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Designers

How to become a Colour Coordinator

Works out and decides the colours and colour schemes for products, spaces and environments to suit different uses and purposes.

How to become one

No particular education or qualification is required to start, but if you want to work for a fashion company it helps to have studied clothing or fashion at university, tanki daigaku (junior college) or senmon gakko (vocational college). At makers of industrial products, designers often do this work as well, so many have graduated from art universities, tanki daigaku or design senmon gakko. Specialist colour knowledge is usually part of clothing and art courses at tanki daigaku, universities and senmon gakko, and some senmon gakko now have classes that specialise in colour knowledge for colour coordination. Related qualifications include the Color Coordinator Test and the Color Test (Shikisai Kentei), which are an advantage when looking for work. A sharp sense of colour and a strong sense of design are needed. If you plan the colours of products, you also need specialist knowledge of those products and of marketing, as well as colour knowledge. You need to keep a close eye on consumers, the people the products are for, including the social environment they live in, their lifestyles and trends.

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Questions people ask

How do I become a Colour Coordinator?

No particular education or qualification is required to start, but if you want to work for a fashion company it helps to have studied clothing or fashion at university, tanki daigaku (junior college) or senmon gakko (vocational college). At makers of industrial products, designers often do this work as well, so many have graduated from art universities, tanki daigaku or design senmon gakko. Specialist colour knowledge is usually part of clothing and art courses at tanki daigaku, universities and senmon gakko, and some senmon gakko now have classes that specialise in colour knowledge for colour coordination. Related qualifications include the Color Coordinator Test and the Color Test (Shikisai Kentei), which are an advantage when looking for work. A sharp sense of colour and a strong sense of design are needed. If you plan the colours of products, you also need specialist knowledge of those products and of marketing, as well as colour knowledge. You need to keep a close eye on consumers, the people the products are for, including the social environment they live in, their lifestyles and trends.

How much does a Colour Coordinator earn in Japan?

Average annual income in the private sector, bonus included, is ¥5,395,800 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). The figure is for the wage survey group Designers, which covers several jobs.

Do you need a degree to become a Colour Coordinator?

Not always. In this job's census occupation group, 46% of workers are university graduates.

Will AI change the work of a Colour Coordinator?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 解説系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_description_7_01.xlsx）ver.7.01 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 簡易版数値系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_numeric_7_00.xlsx）ver.7.00 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

Sources: JILPT Occupational Information Database download data via job tag (解説系 ver.7.01 and 簡易版数値系 ver.7.00, downloaded 4 October 2026), processed by Peernovo; MHLW, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025; Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2020 Population Census; MEXT, School Basic Survey 2025; MHLW, Employment Referrals for General Workers (Hello Work statistics). Figures processed by Peernovo. English job names, translations and the matching of jobs to statistical groups, schools and degree fields by Peernovo.

Updated 4 October 2026