Colour in Data Visualisation

Data visualisation is thinking made visible —
analytical reasoning in visual form, supporting better decisions.

Colour Is Meaning, Not Decoration

Colour in data visualisation is neither decoration nor corporate branding — it is meaning.

Yet many charts still use colour for style or branding rather than meaning:
to decorate (assuming colourful means engaging),
or to apply corporate palette for the sake of a “professional” appearance.

They may look polished — even impressive —
but they shift attention from what the data means to how it looks.
Form over substance.

Decoration and Branding Serve Identity

— Not Insight

Decoration palettes serve aesthetics.
Corporate colours serve identity.
Analytical colours should serve understanding.

Colour is emotionally powerful — but in analytical work, that power only helps when it encodes meaning from the data. Otherwise it becomes noise — attention without understanding.

When used for decoration, it pulls attention toward style instead of substance.
When used for branding, it signals identity rather than insight.
It not only distracts — it can obscure the signals that matter.

Meaning Should Come From the Data

The goal in data visualisation isn’t to make charts in-style or on-brand —
it’s to make them meaningful.
Meaning should come from the data —
not from aesthetics, and not from branding.

A useful question:

“Is this colour expressing meaning — or simply adding impression?”

Let the Data Speak

When colour carries analytical meaning — favourable, unfavourable, or calling attention — insight becomes clearer, faster, and more honest.

Let data speak in its own colours.