Table of contents

  1. Introduction to colour
  2. Using colour in bar charts
  3. Using colour in line charts
  4. Using colour in pie charts
  5. Using colour to connect information
  6. Choosing the right colours
  7. Tools
  8. Colour association
  9. Branding with colour
  10. Accessibility and colours
  11. Colour combinations
  12. Using red and green
  13. Further information about colour theory

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Colour association

What colours are associated with

Certain colours have different meaning associated with them, which will vary dependent on context.

For example:

  • red: caution, anger, love, negative (in finance), hot
  • orange: warm, autumn
  • yellow: happy, fun, young
  • green: nature, calm, good luck
  • blue: stability, professional, cold, trust, intelligence
  • purple: wealth, mystical, decadent
  • brown: rustic, practical, warm, vintage
  • white: sterile, innocence, peace, truth, cleanliness
  • black: sophistication, death, night, contemporary
  • multicolour: international, all inclusive, multicultural

Where appropriate use colours that are naturally associated with the categories they are representing.

Example of pie chart using colours associated with the categories they represent

A pie chart showing types of fruit, where the colours are naturally associated with the fruit, for example, yellow is shown for banana.

Example of pie chart using colours not associated with the categories they represent

A pie chart showing types of fruit, where the colours are not associated with the fruit, for example, blue is used for banana here.

However, you need to be aware of colour association with potentially sensitive topics, for example, political parties. The use of a particular colour can change the context of what you are presenting.