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Infographics & Data Visualization
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Color
This is a nascent list of resources related to using color in visualizations. Many of these resources also include lists of references that are also very useful. If you have suggestions/additions to this list, please let me know.
The basics of color perception and how they relate to data visualization. Even though they are old, still very pertinent:
- Rogowitz, B.E.; Treinish, L.A., (1998, December). Data visualization: the end of the rainbow. Spectrum, IEEE , 35, 12, 52-59.
- Rogowitz, B.E.; Treinish, L.A., (1995). How NOT to Lie with Visualization.
Case studies:
- Borkin, Michelle Anne, Krzysztof Z. Gajos, Amanda Elizabeth Peters, Dimitrios Mitsouras, Simone Melchionna, Frank John Rybicki, Charles Lawrence Feldman, and Hanspeter Pfister. 2011. Evaluation of artery visualizations for heart disease diagnosis. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics 17(12): 2479-2488. (Take away quote from this study, which also compares comprehension of 2D vs. 3D: "...the rainbow color map can significantly reduce a person’s accuracy and efficiency.")
- Phipps, M., Rowe, S. (2010, May). Seeing satellite data. Public Understanding of Science, 19, 3, 311-321.
- Borland, D., Taylor, R.M., (2007). Rainbow Color Map (Still) Considered Harmful. IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, 27, 2, 14-17.
Describes different color tables for sequential, diverging, and qualitative data, along with a selection of appropriate palettes:
- Brewer, Cynthia. (2010). Color Brewer.
- Wijffelaars, M., Vliegen, R., Van Wijk, J. J. and Van Der Linden, E.-J. (2008), Generating Color Palettes using Intuitive Parameters. Computer Graphics Forum, 27: 743–750. [full text]
Other resources
- Using Color in Information Display Graphics
- A rainbow for everyone (How color ranges are seen by users with color vision deficiencies)
