Kate Strachnyi - ColorWise: A Data Storytellers Guide to the Intentional Use of Color

• 2022-05-06: First Release
• 2022-10-04: Second Release
• 2022-10-25: Third Release

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Its the day of the big interview for the job youve been after all your life. You wake up extra early, eat a healthy, energizing breakfast, take a 30-minute jog to get all your synapses firing, and take a hot shower to feel fully ready to conquer the world. Youve got your clothes all laid out to impress the interview team with your sense of style and professionalism and head out the door in your bright red jacket, lime green pants, and neon purple shirt. Look out world, here you come ()!

Figure P-1. Mismatched outfit with a mix of colors

Cringeworthy, right? Unless the position you are interviewing for is a clown at the circus, those colors are not going to do the job today or any other day. We are extraordinarily cautious with colors we choose to wear, the colors we paint our homes with, the colors we choose for our cars, even the colors we select for our oh-so-important smartphone cases!

Yet when it comes time to select colors for our infographics and data visualization creations, we often act like someone shook up a rainbow and spilled it all over the floor. Color is by far the most abused and neglected tool in data visualization. We abuse it by making color choices that make no sense and we neglect it when we populate our hard work with software default settings selected years ago in a computer lab somewhere.

The lack of focus and commitment to color is a perplexing thing. When used correctly, color has no equal as a visualization toolin advertising, in branding, in getting the message across to any audience you seek. Data analysts can make numbers dance and sing on command, but they sometimes struggle to create visually stimulating environments that convince the intended audience to tap their feet in time. Sales and marketing experts understand the customers mindset, but often cannot seem to help from turning simple charts and graphs into a kaleidoscope of shades and hues that require a roadmap to figure out which side is up.

Fortunately, in the preceding example, we dont have to design our own fashions, although we do need to be responsible for being the best infographic tailors we can be in order to get color combinations that fit our purposes, engage our intended audiences, and draw the eye to the exact spot we want it to in order to deliver the intended message every time.