Choosing Chart Colors: A Decision Framework for Data Teams
A practical decision framework for choosing chart colors. Covers data type, audience, accessibility, brand alignment, and common pitfalls.
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Tags: color, data-visualization, design
Choosing Chart Colors: A Decision Framework for Data Teams Most color debates in data teams happen because there's no shared decision process. Someone picks colors that feel right, someone else overrides with brand colors, an analyst requests "something more readable," and weeks later three versions of the same chart exist with different palettes. This guide provides a structured decision framework that produces consistent, defensible color choices without debating aesthetics. Work through the questions in order: data type → scale type → palette → accessibility → export. Step 2: Sequential or Diverging? For quantitative data, the critical question is whether there's a meaningful midpoint. Meaningful midpoint examples: Budget variance: zero = on budget. Values above and below mean…
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