1.
MAKING
EFFECTIVE FIGURES
ZACHARY LABE | 20 JULY 2021 | REU PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT | COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY

2.
Polar Amplification: acceleration of
warming in high latitudes relative to
the rest of the globe

3.
Warmer
Colder
NOW
Start of
satellite-era

4.
Polar Amplification:
acceleration of warming in
high latitudes relative to
the rest of the globe

5.
DATA VISUALIZATION
IS STORY-TELLING.

6.
DON’T BE
SUCH A
SCIENTIST
WE ARE
DATA
SCIENTISTS
ART BY JILL PELTO

7.
Landscape of Change uses data
about sea level rise, glacier volume
decline, increasing global
temperatures, and the increasing use
of fossil fuels. These data lines
compose a landscape shaped by
the changing climate, a world in
which we are now living.
Jill Pelto|http://www.jillpelto.com/landscape-of-change
“
”

8.
BEGINNING WITH
OUR DATA.

9.
LINE GRAPHS
Temperature
Anomaly
(°C)

10.
:)

11.
MAP PLOTS

12.
YIKES!

13.
YIKES – FONT IS BLEH!

14.
YIKES – COLOR!

15.
MAP PROJECTION!

16.
:)

17.
HAVE FUN!

18.
SURPRISINGLY EFFECTIVE.

19.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-CT) - Time to Wake Up: Climate Progress Speech (3/21/2018)

20.
DANISH
METEOROLOGICAL
INSTITUTE

21.
SCIENCE OF DESIGN.

22.
#endrainbow
Check out: https://betterfigures.org/2018/06/04/playing-hunt-the-discontinuity/

23.
SCHNEIDER
AND
NOCKE,
2017

24.
SCHNEIDER
AND
NOCKE,
2017

25.
SCHNEIDER
AND
NOCKE,
2017

26.
SCHNEIDER
AND
NOCKE,
2017

27.
SCHNEIDER
AND
NOCKE,
2017

28.
Adapted from Ed Hawkins at betterfigures.org

29.
Crameri, F. (2018). Scientific colour maps.
Zenodo. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1243862
Crameri, F. (2018), Geodynamic diagnostics, scientific
visualisation and StagLab 3.0, Geosci. Model Dev., 11, 2541-
2562, doi:1 0.5194/gmd-11-2541-2018
Crameri, F., G.E. Shephard, and P.J. Heron (2020), The
misuse of colour in science communication, Nature
Communications, 11, 5444. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-19160-7
Palettable:
Color palettes for Python

30.
Crameri, F. (2018). Scientific colour maps.
Zenodo. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1243862
Crameri, F. (2018), Geodynamic diagnostics, scientific
visualisation and StagLab 3.0, Geosci. Model Dev., 11, 2541-
2562, doi:1 0.5194/gmd-11-2541-2018
Crameri, F., G.E. Shephard, and P.J. Heron (2020), The
misuse of colour in science communication, Nature
Communications, 11, 5444. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-19160-7

31.
OTHER OPTIONS
THYNG ET AL. 2016; OCEANOGRAPHY

32.
CMOCEAN

33.
CMASHER
“Scientific colormaps for making accessible,
informative and cmashing plots”

34.
Adjusting axes (spines)

35.
Changing font styles

36.
https://github.com/zmlabe

37.
1. Seaborn.
2. Plotly.
3. ggplot.
4. Matplotlib v3.
ALTERNATIVES

38.
1. https://betterfigures.org/
2. https://www.climate-lab-book.ac.uk/
3. http://colorbrewer2.org/
RESOURCES

39.
Future minus Pre-Industrial PEINGS ET AL. 2021, JCLI
Bring drama to your data story

40.
2-m
TEMPERATURE
Future minus Pre-Industrial PEINGS ET AL. 2021, JCLI

41.
2-m
TEMPERATURE
Future minus Pre-Industrial PEINGS ET AL. 2021, JCLI

42.
2-m
TEMPERATURE
Future minus Pre-Industrial PEINGS ET AL. 2021, JCLI

43.
2-m
TEMPERATURE
Future minus Pre-Industrial PEINGS ET AL. 2021, JCLI

44.
2-m
TEMPERATURE
Future minus Pre-Industrial PEINGS ET AL. 2021, JCLI

45.
2-m
TEMPERATURE
Future minus Pre-Industrial PEINGS ET AL. 2021, JCLI

46.
2-m
TEMPERATURE
Future minus Pre-Industrial PEINGS ET AL. 2021, JCLI

47.
MAKING ACCESSIBLE
FIGURES.

48.
ACCESSIBILITY

49.
ACCESSIBILITY

50.
ACCESSIBILITY

51.
ACCESSIBILITY
No jargon
Tell a story
Alternative text
Color contrast ratio
Label data directly
Avoid flashing GIFs
Include figure titles
Avoid data overlays
Provide data references

52.
VISUALIZING
GLOBAL
TEMPERATURE
CHANGE

53.
PLOT BY ED HAWKINS

54.
2016 RIO OLYMPICS OPENING CEREMONY

55.
PLOT BY ED HAWKINS
DON’T BE
SUCH A
SCIENTIST
WE ARE
DATA
SCIENTISTS

56.
https://showyourstripes.info/
PLOT BY ED HAWKINS

57.
CHECK:
Simple.
Bold.
Stories.
@ZLabe
Questions!
ZACHARY LABE | 20 JULY 2021 | REU PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT | COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY