The Colour Literacy Project’s new approach to teaching colour
We are in the process of developing a resource site for anyone who teaches about colour. Our meta-disciplinary colour curriculum combines core colour concepts from the sciences, the arts, and the humanities.
Cornerstones
At the heart of the project is a new, foundational, 21st Century Colour Curriculum based on hands-on exploration of four meta-disciplinary Colour Literacy Cornerstones:
Describing Colours from hues to
3D models
LANGUAGES
Exercises that expand colour language beyond 2D hue circles to 3D colour models.
Perceiving Colours from light to
context
SCIENCES
Exercises that explore the elements of colour perception.
Working with Colours from mixing to storytelling
ARTS & DESIGN
Exercises that focus on the use of colours across disciplines.
Experiencing Colours from unaware to engaged
HUMANITIES
Exercises that build awareness of the wonder of colours all around us, and the roles colours play in our lives.
Our exercises
With hands-on colour exercises designed to be free of common misconceptions about colour, this curriculum updates and expands traditional colour theories for use in the 21st century classroom. This new curriculum provides a universal foundation for further explorations of the fascinating field of colour.
Please also read our FAQ, for additional background on our approach.
Let’s open our eyes to the wonder of colour in our world!
Core concepts for a universal foundation in colour literacy
The CLP has identified ten core concepts, for a universal foundation in colour literacy. These concepts represent fundamental knowledge about colour, and form the basis upon which higher order, discipline-specific knowledge can later be built.
Beta-Testing 2025-2026
We are currently beta-testing a collection of exercises for the new colour curriculum. Our goal is to gain insights and feedback related to the exercises’ effectiveness in expanding students' understanding of:
The fundamental role of colour in our lives.
The foundational core concepts across disciplines.
The results of the beta-testing will help us refine the curriculum based on experiential usage data. Once this beta-testing period concludes, the CLP will focus on making the new curricula available for educators around the world to freely use in their teaching and research.
If you are a teacher interested in beta-testing the exercises during the 2025-2026 school year, please fill out this contact form with Beta-Testing in the subject line, so we can connect with you!
