Mapping Color to Meaning in Colormap Data Visualizations
Summary
Viewers read darker as more — unless a map looks semi-transparent, and then more opaque reads as more.
The practical upshot: use ramps that look opaque on any background, and put high values at the dark end.
- Resource: Mapping Color to Meaning in Colormap Data Visualizations
- By: Karen B. Schloss, Connor C. Gramazio, A. Taylor Silverman, Madeline L. Parker & Audrey S. Wang
- Published: 2018
- Kind: writing (article)
- Level: intermediate
- Tags: color-scales, perception, data-viz, scientist, designer, research