10 Best Color Theory Courses and Certifications Online

Color Theory is a fundamental aspect of art and design, influencing the perception and emotional response of the audience. With the increasing popularity of online learning, there is a growing demand for high-quality and accessible Color Theory courses. These courses aim to provide learners with a comprehensive understanding of color principles, color schemes, and their application in various visual mediums. In this article, we will review some of the best Color Theory courses available online, outlining their features, benefits, and potential drawbacks, to help learners make informed decisions about which course suits their needs.

Here’s a look at the Best Color Theory Courses and Certifications Online and what they have to offer for you!

10 Best Color Theory Courses and Certifications Online

1. Color Theory Basics: Learning Color Theory With Adobe Color by Phillip Dillow (Udemy) (Our Best Pick)

Course Title: Color Theory Basics: Learning Color Theory with Adobe Color
Course Instructors: Phillip Dillow

This is a beginner’s course that provides general knowledge about color theory basics. The goal is to help learners understand and implement color theory concepts in their work, especially by using Adobe Color. By taking this course, learners will discover how each color affects their audience and how to use Adobe Color to create a richer experience.

The course is designed to be detailed but straightforward. It covers all the necessary information to get started using color theory concepts in various projects, such as media, graphics, and art. The course is taught in English and has the following content and sections:

1. Introduction
2. Getting Started
3. Introduction to Color Theory & Adobe Color
4. Gaining a Deeper Understanding of Color Theory & Adobe Color
5. Examples of Color Schemes
6. Practice Time

Overall, this course is a useful resource for anyone who is interested in learning about color theory basics and how to apply them in their work, especially by using Adobe Color.

2. How to Use Color Like a Pro by Erikka Fogleman (Udemy)

The “How to Use Color Like a Pro” course, led by Erikka Fogleman, aims to help individuals create cohesive and beautiful color schemes for their homes. This course covers various aspects of color theory, including the psychological impact of colors, the use of the color wheel, key color vocabulary, and how to create different moods in a room. Participants will also learn how to use color to make their rooms appear larger or smaller than they actually are and how to mix patterns like a pro.

Additionally, the course provides exercises to help participants create their own color schemes. The course delves into the topic of paint, discussing the best white paint colors, how to effectively test out paint colors, and how to transition paint colors from room to room.

It is important to note that this course is not intended to provide all the knowledge needed to become a professional interior designer. However, it offers foundational knowledge to assist individuals interested in DIY interior design projects or to provide supplementary education to interior design students and professionals.

The recommended order of courses includes “How to Design a Room in 10 Easy Steps,” “How to Use Color Like a Pro,” “How to Work with Interior Design Styles Like a Pro,” “How to Use Lighting Design to Transform your Home,” and “Design is in the Details.” The last three courses, “How to Use Minimalist Interior Design to Live your Best Life,” “Use Eco-friendly, Sustainable Design to Improve Your Life,” and “How to Design Your Dream Kitchen,” are standalone classes on specialty topics within interior design.

3. Graphic Design Elements: Color Theory and Application by Chraibi Adam (Udemy)

Course Title: Graphic Design Elements – Color Theory and Application

Course Instructor: Adam Chraibi

Short Description: This course focuses on color theory and how to utilize it effectively in graphic design projects.

Long Description: The course is taught by Adam Chraibi, an experienced graphic designer and animator. Color is a crucial but complex element of graphic design. Successful color combinations can attract the right customers and increase sales. However, designers may also face challenges such as the subjective nature of color, cultural connotations, and technical difficulties in representation.

The course aims to provide students with the necessary skills to overcome these challenges. They will learn to use the right hues for any project by studying color relationships and creating successful tonal relationships. These skills will save designers time and money while helping them elicit the correct response from an audience.

The course includes the following sections:

1. Introduction
2. How to work with colors in Adobe Illustrator CC 2020
3. Color Systems
4. Different techniques to develop successful color palettes
5. Color Interaction and Proximity
6. Color and Imagery
7. Colors and Illustration
8. Color and Type
9. Colors in Data Visualization
10. Colors Brand Identity Basics

By the end of the course, students will have a solid understanding of color theory and how to apply it effectively in their graphic design work.

4. The Beginner’s Guide to Color Theory for Digital Artists by Kurt Michael Russell (Udemy)

The Beginner’s Guide to Color Theory for Digital Artists is a course that teaches practical application of color theory to digital art. The instructor, Kurt Michael Russell, aims to help artists overcome their fear of using color and bring their art to a new level. This course addresses the challenge of using color in visual art, as well as the lack of practical guidance from online tutorials on color theory terminology.

The course includes real-time, step-by-step video lessons, line drawings for practice, and layered PSD files used in the lessons. Examples from the instructor’s professional work as a digital colorist at Image Comics & Top Cow are also provided. Although Photoshop is used throughout the course, the color theory concepts taught can be applied in other digital art applications such as Clip Studio, Paintstorm, Procreate, Corel Painter, Sketchbook Pro, Krita, ArtRage, etc.

The course is divided into four sections: Getting started, Let’s dive into color, Special color techniques, and Conclusion. The main objective is to help artists apply color theory concepts practically to their digital art and use color to their advantage.

5. Colors for Data Science A-Z: Data Visualization Color Theory by Kirill Eremenko, Patrycja Angelika Jeleniewicz, Ligency I Team, Ligency Team (Udemy)

The “Colors for Data Science A-Z: Data Visualization Color Theory Course” is a comprehensive online course instructed by Kirill Eremenko, Patrycja Angelika Jeleniewicz, Ligency I Team, and Ligency Team. The course offers a fun and entertaining journey through color theory and basic knowledge to help students create effective Data Science visualizations. The aim of the course is to teach students how to apply color theory to improve their Data Science and Analytics data visualizations and presentations.

The course is important for Data Scientists who need to present their findings to their manager, client, or a large audience. A powerful visualization can make or break a project, and this is where the power of colors comes in. The course will show students where colors originate from and what they mean. Students will learn how to make their Data Science visualizations and presentations super-impactful, regardless of their level of experience.

The course is divided into six sections: Introduction, Color Theory, Colors & Emotions, The Tools, Color Schemes, and Data Science Project Walkthrough. The Bonus Section offers additional resources for students. The course teaches students how to apply color theory in their data visualizations, including the different types of color schemes and their uses. Color psychology and how colors evoke emotions are also covered in the course.

Upon completion of the course, students will have a solid understanding of the power of colors in data science and how to apply color theory to their visualizations. They will have the skills to create effective data visualizations that are not only visually appealing but also convey a clear message. The course is suitable for beginners and seasoned Data Scientists alike.

6. The Psychology of Color in Game Design & Development by Emilio Padulo (Udemy)

The course, “The Psychology of Color in Game Design & Development,” and its instructor, Emilio Padulo, offer a comprehensive theory and psychology course that analyzes how color can affect a player’s emotions, actions, and thinking. The course covers the basics of color theory, the psychology of certain colors, different color schemes, and how to apply this knowledge in video games. It is structured into three main sections: Introduction to Color Psychology, Different Color Schemes, and How Color works in Game/Level Design.

The course is video-based and takes approximately 2.5 hours to complete. Upon completion, students will have a stronger understanding of how to design games with different color palettes and how to use color schemes to create specific emotions or feelings in players. The instructor guarantees that he will be available to answer any and all questions for students.

Section 2, Introduction to Color Psychology, covers how each individual color impacts us, the multiple different meanings and emotions attached to them, what they represent in society, and how some shades have specific impacts on us. In Section 3, Different Color Schemes, the course covers what color schemes are and the different ways they are used to tell a specific story. Section 4, How Color works in Game/Level Design, allows students to apply the knowledge gained from the previous two sections to create a mise en scene for players, using color to pull them into the game instead of pushing them out. The section covers the functions of color in games, what colors should be used in specific ways, how to create color layouts, how to vary content, and how to create a personalized color palette.

The course comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee and a certification of completion from Udemy. The certification serves as proof of expertise and completion of a certain number of hours of instruction in the course topic.

7. Color Mixing Course in Acrylics & Oil Paints by Rod Moore (Udemy)

The Color Mixing Course in Oils or Acrylic Paints is a comprehensive course designed for beginners to intermediate artists who want to learn more about color and the color mixing process. This course teaches the essential skill of color mixing, which is crucial for all artists regardless of experience level. The course covers a range of key elements in understanding and using color effectively, including the primary colors and color wheel, color chart creation, landscape palettes, values, color temperature, and saturation of color and greys. The course is taught in acrylics, but it could be easily taken in oils as well.

The Color Mixing Course is suitable for beginners who have never picked up a brush before and intermediate level artists who want to gain a greater understanding of color and color mixing. The course teaches simple techniques for understanding the key elements of color that go into making a great painting. Master artists do intuitively, and it’s a skill that anyone can learn through this course.

The course covers six modules, starting with the basics of color and the color wheel, followed by values, color saturation, color temperature, advanced palette, and examples. Bonus lessons are also included in the course. The course is taught by Rod Moore of Moore Art School, a highly regarded teacher who has helped thousands of beginners start to paint. He is the creator of the Moore Method of Painting and the star of two TV shows broadcast in Australia and New Zealand.

Once students master the ideas covered in this course, they will be able to apply them directly to their own paintings and produce greatly improved results. Enrolling in this course is a great way to gain a deeper understanding of color and color mixing and start producing works of art that amaze friends and family.

8. Building awesome Color Schemes for your UI Design Projects by Muhammad Ahsan Pervaiz (Udemy)

The course titled “Building Awesome Color Schemes for your UI Design Projects” is designed to provide beginners with a step-by-step guide to create their next Web Design, Mobile App UI, and Dashboard Designs. The course instructor, Muhammad Ahsan Pervaiz, emphasizes the importance of typography and color in any design. Colors are used to convey information and meaning, and a poorly executed color scheme can result in a misunderstanding of the message. Additionally, colors have psychological and emotional impacts on users, making them a crucial aspect of UI design.

The course covers a range of topics, including the psychological effects of colors, color theory basics for digital design, how to create an awesome color scheme using a single color, adding more colors to a color scheme, the purpose of color in UI design, and the use of status colors in dashboards. The course also covers color contrast ratios, building accessible color schemes with color accessibility, the number of shades/colors needed in a color scheme, creating a color scale, and managing colors in Adobe Photoshop, Adobe XD, and Sketch.

Online tools for generating color schemes and downloadable resources with examples are also included. The course has been designed to ease the pain of building awesome color schemes for web design, mobile app design, and dashboard design projects. The course is broken down into sections, including an introduction, basics of colors for UI design, mastering secrets of color schemes for beginners, creating a color scheme from scratch, accessible color schemes for UI designs, managing colors in Sketch, Adobe XD, and Photoshop, and tools and resources for color scheme generation.

Enrollment in this course provides beginners with a comprehensive guide to building awesome color schemes for their UI design projects.

9. Learn the Secret of Successful Color Mixing for Painters by Andy Walker (Udemy)

This course titled “Learn the Secret of Successful Color Mixing for Painters” aims to teach students an easy and effective way of color mixing, ensuring that they can get the color they need every time they paint. The course is suitable for anyone who paints in watercolors, oils or acrylics, and wants to take control of their colors.

The instructor Andy Walker, demonstrates a simple way to mix colors and create the desired effect. Many artists struggle with the overwhelming choice of colors, leading to muddy or overworked pictures. In this course, students will be taught how to mix colors like professional artists, and get the right color every time.

Students will only need eight colors in their palette, and the instructor will teach them how to mix any color they like. The colors required are two reds – cadmium red and alizarin crimson, two blues – ultramarine and cerulean, two yellows – cadmium yellow and lemon yellow, and two earth colors – burnt sienna and raw sienna, or yellow ochre.

The course will lead students step-by-step to success, helping them to mix wonderful greens, oranges, and purples, and from these, to create stunning browns, grays, and beautiful neutralized muted colors. Students will create color strips as a reference tool for any future painting, ensuring that they get the exact color required.

The course contains an introduction to materials, making secondary colors, making tertiary colors, and copying colors. Students can preview a couple of videos from the course for free, and the course comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. The instructor demonstrates with watercolors, but the principles apply equally to acrylics or oils.

In conclusion, the course aims to equip students with the skills needed to control all color mixing, saving them money on unused paints, and enabling them to produce any color required in any painting. This course provides an essential tool for any painter’s toolbox.

10. Color Theory for Designers by Sarah Parkinson-Howe, Daniel Walter Scott (Udemy)

The course “Color Theory for Designers” is taught by Sarah Parkinson-Howe and Daniel Walter Scott. The course is designed to help graphic designers gain knowledge on color theory and how to create killer color combinations that work.

The course covers the basics of the color wheel, color harmonies, and the psychology of color in branding. It also takes a look at the color systems used in design and technology, including RGB, CMYK, and Pantone color.

The course includes class projects with useful tips on where to find great color resources in Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Color. By the end of the course, students should feel confident in picking color schemes for their design projects.

Reviews of the course have been positive, with students praising the course’s organization and engaging content. The course is recommended for beginners and anyone looking to revisit the color picking process.

The course is broken down into several sections, including Color Theory Basics, The Psychology of Color, and Choosing Colors for a Brand. Students will learn the basic theory of color and how to use it effectively in their designs.