Assignment #8: Experimenting with Color

At this point in the semester you should be settling on a topic and project for your final presentation. This project should stretch over several weeks, and can extend a previous assignment, build on another course project or research project, or be a brand new project. The final project can be an individual or team project.

The task for this week is to experiment with color and texture for visualization a single dataset. After selecting a dataset and a general visualization style, generate a large collection of plots, using a variety of different color and texture schemes. For example:

• Shades of grey

• Black & white

• Flat color, gradient, or textures

• Light vs. dark background

• Target medium: Large screen vs. tiny screen vs. projection vs. printed

• Colorblind aware (e.g., red/green)

• Many colors: cool vs. warm tones, etc.

For each plot, spend a bit of time tuning the visualization to make the data as clear as possible to facilitate data analysis. For each plot, write a paragraph analyzing the effectiveness of the visualization. Also compare the visualizations to each other with respect to the overall motivation and target audience of the visualization.

Target Visualization Stage: Visualization Revision (primary), and Design & Presentation (secondary)

How to Submit

Each student should also submit the same documents plus a plaintext README.txt (using the provided template) to the homework server (homework server info).

Assignment Due: Tuesday April 3rd, 11:59pm