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The Glamour of Graphics

Visual metaphor

This lesson is called Visual metaphor, part of the The Glamour of Graphics course. This lesson is called Visual metaphor, part of the The Glamour of Graphics course.

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The website Data Bard has a nice article on visual metaphors.

If you prefer podcast form, Alli Torban's Data Viz Today has an interview with Valentina D'Efilippo about using visual metaphor to evoke emotion.

There is also a fantastic blog post by Alli Torban showing a step-by-step method for developing visual metaphors in dataviz.

Course Content

37 Lessons

What is information design and why does it matter?

Course overview

How to choose a chart

Visual metaphor

Memorability vs. speed of comprehension

Identifying your audience

Data encoding process

Grids, borders, lines

Grids, borders, lines, and axes examples and exercises

Charts in larger layouts

Alignment, white space, and layout of multiple plots examples and exercises

What is typography and why does it matter?

Typographic hierarchy

Good fonts and where to find them

Using custom fonts in R examples and exercises

ggtext examples and exercises

Typography beyond charts

Color examples and exercises

HCL color palettes in ggplot examples and exercises

The color wheel

Color and emotion

The eyedropper tool and color inspiration

Combining ggplot with a vector editor

Resizing plots for export

Finding inspiration

Wrapping Up The Glamour of Graphics