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Originally published: 2013 | Last updated: July 2025 - This article was updated to reflect the transition from the discontinued iPad app to Yale Press's new Complete Digital Edition, with current pricing and access information.
Interaction of Color: From App to Complete Digital Edition
As a long-time fan of Josef Albers, I was thrilled when Yale University Press first released the "Interaction of Color" iPad app to mark the 50th anniversary of Josef Albers's groundbreaking book. Although the app is no longer available, Yale Press has now launched the Interaction of Color Complete Digital Edition, offering an even more comprehensive and accessible way to engage with Albers's revolutionary teachings on color.
The Evolution to Digital
The following information is sourced from The Cleveland Institute of Art and Library Matters: news from The University of Edinburgh.
The Interaction of Color Complete Digital Edition is an interactive website that expands upon Josef Albers's seminal text. This web-based platform represents a significant advancement from the original iPad app, making Albers's color studies accessible to anyone with an internet connection, regardless of their device. This evolution reflects the broader trend of educational resources moving from apps to web-based platforms for better accessibility.
What's Available Now
The website incorporates interactive features that help students understand the book's fundamental concepts, study the plates, and experiment with their designs. The complete digital edition includes:
- Full text and commentary: The site features full text and plate commentary, describing Albers's renowned principles on how to see and understand color
- Enhanced color studies: 122 original color studies, many allowing users to move pieces to see the effects of the colors against different backgrounds
- Interactive plates: 60 interactive plates that reproduce the experience of working with paper, a captivating feature inspired by Albers's teaching methodologies
- Creation tools: Allows students to create, save, and export their version of interactive plates in SVG and PDF formats, with more supplemental resources than the original app
- Video content: Features over two hours of video commentary, including archival video of Albers and interviews with experts explaining key principles
Interactive Learning Experience
Inspired by Albers's teaching methodologies, each plate reproduces the experience of working with cut and colored paper. Users can manipulate the digital "pieces" to observe how the same color can appear dramatically different when shown against various backgrounds—the core principle of Albers's color theory.
The website also features practical elements, including an embedded glossary tailored to Albers's teaching and the ability to zoom in on plates for detailed study. Archival audio and video of Josef Albers talking you through special exercises provide a direct connection to the master's teaching methods.
Accessing the Complete Digital Edition
The Interaction of Color Complete Digital Edition is available at interactionofcolor.com. All users must create (or sign in to) personal accounts on the Interaction of Color website to access the content. Library subscriptions allow Educational institutions to provide access to their students and faculty, while individuals can access the complete edition for a one-time fee of $24.99 (July 2025).
The Continuing Legacy
Albers's approach to understanding color is now more accessible than ever before, ready to fascinate new generations of artists, designers, and anyone exploring the mysteries of color perception. The interactive edition offers users an entirely new way to experience Josef Albers's masterwork.
Audio: Design Matters — Interaction of Color
The original Design Matters episode with Debbie Millman, featuring Brenda Danilowitz (Chief Curator at the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation) and Philip Tiongson (principal at Potion), remains a valuable resource for understanding the development and significance of bringing Albers's work into the digital realm.
The copy of Interaction of Color 50th Anniversary Edition
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Feature Image Credit: Kate Smith
