“Avoiding catastrophe becomes the first principle in bringing color to information: Above all, do no harm.” — Envisioning Information, Edward Tufte, Graphics Press, 1990
Color is one of the most abused and neglected tools in data visualization. It is abused when we make poor color choices; it is neglected when we rely on poor software defaults. Yet despite its historically poor treatment at the hands of engineers and end-users alike, if used wisely, color is unrivaled as a visualization tool.
Most of us think twice before walking outside in fluorescent red underoos. If only we were as cautious in choosing colors for infographics. The difference is that few of us design our own clothes. But until good palettes (like ColorBrewer) are commonplace, to get colors that fit our purposes, we must be our own tailors.
While obsessing about how to implement color on the Dataspora Labs’ PitchFX viewer I began with a basic motivating question: (more…)
