Leonardo

In "Envisioning Information", Edward Tufte penned this oft-quoted opine regarding the act of choosing colors: "avoiding catastrophe becomes the first principle in bringing color to information: Above all, do no harm."

Choosing colors, in general, is hard (just ask any couple endlessly perusing swatches at a Sherwin Williams store). Choosing colors with the goal of information presentation is especially hard since an additional constraints usually include the need to distinguish one element from another, whether it be for user experience (UX) elements or data visualizations.

Contrast ratio — a measurement of the visual difference (perceived "luminance" or brightness) between two colors — plays a key role when designing color systems or palettes. This is true for humans with "perfect" vision, but even more important for humans with limited color vision. Oh, and about that perfect vision, it isn't so "perfect":

You've likely guessed that the grays in the above image are the exact same gray, down to the opacity value. Our brains fill in many gaps when perceiving the visual world, and context matters quite a bit when it comes to our color perception. To put it another way, our perception of luminance in displayed areas is influenced by the surroundings to which the area appears to belong.

The topic of contrast is a core element of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). While clear and accessible web design is important, the same principles are also important when it comes to using colors in charts and other data visualizations (datavis).

I tend to lean too heavily on the Viridis color maps in my datavis projects (erring on the side of accessibility at the cost of creativity), which is why I got all kinds of excited when Leonardo (GH) — an open source color generator for creating adaptive color palettes based on target contrast ratio — added a new tool section for creating color palettes for datavis. (You can read about the entire set of new capabilities in Leonardo in an introductory blog post by Adobe's Nate Baldwin.)

For folks who may "just want to pick some colors, gosh darnit", the user interface may appear a bit daunting as it uses domain language/acronyms, like "color space", paired with possibly unfamiliar analysis tools:

The links in this section should help with groking both definitions/acronyms and analysis tools.

When you find the mix of aesthetics and accessibility you're aiming for, you can copy the generated palette values directly from the interface or download them in Tableau XML, SVG colors, or (depending on the type of scale) an SVG gradient.

R users can find helpers to read the SVG palettes up on my personal site, and I further encourage you to check out the {colorspace} package which is a toolbox for manipulating and assessing colors and palettes and paires nicely with, and is also powerfully independent of Leonardo.

Go forth and make thing colorful and accessible!

Seeing With Fresh Eyes: Meaning, Space, Data, Truth

Somehow, I missed the publication of Tufte's latest book last year, so I took the opportunity to grab it in time for my funemployment week so I could sink into it a bit more than I have previous ones. As usual, it is chock full of every type of data visualization one can imagine, with more than a few that chart various bits about the pandemic.

I've always had the sense that Tufte wanted readers to be careful/smart about choices they make when creating information displays (ref: the bit about color, above), but has no wish for us to stifle creativity or challenge convention (when appropriate).

This book is almost all "challenge convention", or at least "challenge assumptions" and use our "thinking eyes". There's some great stuff just in the preface:

Thinking eyes of this world, empirical, specific, ..practical, self-aware; asking, disbelieving, challenging:

• How do [you/I/they] really know that?

• How could [you/I/they] possible ever know that?

though, the way just those were are presented on the page in the book make them all the more powerful.

I'm about a third of the way through it, so stay tuned for a larger commentary on it. I'm finding it an inspiring resource as I embark on a new life journey at GreyNoise, and I'm going to do my best to bring my "thinking eyes" with me next Monday.

If you've already read this book, please let everyone know what you think about it in the comments section.

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Colors Of The Year

Sometimes, one has to hand it to marketing gurus, since I'm fairly certain only folks from that profession can turn something as innocuous as a single color and turn that into an annual campaign blitz.

Pantone's (I'm not going to link to them at all in this post due to their daft stance that they can trademark a colors) "Color Institute" started declaring a "color of the year" back in 2000, and has managed to keep up the tradition to this day. Their color selection doesn't usually make the front page of The New York Times, but design content publishers will usually blog about it, and their color choice often makes it to the "human interest" segment on local news/radio stations.

The point of turning this insignificance into an extravaganza was to sell more paint. I guess it worked, because at some point they started partnering with designers and makers of furniture and accessories to ensure there were complementary products and services to also burn your disposable income on as you were dropping a few Benjamins on Pantone's tins of transformation.

There is also other evidence that it worked. If imitation is truly the sincerest form of flattery, then Pantone must be overjoyed, given the plethora of competitors who, too, have jumped on the annual bandwagon. Let's take a look at what these companies feel are the collective zeitgeist for 2022:

• Benjamin Moore chose "October Mist 1495" "so Make room for creativity Evoking the silver-green stem of a flower, October Mist creates a canvas for other colors - and your imagination — to blossom."

• Sherwin Williams selected "Evergreen Fog" becase it is "soothing, subtle, and a perfect shade to freshen up any space."

• Behr picked "Breezeway" since "the link between home and the action that awaits you."

• Glidden was likely hungry when they picked Guacamole as the #1 color spot, though they say it was because "spirited yet soothing green brings an organic energy to any space, which is needed because we all know you’ve probably killed at least three plants this year."

• Dutch Boy calls their annual selections "forecasts" and also just plainly states this year's "Cypress Garden" is a "muted green and get proven one-coat coverage when you do."

• Dunn-Edwards may have been sniffing glue when they picked "Art and Craft" for this year's fav color, especially since they even wrote a poem for it: "I am the past. And the promise of a new future. Look inside. Find the universe in the details and make your mark on this world. I’ll be here. Just as I always have.”.

• PPG Paints drew "Olive Sprig" out of hat because it is "a midtone, neutral, lush green with an organic green undertone. It is a perfect paint color for any interior space."

• Graham & Brown took time to "Breathe", so they could have the stamina to kick out the longest color selection rationale of the entire list: "Our colour of the Year 2022 truly is a breath of fresh air! Breathe is a soothing mid blue, perfect for creating calm and peaceful spaces which is exactly what we all need for the year ahead. Dark enough to add colour and depth but light enough to remain refreshing, this tranquil shade can be used almost anywhere in the home. Pair with crisp whites and cool greys for an airy feel or try partnering with deeper blues to create a moody hideaway."

• Dulux appears to be pretty optimistic about 2022 due to the fact that they named their pick "Blue Skies", calling it "n airy and fresh tone that opens up and breathes new life into any space."

• Minwax is describing "Gentle Olive" in a very culinaryesque way: "Rooted in nature with hints of sage green and subtle gray. Gentle Olive brings an optimistic, meditative mood to any room." I'd be more careful if I were them as some of their customers may think it's liquor or wine, vs paint, and start downing it.

• Krylon has always had what I thought was a solid, almost brutalist name company name, which is in stark contrast to their choice of "Satin Rolling Surf" as the name of this year's offering. Subtitled "Optimistic Outlook", Krylon should think of opening a counseling center with this type of description: "The depth of this blue taps into mental well-being, connecting with optimism and hope, and helping set a sense of stability and balance through refreshed DIY projects."

• Valspar kinda cheated, a bit, offering twelve colors and not singling one out as the winner. The most prevalent color on the landing page is "Mountain River", so I'm calling that their pick. I think they may want to avoid using a first year English major intern next time round for their commentary: "As the world is constantly evolving, we crave consistency. This deep blue helps things feel familiar with a touch of luxe."

The swatch grid at the top, made from all these colors (in order), seems…pretty dull to me. I realize they're each in the "muted" category, and we definitely have had enough excitement over the past few years, but I kinda wish these companies livened things up a bit.

FIN

I’m a little sad about the Substack platform’s minimalist approach to publishing. I 💙 constraints, but I failed to test what I had composed in my markdown editor before posting the rendered story in here and it made all my efforts to color each paint company name with their chosen color of the year for naught:

Sigh. At least I know that now, and:

Remember, if you do engage in the comments, please be civil. ☮

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