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 combinations

Choosing the correct colours

Avoid colour combinations that are especially hard for colour-blind people to see.

Example of colour combinations that should not be used

Examples of how different colour combinations can look to users with normal vision compared with those with Protanopia and Deuteranopia.

Using shades of a single colour

Use various shades of a single colour, instead of multiple colours, to help avoid colour blindness issues. This can be done by varying the luminance or saturation and holding the hue constant.

Example of how to use shades of one colour with varying luminance or saturation

An example of the increasing shades of blue available, from black to bright blue.

Colour-blind people can still perceive contrast, as well as differences in hue, saturation and brightness. Use bright colours which are easier to distinguish rather than dim ones, which tend to blur into one another.

Use larger areas and thicker lines

Some mildly colour-blind people are able to see a colour, but only if there is a sufficient “mass” of it. Use larger areas and thicker lines if possible.