PPG Colors in Education

CW: What specific colors are thought to have a positive impact and enhance the learning experience in a classroom?

Oliveira: I refer to creating a color scheme for a classroom as a process of using color as a language. Meaning, color is the connector that ties everything together, from educators and administrators to the emotions and impacts created in a space, and ultimately the students’ experience.

It’s often said that color helps create a learning environment that improves visual processing, reduces stress and challenges brain development through visual stimulation, relationships and pattern-seeking.

It’s important to determine the desired energy or behavior you want to create in a room -- happy, energetic, creative, focus or calm. Then, determine the amount of time spent in a space and desired energy level.

Oliveira: With all of this in mind, it is generally accepted that neutral colors like PPG’s Wheat Sheaf, Garlic Clove, Shadow Taupe, and Stargazer, are comfortable, conservative, stable and versatile, providing a safe, secure environment. Warm colors of rose, coral and honey, such as PPG’s Rose Petal, Coral Cove, or Wayward Wind, are nurturing and embracing, and create a friendly atmosphere. Warm colors can also be used to reduce the scale and size of large spaces, making them more intimate.

While brightness and warmth pull attention outward, softness and coolness of color have a reverse effect. Cool colors of pale green, mint, seafoam, robin's egg, aqua, sky, denim and soft blue are cool, refreshing, calming, relaxing, soothing and expansive to provide a spacious feeling in a classroom. A few examples of these include PPG’s Pinch of Pistachio, Parakeet Pete, Sea Sprite, Misty Aqua and Lost at Sea. Meanwhile, softer surroundings created by subtle or cooler hues have centripetal action which enhances the ability to concentrate.

CW: How is PPG working with schools to improve the classroom experience through paint and color?

Oliveira: At PPG, we see education as a way to enable possibilities and progress through learning, curiosity and discovery. After all, our scientists, engineers and innovators were once eager students with an appetite for shaping the world around them. We know first-hand the importance of sparking a passion for science and math in students, as well as the need for a skilled science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) workforce. That’s why we aim to share our passion and joy for experimentation with future inventors. In 2019, the PPG Foundation donated $6.8 million in support of STEM programs, impacting more than 712,000 students. To learn more about PPG’s focus on education, visit communities.ppg.com/what-we-do/education.

In addition, we have completed more than 80 Colorful Communities projects in educational settings, impacting over 100,000 students and teachers. Learn more about some of our vibrant school renovations at communities.ppg.com/Colorful-Communities/Classroom-Color-Research.

CW: With remote learning being implemented across the country, do you see parents enhancing their child’s “virtual classroom”?

Oliveira: In current times, we know that the environment for education is like none other. As school districts, educators and families navigate how to provide a valuable education experience via classrooms, virtual learning methods, or a combination of both, safety is the primary concern. Our path to discover the impacts of color in the classroom aligns with the sentiments of many teachers and parents, who must prepare learning environments to encourage a calm, focused and positive experience for students, in the classroom and at home.

At a time when educators and students are facing many unknowns, student engagement continues to be an important factor in achieving a positive and productive learning environment. Our survey findings show how powerfully color works to create happiness and enhance engagement and moods within one of the most transformative spaces for students. Whether in a traditional classroom setting or a dedicated workspace at home, the principals of the power of color remain the same.

Color can help our bodies and energy levels transition. Warm and bright color schemes complement the active, energizing nature of children. However, they may be better used as accents as these colors may be too harsh on full walls.

For adolescents, cooler colors and more subdued hues provide enough stimulation without creating distractions or inducing stress. Blue, in particular, seems to be strongly associated with math and science.

High school students prefer burgundy, gray, navy, dark green, deep turquoise and violet. Some great examples of these colors include PPG’s Mesa Red, Rabbit’s Ear, Goblin, Vining Ivy and Violet Verbena. A variety of colors is important, and it is advisable to incorporate a full spectrum in designing educational environments.

Maria Oliveira is a career designer and educator who began her career in architecture and devoted close to 10 years to the profession while completing her National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) program. Now, as PPG Color and Design Manger, she continues to partner with architects and designers and consults on all things color. Contact a PPG design representative here.