data-viz-workshop-2021

When to dress and decorate your plot?

Decorations can sometimes be helpful when your readers are non-scientific.

Say that your anniversary is coming up, and you want to draw a plot to make your spouse happy; you know that red and only red is their favorite color. To impress your spouse, you create a line diagram showing how your love for them doubles yearly. At this time, if you draw a plot with a light red background, red line diagram, red dots, red rose, and red teddy bear, your visualization is highly effective. It has done its job. Perfectly!

• Decorations matter! Decorations help us remember a plot!

• Decorations reach deeper into our minds and help us remember the visual.

• Decorated plots and charts are usually a good fit for “infographics,” “flyers,” or “brochures” intended for the general audience.

• Decorations can also help a plot align with the story’s theme. For example, a chart showing an ‘improvement’ may be colored green, and one showing ‘violence’ may be colored red.

• It is best to keep your visualizations naked for a scientific audience. However, decorating your plots to a certain extent may be acceptable for posters and video presentations.

No plot is evil! The context, audience, or readers make it effective or ineffective.