Color Workshop Held

On January 19, 2025, we held a workshop themed around color at the Hokkaido University FMI (Food & Medical Innovation International Collaborative Research Center).

"Favorite colors," "hated colors," "colors that feel fun," "colors that feel sad"—everyone perceives color differently. In this workshop, we shared time exploring the diverse possibilities of color through three activities themed around it.

In this workshop, we conducted three activities themed around color.

Activity 1: Feeling Color
Activity 2: Thinking About Color
Activity 3: Expressing with Color

Activity 1: Feeling Color

In the first activity, participants cut out words that caught their attention from newspapers and expressed the feelings they associated with those words using colors (origami paper).

Since many people are not used to translating words and emotions into colors, I was worried about how it would be received, but as we proceeded, impressive works were created one after another.

For example, one participant chose the word "change" and pasted red origami paper. When I asked them for the reason, they told me, "I expressed the feeling of 'we must change' while thinking about the future of Japan using red." In this way, the combination of words and colors offered a glimpse into deep individuality and background.

Activity 2: Thinking About Color

In the next activity, participants chose a favorite color and a hated color, and experienced blurring the boundary between the two. By using water-soluble colored pencils and blurring the boundary with water, new expressions created by the blending of colors emerged.

This activity provides an opportunity to think about what kind of new value is created when colors blend, going beyond simple likes and dislikes.

Although we did not have enough time to work thoroughly due to scheduling, it was a time to realize the depth of color, such as the complexity of color and how one feels when their favorite and hated colors blend together.

Activity 3: Expressing with Color

In the final activity, following the work with origami and colored pencils, participants experienced digital expression using the iroai app.

During the time to express their impressions of the entire workshop using color and text and share them within the group, there was lively interaction, such as "The colors you chose are similar to mine" and "Why did you choose this color?"

In addition, participants provided valuable ideas regarding the use of the iroai app, such as,

"It would be interesting if we could pick colors from photos with an eyedropper tool"
"I wonder what kind of changes we would see if children with undeveloped language skills kept a daily record"

Reflection

Through this workshop, we on the iroai team were also able to think deeply about "color" once again and gain new discoveries. It was an opportunity to enjoy expanding our imagination regarding the possibilities that spread through color and new ways to use the app.

To everyone who participated, thank you very much. We would also like to express our sincere gratitude to everyone at CoSTEP who helped create this opportunity together, and to Mr./Ms. Park.

Thank you!