#SWDchallenge: it's all there in black and white
We always want the key parts of our messages to come through clearly. Since we may only have our audience’s attention for a brief time, we try to emphasize the most vital pieces of our stories.
Color is one of the many tools we have to help us achieve this goal, and it’s one of the best we have. It’s effective because people are naturally able to identify differences in color in a visual, particularly when one color is markedly distinct from the rest. Communication is much easier and more effective when we use color sparingly and with intention.
But what happens when you can’t use color...at all?
Long ago, in my graphic designer days, I was taught to create my sketches, layouts, and wireframes in black-and-white as much as possible, before bringing color into the mix at the very end. The thinking behind this policy was simple: if your design makes sense in black and white, then it is already strong and structured enough to stand on its own, and color could then be used to add layers of value (emotion, focus, vibrance, drama, and so on).
My goals back then as a graphic designer were not the same as my goals today as a data storyteller, but this principle remains the same: constraining ourselves from using color during the creative process forces us to be both inventive and diligent in constructing our communication.
By way of example (and so I get to play along with the challenge as well), here are a few versions of a monochrome communication based on data my wife Jenny and I have gathered through our daily routine of completing the New York Times Crossword via their app.
Without color, and with a single important finding to convey, we could rely on text to get the message across.
We could also show a more detailed breakdown of the data...a scatterplot would let us see information about each of the 105 individual puzzles.
A third option could be to go in a more conceptual direction, where the lack of color in our toolkit leads us to seek out other familiar, attention-getting forms to draw in an audience.
In this case, the inherent visual structure of the crossword puzzle itself can be an effective way to tie the topic of the communication to the data visualization form itself, since a crossword puzzle is somewhat similar to a square-area (or waffle) chart. (I would only use this style in a lower-stakes public-facing scenario, rather than for a critical internal business communication, since it does admittedly test an audience’s tolerance for whimsy.)
These are only a few approaches to creating interesting, communicative, and effective visuals without the benefit of a varied color palette. Experiment with different approaches and see what works best for the message you want to convey to your audience.
the challenge
Your challenge this month is to create a compelling data story that uses a single hue. Within that constraint, you can vary shades, tints, and saturation as much as you like. (What’s the difference among hue, saturation, shades and tints? Check out our “picking the right color” post for a thorough explanation.) We won’t restrict you to ONLY using black, white, and gray (although if you want to go that route, you are more than welcome to do so). You are free to create this story based on a data set of your choosing, with any type of chart or charts you like, in any tool you’re comfortable with. The only caveat is that you cannot use more than one color of the rainbow.
Share your creations in the community by June 30th at 3PM PT. If there's any particular feedback or input that you would find helpful, include that detail in your commentary.
Creativity loves constraints. We can’t wait to see what creative solutions you come up with this month.
resources
While there are not many specific resources for designing in monochrome, here are some tips to get you started.
Many successful logos and branding packages are built on monochromatic color palettes. Even the ones that use multiple hues often have single-hued or black-and-white variations. Explore different organizations’ logos and take notice of how they use shapes, white space, shades, tints, and saturation to make a monochromatic image dynamic.
If you find it difficult to start in one color, try creating your visual in multiple colors first and then desaturate all of the colors (thus turning your visual into grayscale).
Sketching is always a good place to start, but especially so in this particular challenge, since it’s easy to limit yourself to a single color if all you’re using is a pencil and paper!
