Re: stacked bar charts [was: Re: st: RE: Features for Stata 14]

[Nick Cox <njcoxstata@gmail.com>]

Thanks for highlighting this. The following points are offered as
elementary but fundamental on use of colour [color, if you prefer]:

1. For ordered sequences, rainbow or spectral sequences don't work
well, whatever the underlying physics. Consider whether red - orange -
yellow - green - blue - indigo - violet is a sequence of colours you
would choose if you didn't know about rainbows or electromagnetism.

2. Red and green together are problematic for so many people that
avoiding them  as a combination should be a matter of course.

3. Strong colours work best only when used in small quantities.

4. Be wary of a colour combination in your graphs that you (or your
partner, if possessed of more taste) would not allow in your home.

5. A sequence from (strong) blue to (strong) red often works well and
matches many cultural or other conventions about what is (e.g.) good,
bad, positive, or negative.

6. A sequence of various grays often works well too.


Nick
njcoxstata@gmail.com


On 19 February 2014 15:51, Ronan Conroy <rconroy@rcsi.ie> wrote:
> Note the neat trick in Nick's example for grading the colours in your chart by using different intensities of the same colour.
>
> bcolor(blue*.2) produces a 20% blue and yes, bcolor(blue*2) produces an extra intense blue.
>
> It's one of the things I wish I had known earlier.
>
> r
>
>
>
>
> Prof. Ronan Conroy
> Associate Professor of Biostatistics
>
>
> RCSI Department of Epidemiology and Public Health Medicine
> Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
> Lower Mercer Street, Dublin 2, Ireland
> T: 01-402-2431
> E: rconroy@rcsi.ie  W: www.rcsi.ie
>
> RCSI DEVELOPING HEALTHCARE LEADERS
> WHO MAKE A DIFFERENCE WORLDWIDE
> On 2014 Feabh 18, at 16:29, Nick Cox wrote:
>
>> . catplot rep78 foreign, asyvars stack percent(foreign) ///
>> bar(1, bcolor(red*0.4)) bar(2, bcolor(red*0.2)) ///
>> bar(3, bcolor(blue*0.2)) bar(4, bcolor(blue*0.4)) bar(5, bcolor(blue*0.6)) ///
>> legend(row(1))
>
> Ronán Conroy
> rconroy@rcsi.ie
> Associate Professor
> Division of Population Health Sciences
> Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
> Beaux Lane House
> Dublin 2
>
>
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