#data visualisations

[hier-sind-drachen]

500 years in 59 seconds: the race to be the world's largest city

Fascinating interactive graphic shows changes in the globe’s 10 most populous cities from 1500 to 2018

[architecturedan]

How green is your city? UK's top 10 mapped and ranked

The amount of green space in British cities varies widely, with some three times greener than others. Mapping firm Esri UK analysed Landsat 8 satellite images from spring 2016 for the 10 cities with the largest populations

[livlochmuller]

Infographics for children: what they can learn from data visualisations

Information graphics and visualisations give us a method to use images to describe a story in a way that we can understand. If children want to comprehend the world around them, infographics can do that, writes Simon Rogers

Direction of my infographic would mainly be designed using a child-like technique. These infographics from the Guardian gave me a good idea on colours and layout.

[qlikviewer]

Using Colour in Data Visualisations Effectively

Patrik Lundblad explained a few practical rules about data visualisations that I found very useful. As colour is one of the fundamental elements in data visualisations, adding powerful capabilities for encoding additional information or practically sorting all information, we need to use it to enhance information rather than accidentally overwhelm our audience.

Below are some important rules you need to keep in mind when using colour in data visualisations:

Do not use more than 20 colours in a visualisation. The fewer - the better.

Before using every possible colour to represent different data points, stop and consider human limitations. When it comes to data and associations of colour to specific data points, we need to remember that if we use too many colours, the purpose of colour associations will be dulled. To ensure the viewer can logically understand data, it is safer to stick to fewer than 10 colours.

Use colour to create a sense of belonging within data points.

One of the most effective ways to make use of colour in data visualisations is to show belonging between data points. Splitting up data with colour to show product categories makes it very easy for the viewer to navigate and understand the visualisation.

Image Source

In the graph above, we see how each colour represents a specific year. This category separation ensures that the graph is easy to read and understand

Use consistent colours across various visualisations to indicate relationships between data in different visualisations clearly.

The last practice ensures that all charts that share the same data values are effectively persistent. See the example from Patrik Lundblad’s article below:

In the second graph, we see the relationship between the tree map and the graph is consistent.

Article adapted from http://global.qlik.com/us/blog/posts/patrik-lundblad/data-visualization-foundations-color-by