Color and Information

Color itself is subtle and exacting. And, furthermore, the process of translating perceived color marks on paper into quantitative data residing in the viewer’s mind is beset by uncertainties and complexities. These translations are nonlinear (thus gamma curves), often noisy and idiosyncratic, with plenty of differences in perception found among viewers (including several percent who are color-deficient).

Tufte gives sound advice, accompanied by beautiful example illustrative maps and expository pieces, on using color. Avoid using bright colors in large areas, in conjunction with one another, and/or next to white. Take inspiration for color palettes from nature. Value scales can be useful, but be wary of how they rely on context. And be careful with lines.

It almost seems like Tufte goes much more into depth on what not to do rather than what to do. And it seems like for color, a lot more can go wrong than can go right. But I think all of us can attest to the extraordinary effects color can have on any sort of visualiation when executed well. The map of the T is a great example.

So much information made so readable by use of color. Of course, Tufte also mentions the shortfalls of color – like all visuals, perception can be subjective, and one must be mindful of those who are color-blind or have other difficulties seeing color. For that reason, it should be said that absolutely crucial information should not be encoded using color, or alternate displays should be available to people in those cases. But I think color, like salt, while not the substantive part of the meal/display, can really bring out all the subtleties that one might have not noticed previously, and really make the experience enjoyable rather than just funcitonal.