Design Course
Colour and Form - I
The Fundamentals of Colour
by
Street Exercise
Exercise-5:
Pulse of a Street:
Duration:
2 day, Group exercise
Objective:
Colour inspirations can come from the most unexpected places and can be derived from various sources both internal and external. To equip the learner with a “colour inspiration tool”, the exercise entailed the students to experience a culturally rich space, capture it through photographs and cull it out in key emotions, words and images. In the final stage a colour palette for each space was made.
Mode:
• Study any of the below listed “public space” having a coherent character.
For eg. a street (residential or commercial), a temple complex, institutional complex and capture the essence of that space in a collage (photographs, material samples, any other interesting materials).
• The exercise started with the students making a field visit in a group of 3-4 to an iconic street in the city and capturing the energy of the space in photographs.
• Brainstorm with the group on the qualities of the space and come up with 4-5 keywords that are the “emotional quotient” of the space.
• From the photographs clicked select 10-15 images that most appropriately describe the place.
• From these 10-15 selected images derive a colour palette of 8-12 palette/ family reflecting the essence of that space.
• From this stage on the students work independently on a composition. The theme being one of the keywords selected for the space, using the final colour palette.
Materials:
Camera, Printouts.
Discussion in the Class:
Gestalt’s principles of composition, colour harmony, colour and emotion.
Note:
The number of colours in a palette is kept on the higher side to give the students enough freedom to choose their combinations.
