Comments on: Strategic Use of Colors in Charts [Chart Review]

By: Tony

Tony — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 20:04:32 +0000

@Liu – I think it can add value as long as it is done effectively/conservatively, like the others comments suggest.

@Nixnut – I absolutely agree that color and add/take away from a visualization. There is a fine line that needs to be walked to make sure it isn’t overdone. Also, the link that you shared of S. Few, I have seen before and think is exceptional. The ideas and methods are presented in a very straightforward way that can be applied to anyone creating visualizations. Thanks for the book suggestion; I’ll have to check it out.

@Jon – Very good point; I absolutely agree. Maybe that’s what I was thinking when reviewing these charts – the color choice is tiring. I think the color choice (palettes) in Excel 2007 is very good and goes with your point.

@Derek – A for effort to BusinessWeek. I wouldn’t have picked the colors they did, which goes to my last comment in the post. The intention of the post was the idea of matching colors between two different charts to maximize effectiveness. I don’t know the most effective color saturation mix, but I do really like the color themes in Excel 2007. They seem to be 20, 40, 60, 80, 100. I typcially don’t spend too much time on perfecting color. I use what’s easily available. Let me know what you find out.

By: derek

derek — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 15:33:32 +0000

It looks to me like the creator of that graphic made a commendable, if naive, attempt at a monochrome or single-hued color scheme, using only the available reds and grays. Its a bit unbalanced because they didn’t get a good selection of colors, but full marks for trying.

I’m currently experimenting with one-hue schemes myself, but I’m not sure what a good even-tempered sequence of saturations is. Any ideas, apart from the obvious linear sequence from 0% to 100%? My luminosities are a geometric scale of color to not-color, as per Bertin.

By: Jon Peltier

Jon Peltier — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 23:54:06 +0000

Careful use of color can be useful, but it’s easier to overdo it. You should stay away from colors which are associated with other meanings (for instance, red-yellow-green) unless you want to incorporate those meanings into your visual. It’s also better to use less saturated colors for fills; deeper colors are more tiring to look at (or at least I feel that way).

By: nixnut

nixnut — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 17:26:00 +0000

Not quite. Colour _can_ add value to a visualisation. But inappropriate use of colour will detract value. Here’s an article with some tips for using color in visualisations: http://www.perceptualedge.com/articles/visual_business_intelligence/rules_for_using_color.pdf
For those interested in a deeper understanding of the use of colour I suggest taking a good look at “A Field Guide to Digital Color” by Maureen Stone.

By: Liu's chart blog

Liu's chart blog — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 14:24:46 +0000

yes , I agree . color do add value to chart.
there is no optimal color or chart ,there is only appropriate ones .
in this case ,the color and chart are both quite good ,in my opion.