Colour education in Brazilian universities: a focus on design courses in the state of São Paulo

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to address the situation of colour education in higher education design courses, considering the case of Brazil. Brazil has, to date, 2939 institutions offering a total of 53342 higher education courses. Results of our survey showed that in the state of São Paulo, there are 153 design courses, among which 26.8% have an exclusive colour content. This research revealed a panorama of poor higher education curriculum allied with the intuitive and subjective form of applying colour in the designers’ profession. Impact and consequences of this panorama result in projects that don’t capitalise on colours’ potential, considering aspects like spatial perception, advancing and receding colours, wayfinding, legibility, among others. The brief curriculum of the colour module of one design school in São Paulo (ESPM) is given as an example of what may reasonably be considered as the colour content in a higher education course for designers.