Colour is everywhere! From the sky to our feet, and leaves on trees to paint on our walls, we can’t get away from colour. But what is colour and where does it come from? And how do we experience colour? We speak with Professor Stephen Westland of the University of Leeds to explore the chemical structures that create colour, how it affects us, and what we need to know about the future of colour chemistry.

Intro [00:00]

About the episode [01:34]

Background on colour [03:45]

Meet the guests [06:13]

Interview [06:44]

The Breakdown [35:05]

Expert Test [36:49]

Conclusion [40:10]

Professor Stephen Westland

Stephen Westland is Chair of Colour Science and Technology in the School of Design at the University of Leeds. He was awarded a BSc in Colour Chemistry and a PhD in Colour Physics from the University of Leeds. After a short spell working in industry, he held posts in several UK universities before being appointed to the role of Professor at the University of Leeds in 2003. Professor Westland’s research interests include colour measurement, colour design, colour literacy, colour imaging and machine learning. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles and several book chapters and books including Computational Colour Science (2004, 2012) and Universal Principles of Colour (2023). He has supervised over 60 PhD students and holds visiting Professorships at several universities including Huazhong University of Science and Technology (China) and University of East Anglia (UK). He is a Fellow of the Society of Dyers and Colourists and was awarded the Davies Medal (2008) from the Royal Photographic Society for his research in colour imaging. He is currently a member of the Colour Literacy Project and is Programme Manager for a new multi disciplinary postgraduate degree, MSc Colour, at the University of Leeds.

Producer: Shazia Ur-Rehman (CTVC)

Content Producer: Stevie Strowman (CTVC)

Guest: Professor Stephen Westland

Hosts: Mariama Ifode-Blease and Samuel Dada

Guest student: William Terry-Wright

Writer: Alastair Collinson (CTVC)

Researchers: William Terry-Wright, Bairavee R T Ravindran

Sound mixer: Pat Pretorius (CTVC)

Cover Art: Sam Osbourne

The Salters’ Institute

Website of Professor Westland

MSc Colour at the University of Leeds

The dress