Picking the right colors for your viz is one of the most important factors in creating a great viz. Choose wisely and the colors will enhance your viz. A poor selection, on the other hand, can ruin it. There is a bewildering array of color choices available and deciding on the best combination for your viz can be tricky. In this session, we will look at those decisions that you will face when confronted with the question of how to use color in your work. Using examples from Viz of the Day, we will look at how changing a single color can transform the look and feel of the viz. We will look at some of the tools and websites that will help you select the right colors for your viz and techniques to enable you to put your new found color knowledge to use. The presentation will be a fast-paced mixture of theory and practical advice where you will learn things such as: The color combinations to use, those to avoid, and why How changing a color can change the look and feel of a viz How colors are linked to emotions and how this can help or hinder your viz How to create a custom color palette How to create a default set of color templates

2. FIFTY SHADES
OF DATA

3. Warning:
The following presentation contains flashing images*
*Well I have got to get through 300+ slides in 45 minutes

4. Viewer discretion is
advised

7. 1665

10. 10

14. Isaac
Newton
Isaac
Newton

23. added
colour

24. White

27. 2nd prism

29. not adding
colour

30. refraction

31. wavelength

32. SPECTRUMSPECTRUM

33. “The original or primary colours
are Red, Yellow, Green, Blew, & a
violet purple; together with
Orang, Indico, & an indefinite
varietie of intemediate
gradations”

35. why 7?

37. indigo

40. 40

41. legacy

43. colour
theory

45. 45

46. I’m MattI’m Matt

47. my day job…my day job…

48. welcomewelcome

49. welcome
trust
welcome
trust

50. welcome
trust
sanger
welcome
trust
sanger

51. welcome
trust
sanger
institute
welcome
trust
sanger
institute

52. My OfficeMy Office

54. biologybiology

56. chemistrychemistry

58. engineeringengineering

60. electronicselectronics

62. datadata

63. Lots of dataLots of data

69. 69
by nightby night

70. blog

71. wannabedatarockstar.blogspot.com

72. Tweet

73. a lot

74. @Matt_Francis

76. You may remember
me from such videos
as…

80. And

81. 81

82. Tableau
Public

83. Zen Master

84. today I’m going to give
you my guide

85. colourcolour

86. 86

93. 93

94. improve
aesthetics

95. catch peoples
attention

96. 96

97. improve
understanding

99. theory

100. practical

101. pick the
right colours

102. data -> viz type

103. data -> colours

107. 107
perceptionperception

108. 108
associationsassociations

109. 109
highlightinghighlighting

110. emotionsemotions

111. themesthemes

114. COLOUR
THEORY
COLOUR
THEORY

115. 3

116. primary

117. red
blueyellow

118. “fundamental”

119. can’t be
made by
mixing

120. Primary
+
primary

121. 3

122. secondary

123. green
purpleorange

124. Primary
+
secondary

125. 6

126. tertiary

127. yellow-orange
red-orange red-purple
blue-greenyellow-green
blue-purple

128. pick
colours

129. colour
harmony

130. pleasing
to the eye

131. balance

132. chaotic

133. engaging

134. boring

135. 135

136. create
harmony

137. complementary

138. opposite
colours

141. High Contrast

142. COLOURS POP

147. warning

148. a
148

149. once
seen

150. cannot be
unseen

151. 151
everywhereeverywhere

153. Why?

154. most films
contain
humans

155. skin tone

159. shadows

160. blue

161. highlights

162. orange

163. opposing
concepts

168. movie
posters

176. 176

178. default
colours

180. great for
showing
differences

181. how do we
pick colours?

182. COLOUR
PERCEPTION
COLOUR
PERCEPTION

183. 183

184. Quiz Time

186. black
blue?

187. white
gold?

188. Another
Question

189. what was the
colour of the
gorilla’s tie?

191. #1 rule
when using
colour

192. Never
distract

193. Always
enhance

194. improve
esthetics

195. improve
understanding

196. what does the
dress tell us?

197. people see
colours
differently

198. cannot assume

199. Colour
blindness

200. red
green

201. 1 in 10

202. Quiz Time

211. the BIGQuestion

212. can you use
red/green?

214. NO!!!

215. NEVER!!!

216. Worse thaN
Pie Charts!!!

218. Stephanie
Evergreen

220. Bad

221. good

226. if the viz is
just for you

227. limited
audience

228. if its going
to be public

230. Emily kundEmily kund

231. http://tinyurl.com/seeallthedata

233. use high
contrast
shades

234. example in a
map

237. www.vischeck.com

240. NOT with a
colour range

241. 241

242. 242

243. 243

244. 244

245. only using
discrete colours

246. Red
green

248. COLOUR
ASSOCIATIONS
COLOUR
ASSOCIATIONS

249. 249

252. 252

253. 253

254. 254
fruityfruity

255. 255
berriesberries

256. 256
full
bodied
full
bodied

257. Red Wine

258. decided
before they
tasted

259. we can use
this in our
data viz

260. Quiz
Time

261. 261

262. 262
politics?politics?

263. 263

264. 264

265. 265
the
letter “o”
the
letter “o”

266. map + blue + red = political

267. map + blue + red = political

268. map + blue + red = political

269. map + blue + red = political

270. colour is one
of the first
things we see

271. assumptions

272. 272

274. BAD

275. negative

276. DANGER

279. 279

281. 281

282. 282

283. 283

284. COLOUR
HIGHLIGHTING
COLOUR
HIGHLIGHTING

285. 285

286. biased
highlighting

287. impartial
highlighting

288. 288

289. How do Europe's all-
time top goalscorers
compare to Zlatan
Ibrahimovic?

290. How do Europe's all-
time top goalscorers
compare to Zlatan
Ibrahimovic?

291. 291

292. 292
EMOTIONSEMOTIONS

294. 294

295. 295

296. 296

297. 297

298. COLOUR
THEMES
COLOUR
THEMES

300. 300

301. 301

302. 302

304. 304

306. tabpal.co

307. interworks
colour tool

311. 90%

312. 10%

313. 313

314. 314

315. 315

316. 316

317. 317

320. www.wannabedatarockstar.blogspot.com
@Matt_Francis
www.facebook.com/wannabedatarockstar

321. Please complete
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