RUReadyND - Career Profile

Architectural Color Designer

Real-Life Activities

Come up with attractive looks for buildingsMost established designers have made a name for themselvesYou can work on homes, apartment blocks, shopping centers, hotels and restaurantsConsider attending architecture school, interior design school or art school

Do you ever wonder why some buildings look so inviting and others seem to discourage anyone from going inside? Did you ever stop to notice what color they were and how they made you feel?

Chances are, the ones that look inviting have had their colors designed by an architectural color designer. Designing color schemes that are attractive, appealing and inviting for all types of buildings is what architectural color designers specialize in.

The work of today's architectural color designers will continue to be visible in the years to come.

Architectural color designers can make any building look appealing, regardless of where it's situated or what it's used for. They can take color and make a statement, create a feeling or set a mood.

These designers can make homes feel comfortable, make employees more productive and even increase sales at work. Any way you look at it, choosing the correct color is a valuable skill and an interesting profession.

Architectural color designers can make any kind of building look good through the use of color. By designing color schemes, architectural designers can change the face, or the interior, of a building.

They use color palettes (which they sometimes create on their own) to give buildings a new "feel." Architectural color designers work closely with their clients to ensure they get the color schemes that are right for them. It's about using color to get the results you want.

Architectural color designers work on homes, apartment blocks, shopping centers, hotels, restaurants and any other building that needs a change of face. Although they rarely do the painting themselves, they do visit each individual job site to ensure the results are what they expected.

Many architectural color designers are self-employed. But a few may work in large architectural designing firms. Their work is generally not affected by changes in the climate. However, warmer seasons may mean they're busier with exterior work.

Most established designers have made a name for themselves. They often have a set clientele and as much work as they can handle.

Because many architectural color designers are self-employed, they set their own hours. However, the nature of the business also means they can be extremely busy some weeks and less busy in others.

"You could work two or three hours a day, or you could work an 18-hour day," says Frances Kerr. She is a self-employed color consultant in Pennsylvania. She also says that many color designers work part time and supplement their earnings with a similar type of job, such as interior design.

An architectural color designer's job isn't necessarily physically strenuous. But it can require a great deal of travel between sites and sometimes at odd hours. The job tends to be more mentally demanding than physically demanding. It requires a great deal of organization as well as good communication skills with all kinds of people.

As long as you have a good eye for color and building design, a physical disability shouldn't hamper your ability to work in this field.

In the U.S., not many people consider themselves to be architectural color designers. "There are very few of us," says Bob Buckter. He is an architectural color designer in San Francisco. He says there may be a few in very large architectural firms, but he doubts there are many.

Architectural color consultant James Martin works in Colorado. He says he can count on one hand how many people he knows in his line of work. "It's not a common thing," he adds.

Although very few architectural color designers exist, the demand for their skills is growing.

"In some respects, it's becoming more of an in thing," says Frances Kerr. She is a color consultant in Pennsylvania. But she says it's not a profession that can just be learned out of a book. People have to have the knack for it, says Kerr, and it takes years of experience working with clients, colors and paint to really understand the art of color consultation.

"It's not a way to make yourself rich unless you luck out," says Kerr. She says some jobs are charged by the hour. Others are flat amounts with minimum fees.

Buckter says one person he knows of in his profession charges a minimum of $5,000 per job. Kerr says wages can really vary, depending on how much work you're willing to take on. But she stresses that many people she knows only work at this part time.

Earnings and employment information from the U.S. Department of Labor is not available for this field at this time.

Insiders recommend attending architecture school, interior design school or art school.

Also, consider signing up for any color courses you can find. Design manager Lene Clayton says that she's attended several weekend seminars on everything from selling to color consulting, and she tries to stay as updated with the current design trends as possible.

Here is just one example of a school offering related training:

Arizona State University
School of Architecture
P.O. Box 1605
Tempe , AZ 85287-1605
USA
Internet : http://www.asu.edu/caed/architecture/SOAhome.html

Associations

Inter-Society Color Council (ISCC)
712 H St. N.E., Ste. 1640
Washington , DC 20002
USA
Internet : http://www.iscc.org

Color Marketing Group
1802 Vernon St. N.W., PMB2080
Washington , DC 20009
USA
Internet : http://www.colormarketing.org

Publications

America's Painted Ladies: San Francisco's Resplendent Victorians Inside and Out
by Elizabeth Pomada

The Art of Exterior Painting: A Step-By-Step Guide to Choosing Colors and Painting Your Home
by Benjamin Moore Paints and Leslie Harrington

RuReady.nd.gov - Education & Career Planning

RuReady.nd.gov - Education & Career Planning

Architectural Color Designer

Real-Life Activities

Associations

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