Insider Info

"Color is the silent communicator."

That's what Jean Luck believes. She is a senior color stylist in Buffalo, New York. And anyone who works with color will strongly agree with her.

Color on buildings has the power to attract people or push them away. On the inside, color can motivate, stir emotions and affect productivity. It's for these reasons that people hire architectural color designers to design color schemes that work -- whether it's for a home, a hospital, a condominium project or a shopping center.

"Color designers play an important role in architecture," says Luck. "The psychology of color is pretty important."

Yet knowing how colors can affect us, it's surprising that there aren't more color designers available to help people choose colors correctly.

"It [color design] is a powerful discipline," says Bob Buckter. He is a self-employed architectural color designer who works in San Francisco. But he says it isn't really considered a profession of its own. And schools generally don't offer an actual degree or certificate in architectural color design.

Frances Kerr is a color consultant based in Pennsylvania. She says that although it's an interesting profession, it's a difficult one to try and explain. "Color consulting isn't an art in itself," says Kerr. "It's usually attached on to something else."

By this, she means that most people who do architectural color design also do other work related to color, such as interior design or paint contracting. Kerr, who says she "does anything that has to do with color," consults with people who are interested in redoing the interiors and exteriors of their homes. She also helps them choose wallpaper, drapes, carpets and accessories, much like an interior designer would.

For her, interior and exterior color design is only a part-time job, as it is with most people she knows in this business. Kerr works mostly on residential buildings, although she has done some commercial work. She recently helped choose colors for an up-and-coming ad agency in her area.

Because Kerr has always worked for herself, she's never had to look for a job as a color designer. But whether you work for yourself or for a large company, she says it's a difficult area to break into. "There just isn't a huge demand for it," says Kerr.

But some color consultants, like James Martin in Colorado, believe this may change before long. "For students, I think there's a huge future," says Martin.

He thinks the only reason the profession hasn't made more of an impact is because people are only now becoming aware of the power that color actually has. "The surface hasn't been scratched with color architecture," adds Martin. And most people have no idea how color can affect mood and emotions.

But he agrees that color design is a difficult thing to learn. "You do have to have a knack for it," says Martin. "And you have to have a real good sense of color."

This "sense" often comes from working with color for years and getting a feel for what works on certain buildings and what doesn't. Martin started off as a graphic designer, then moved into renovating houses because he wanted to do something that was more artistic.

From there, he began doing color design, always focusing more on exteriors. Now, he designs colors for all kinds of buildings, from houses to theaters, and has even worked on a few projects in India.

He says the biggest thing he learned is that houses, or any other building that looks good, sell fast. "Color sells, and the right color sells even better," says Martin.

Buckter also works full time. He says he does about 500 color design jobs a year.

He agrees that the best training comes from experience, although he says that any schooling in architecture, interior design or art in general would be extremely beneficial. But for him, the experience he got from working hands-on with colors was invaluable. You need to see which colors work well on which buildings and how colors can change when spread over large areas, says Buckter.

"You have to know exactly how a color is going to look," he says, because that's exactly what his clients expect of him. He says he also has to sense a client's tastes immediately -- he can often pick these up just by driving through the client's neighborhood.

Of course, he also asks questions about a client's likes and dislikes, and also what they want the building to look like once it's completed. "People see me as their consultant," says Buckter, and they trust him to choose colors that work well.

Like the time he was hired to design a color scheme for what he calls a "plain looking" restaurant. "I redid the colors and the first day business improved [over] 33 percent, and has maintained that increase ever since," says Buckter.

He also did the color design and recommended graphics and awnings for an empty business park. He says once the work was completed, it filled up immediately and leased for top dollars. "I create pride of ownership, but I can also make people a lot of money," adds Buckter.

Of course, different people like different things, and it's up to the architectural color designer to work with colors their clients like. But what happens when people choose something that really doesn't look good?

"We'll try and change their minds," says Lene Clayton. She is a senior color designer. But she says customers usually get what they want. She adds that designers must often put their own tastes aside when helping clients.

"I work with their tastes...so they're happy," says Clayton.

And that might mean choosing traditional colors rather than the color schemes that are currently popular. "Not everyone wants trendy," says Clayton. Some people prefer a look that will never go out of style.

Of course, that's what makes a color designer's job so interesting. Working with different clients, different colors and trying to achieve different looks is all in a day's work.

"That's what I like best about what I do, says Buckter. "All the differences, all the people, their demands, their egos and all their requirements." Color is many things to many people, but to architectural color designers, color is nothing short of challenging.