  5. DT-09Neighboring colors and a single hue: analogous and monochromatic harmony
  6. DT-10Triadic, square, and split-complementary: multi-color schemes
  7. DT-11Itten's seven contrasts
  8. DT-1260-30-10: the proportion of color
  9. DT-13Which color is heavier? Visual weight and balance

TK · History and Culture

  1. TK-12Languages with no word for blue
  2. TK-14Is white for mourning or for weddings? Color meanings across cultures

PS · Psychology and Neuroscience

  1. PS-02Do colors really affect us emotionally?

GT · Graphic Design and Brand Identity

  1. GT-02Readable colored text
  2. GT-03Guiding the eye: hierarchy through color
  3. GT-04How to build a brand's color palette
  4. GT-05The first three seconds on the shelf: color in packaging
  5. GT-06Design read from a distance: posters and campaign visuals
  6. GT-07Who picks the "color of the year," and how?
  7. GT-08Using palette tools wisely
  8. GT-09Can your logo live in a single color?
  9. GT-10Defining color correctly in a brand guide

UX · Digital Product Design

  1. UX-01Managing color in code: design systems and color tokens
  2. UX-02Green for success, red for error: semantic colors
  3. UX-03Dark theme is not just inverting colors
  4. UX-04Colors that change on touch: interaction states
  5. UX-05Phones that generate themes from wallpaper: dynamic color
  6. UX-07Don't rely on color alone
  7. UX-08Testing accessibility
  8. UX-09CSS's new era of color
  9. UX-10Designing game worlds with color

EK · Screen, Print and Color Management

  1. EK-01Take a magnifying glass to your screen: pixels and subpixels