Color and Information

Based on the fact that human eyes are super sensitive to color variations, it has been a simple and straightforward way to tie color to information, very similar to painting, which is to “put the right color in the right place”. Fundamental uses of color in information design are to label, to measure, to represent or imitate reality, and to enliven or decorate. The combination of different colors is also very important in visualizing information. A good example is Daniel Burnham’s architectural drawing - 1909 Plan of Chicago. It has strong and vivid color spots standing out from a light muted field as background. Even dull mathematical equations and geometry of Euclid’s can be visualized by adding colors to the basic geometry elements, and thus giving readers different ways of approaching and relinking to the dull equations. With color, the information resolution of a computer screen can also be improved. A large quiet background with few spotted bright areas can give interwoven, harmonious, and balanced visualization. Also, color coding of quantity is very sensitive to its context, so that using a right and comfortable visual palette for labels can minimize the distracting and ambiguities in reading.   

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