Tufte Chapter 5

I agree with Tufte’s arguments that strong, bright colors are the most effective when used sparingly. The example of a 1970 map he showed seem to demonstrate this point, where too much bright colors resulted in a jarring effect. I particularly liked the section where he talked about color theory and how it can be used to extend the perceived visual palette of a design. When I saw the example he gave (a road map), I initially thought the darker red was a different color. However, after reading his explanation I realized it was the same red color outlined with blue. I thought it was interesting how color theory could work to create “new” colors within the limitations of print.

Few

After reading Few’s article, I still maintain my position from last week that adding embellishments to a graph can be an effective means of communicating information. For instance, the study that Few cites demonstrates that people are still able to interpret charts accurately with embellishments, and that decorations actually help with recall of this information. While some embellishments may go too far (e.g. the 2010 sales chart), I think it’s very harsh to assume that any effort to decorate graphs are unnecessary and patronizing to the viewer.