Choosing Colors for Data Visualization
Page 1
Choosing Colors for Data Visualization
Maureen Stone
January 17, 2006
The problem of choosing colors for data visualization is expressed by this quote from
information visualization guru Edward Tufte: “…avoiding catastrophe becomes the first
principle in bringing color to information: Above all, do no harm.” (Envisioning Information,
Edward Tufte, Graphics Press, 1990)
Color used well can enhance and clarify a presentation. Color used poorly will obscure,
muddle and confuse. While there is a strong aesthetic component to color, using color well in
information display is essentially about function: what information are trying to convey, and
how (or whether) color can enhance it.
The most important use of color in information presentation is to distinguish one element from
another, a function Edward Tufte calls “to label.” In Figure 1, for example, the different colors
in the scatter plot label different products. But the use of color as a label goes beyond the
distinctive data colors, for color in this discussion includes black, white and shades of gray.
Figure 1. Scatter plot showing marketing vs. profit for four different products.
In Figure 1, color is also used to define the background, draw the grid and axes, and label the
chart. All visible parts of a presentation must be some color, all of which must work together
to be effective.
An effective design presents information in an organized manner, making it easy for the
viewer to understand the roles and the relationships between the elements. A good
organizing principle is to define categories of information, grouped by function and ordered by
Choosing Colors for Data Visualization
Page 2
importance. An effective use of color will group related items and command attention in
proportion to importance. And, all will be legible.
For example, all of the contextual information (grid, axis, labels, borders) in
Figure 1 are shades of gray, while the data is brightly colored, which ma