Designing with a Purpose - Data Points: Visualization That Means Something - page 334

people got the joke, but there were also a good number of insulted Wiscon-
sinites. Like I said, the web is an interesting place (in a good way).
Visual Cues
In Chapter 1, “Telling Stories with Data,” you saw how encodings work.
Basically, you have data, and that data is encoded by geometry, color, or
animation. Readers then decode those shapes, shades, and movement,
mapping them back to numbers. This is the foundation of visualization.
encoding is a visual translation. Decoding helps you see data from a dif-
ferent angle and find patterns that you otherwise would not have seen if
you looked only at the data in a table or a spreadsheet.
These encodings are usually straightforward because they are based on
mathematical rules. Longer bars represent higher values, and smaller
circles represent smaller values. Although your computer makes a lot of
decisions during this process, it's still up to you to pick encodings appro-
priate for the dataset at hand.
Through all the examples in previous chapters, you've seen how good
design not only lends to aesthetics, but also makes graphics easier to read
and can change how readers actually feel about the data or the story you
tell. Graphics with default settings from R or excel feel raw and mechani-
cal. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. Maybe that's all you want to show
for an academic report. Or if your graphic is just a supplement to a more
important body of writing, it could be better to not detract from what you
want people to focus on. Figure 9-7 shows a generic bar plot that is about
as plain as plain can be.
If, however, you do want to display your graphic prominently, a quick color
change can make all the difference. Figure 9-8 is just Figure 9-7 with dif-
ferent background and foreground colors.
A darker color scheme might be used for a somber topic, whereas a
brighter color scheme can feel more happy-go-lucky (Figure 9-9).
Of course, you don't always need a theme. You can use a neutral color pal-
ette if you like, as shown in Figure 9-10.