14 Color Palettes for Data Visualization

Zixiao Zhang and Yingyi Zhu

14.1 Explanation of the motivation

Data visualization mainly uses graphics to clearly and effectively present the results of data analysis. In addition to choosing the right plot to express the trends or relationships in the data, choosing a suitable color scheme is also significant. Each color represents a unique message, and the color combination can show the data type or the difference between categories. Good use of color can reduce the level of understanding of what the data is trying to convey and help the viewer understand the meaning of the data more intuitively. Poor use of color can have the opposite effect. For example, too many colors can disrupt the viewer’s attention and prevent them from understanding the true meaning of the plot.

We set up this cheat sheet to provide users with color-matching tips and introduce the packages that can use in R to help with color matching. In this community contribution project, we offer our own several color schemes. In the process, we learned why some colors should not appear in a scheme. And learn how to use these colors in the right situations. We might creates a video tutorial on picking the right color next time.

Check out the cheatsheet here:

https://github.com/XIXXII/colorPalettesCheatSheet/blob/master/colorPalattesForDV.pdf