Conceiving and Reasoning Visualization Design Options - Data Visualization: A Successful Design Process - page 99

Don't be afraid to remove or dampen the visible presence of such elements,
particularly as the defaults in many tools are set to black. We are automatically
tempted to make things darker, bolder, more prominent, more imprisoned. Where
possible, minimize, dampen, or even remove some of these chart properties because
we want to let the data stand out and facilitate our "seeing" of its qualities.
This extends to elements like titles. The following are two contrasting title designs
for a visualization project that was undertaken about the history of Olympic speed.
The first title shows a very rich and colorful image comprising a mosaic of all the
posters down the years:
When this version was incorporated on to the main design, it was immediately clear
that it was too visually prominent, drawing too much attention away from the main
data display. By contrast, the second version was much subtler and worked far better
as a cohesive part of the final display:
Image from "Pursuit of Faster" ( http://www.visualisingdata.com/index.php/2012/07/new-
visualization-design-project-the-pursuit-of-faster/ ), by Andy Kirk and Andrew Witherley
There are many deeper and more specific aspects of color theory around the contrast
or relationship between two colors. For example, typically it can be seen that blue on
black is hard for many to discriminate, as is yellow on white. There are also issues
to consider about the unexpected by-product of illusions being created between
different arrangements of colors and shades. Color theory is a huge field and we can
only reasonably scratch the surface in this topic.
To conform to design requirements
The final factor concerning color involves the necessity to incorporate an
organization's visual identity and conforming to predefined color palettes. Wherever
possible, you would always seek to avoid the restrictions to color choice, but often
this will simply not be possible. Just imagine some of the major corporations in
the world and their brand identities and you'll immediately be able to envision the
definitive color palettes.