About
The application and teaching of the RGB/CMY Digital Color Wheel to advance media arts, art, and design education is an ongoing project by Petronio Bendito. It originates from the premise that a comprehensive understanding of the RGB color model, coupled with the ability to navigate various perceptual geometric arrangements within the model, particularly the color wheel, empowers visual artists and designers working with digital color. Visual representations, such as the RGB/CMY digital color wheel play a crucial role in facilitating the understanding of human vision, additive color mixing processes, and promote informed color design decisions. Beyond serving as a mathematical structure for computer color generation, the configuration of the RGB color cube emerges as an important aspect of digital color literacy and as a cognitive design tool for teaching color theory in the realms of media arts, art, and design. In this context, the RGB|CMY Digital Color Wheel, born from the RGB color model, stands out as a versatile instrument with dual significance in both artistic creation and education. Its adaptability proves particularly impactful in the realms of art, design, and media arts education, rendering it an indispensable asset for teaching and practical applications within these creative domains.
Art and Science: Teaching and Learning With Color and About Color Applications
A main component of this project is the exploration of the RGB|CMY Digital Color Wheel as a cognitive artifact. This project focuses on the design and implementation of new approaches and methodologies that incorporate computer-based instruction, knowledge of the geometry and perceptual organization of the RGB color cube, the HSB color system and creative experimentation in the teaching of color design. Recent explorations involve using Augmented Reality (A.R.).
This project started at the School of Art at Northern Illinois University (1998-2001), where the author, Petronio Bendito, taught color design and a hybrid online/face-to-face summer color theory course. At Purdue University, supported by the Dean's Incentive Grant (2003), the project grew and digital color design methods based on this research were incorporated in foundation design classes (2003-2006) under the guidance of Foundation Design Coordinator Linda Vanderkolk.
The explanation of an early version of the RGB|CMY Digital Color System was presented in 2005 at the 10th Congress of the International Colour Association in Granada, Spain, and was published in the proceedings under the title RGB Colour Palette Based on Hue Relationships [proceedings]. This research has also been cited by a U.S. patent filed for an artists color display system (2002). Methodologies based on this project have been presented in workshops or lectures in the following universities, among others:
- Texas State University-Austin (USA) (collaboration)
- Northern Illinois University (USA)
- Purdue University (USA)
- Federal University of Paraná (Brazil)
- Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
- Positivo University-Curitiba (Brazil)
- American University of Paris (France)
- Iowa State University (USA) (*not by the author)
Note to Educators
We would love to include your school to the list above! Please let the author know if you have used or developed materials in your teachings based on the RGB/CMY Digital Color Wheel or the RGB Cube Visualization Methods. Thank you!
About the author
Petronio Bendito (Ed.D., M.F.A.) is an Associate Professor of Visual Communication Design in the Rueff School of Design, Art, and Performance at Purdue University (profile). His primary research areas include digital color design, color algorithms, RGB/HSB color systems, the intersection of art, science and technology, and visual literacy. Bendito served on the Editorial Board of Media-N: Journal of the New Media Caucus and currently serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Visual Literacy. He has worked on a variety of interdisciplinary and collaborative art and design projects, including interactive and participatory media (performance technology, computer vision), neurofeedback art, projection mapping, visual music, videodance, and live performance. He exhibits and presents his work internationally. A monograph (print and electronic) titled Petronio Bendito: Digital Color, Algorithm, Expression was published by the Art Museum of Greater Lafayette in Indiana.
Bendito's article on the RGB color cube visualization and computer-based color design methods can be found at the Journal of Design Communications/Spring 2000 and the Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage/Spring 2023. His work has appeared in several mathematical art exhibition of the annual conferences of The Bridges Organization and the American Mathematical Society and Mathematical Association of America.
You can learn more about Bendito's work through these websites:
Petronio Bendito (Ed.D., M.F.A.) is an Associate Professor of Visual Communication Design in the Rueff School of Design, Art, and Performance at Purdue University (profile). His primary research areas include digital color design, color algorithms, RGB/HSB color systems, the intersection of art, science and technology, and visual literacy. Bendito served on the Editorial Board of Media-N: Journal of the New Media Caucus and currently serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Visual Literacy. He has worked on a variety of interdisciplinary and collaborative art and design projects, including interactive and participatory media (performance technology, computer vision), neurofeedback art, projection mapping, visual music, videodance, and live performance. He exhibits and presents his work internationally. A monograph (print and electronic) titled Petronio Bendito: Digital Color, Algorithm, Expression was published by the Art Museum of Greater Lafayette in Indiana.
Bendito's article on the RGB color cube visualization and computer-based color design methods can be found at the Journal of Design Communications/Spring 2000 and the Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage/Spring 2023. His work has appeared in several mathematical art exhibition of the annual conferences of The Bridges Organization and the American Mathematical Society and Mathematical Association of America.
You can learn more about Bendito's work through these websites: