Heuristic and analytic color decision making in the introductıry design education

Abstract

Color comprises both subjective and objective aspects within its contextual nature.Research on color design tends to explore this seemingly contradictory concernsfrom theoretical point of view, as well as architectural and design practice. The aimof this study was to observe subjective, intuitive or heuristic and objective,knowledge-based or analytical attitudes toward color in design education. In thestudy 84 introductory design students were surveyed progressively to understandtheir color decision criteria after completion of three 2-dimensional colored exercises,specific in terms of color education. Students’responses to open-ended questionswere coded according to the 5 categories, under 2 decision making processes derivedfrom the literature; heuristic approach: preferential and symbolic criteria, and ana-lytic reasoning: formal, thematic, and systematic criteria. A distinction betweenassociative and emotional aspects of symbolic criteria was also revealed by the dataanalysis. The findings showed a shift from heuristic responses to analytic reasoning,as expected. Additionally, it is also investigated that students not only used heuristicapproaches but also analytical components (formal and systematic) of color decisionmaking in varying degrees as well, even before any color subjects covered. Thematiccolor decisions became a major part of the students’design considerations upon com-pletion of color subjects. The observed increase in the number of color criteriainterrelated by the students’among almost all categories explicated a complex deci-sion making process particularly in color design and education. These findings wereexpected to lead to some further understanding in color decision making in design.