r5

“The Purpose of data visualization–any data visualization–is to illuminate data. To show patterns and relationships that are otherwise hidden in an impenetrable mass of numbers.”

• Is the only explicit purpose of data visualization to reveal the meaning of an “impenetrable mass of numbers?” Are data visualizations with any sort of design bias not doing their job properly? What about data visualizations that represent a relatively small data set but shed a new light on the information or make a commentary about scale? Does that fall under the category of “impenetrable?”

How do the different color spaces speak to each other / are there pros and cons to using different spaces for different media or is there one that is objectively the most useful? Is RBG really as flawed as Simmon makes it sound?

Many of Simmon’s points apply only to data visualizations in which many colors are needed – is it important to use vastly differentiable colors on a smaller scale? If a designer is working with a palette of two or three colors, is it necessary to have them be evenly spread out along the spectrum, even if the colors lose relevance to the subject matter?