COLOR AND POLITICS

How does the use of color in art, design, and media affect our perception? Dr. Hasan Işıklı gave a presentation on color and politics in his Visual International Relations class.

We are constantly surrounded by colors in our daily lives. Whether at home, commuting, on social media, or watching something on a screen, we are exposed to data packaged in colors. As a result of the interaction of ideas and emotions we acquire through this data transfer, some of which is indirect, we ascribe similar meanings to colors in similar situations. While this interaction may seem personal, it is also experienced collectively. Institutions and governments, aware of this process of experience and sense-making, can manipulate the thinking of individuals and communities through color for their own purposes. So, how do politicians, governments, and private institutions decide on the representation of a city or a nation within the framework of international relations? How do designers in the media position themselves in this process?

İzmir Katip Çelebi University, Department of International Relations, November 18 2025

Graphic designer Dr. Hasan Işıklı, who presented "Color and Politics" in Prof. Dr. Didem Buhari's Visual International Relations class at İzmir Kâtip Çelebi University on Tuesday, November 18th, explained the physical and social context of color from an ethnographic perspective and illustrated the evolution of colors’ meanings over time with examples from art history and graphic design. The class, which also included Erasmus students from France, discussed gender, ideology and the national identity representations with the propaganda. The students cited examples from Turkish mythology and popular culture based on their own political views, re-examining the power of color.