Brand colours
Our brand colours are Primary blue, Dark blue, Back and Light grey. Text in data visualisations should be Black unless a clear visual justification requires the use of one or more other approved brand colours.
Data colours
Ocean (#0077BB) is the primary data colour and must always be used in data visualisations if only one colour is required. This keeps our data visualisations in line with the brand colours but differentiated enough to distinguish branding and data content. The selected colours are colour-blind friendly and provide more contrast than the brand colours.
These colour combinations must be used when the data visualisation contains two or more distinct categories that have no inherent rank or order – for example gender, actor type, or incident type. Select the number of required colours from left to right following either the complementary or analogous order. Any combination of colours may be supplemented with light grey. The choice for complementary or analogous colour order must be consistent for the entire product.
Complementary
Analogous
The number of colours used in a visualisation must be limited to the minimum necessary to convey the information clearly, without distraction, clutter, or risk of misleading the readers. Direct labelling, using patterns and/or shapes as alternative or additional means to differentiate the categories in your visualisation should be considered. Although it is possible to use all seven data colours in a single visualisation, first consider reducing the number of categories in your visualisation by grouping together the least frequent categories, or by splitting your visualisation into small multiples. When too many colour-coded categories are presented in a single visualisation, readers must repeatedly look back and forth between the legend and the data, reducing comprehension speed and accuracy.
Single colour ramps
Use single colour ramps to display ordinal data (categories, ordered). Single colour ramps must only be used when there is a logical order to the different levels of the variable. Single colour ramps must not be used for ordinal data (multiple categories, no order. E.g. gender). Use the blue colour ramp first. Of more ramps are needed, add other colour ramps in order of appearance. For fewer than 7 steps, use colours up to the corresponding number. When displaying text on top of the colours, use black or white as indicated.
Ocean
Coral
Sky
Pine
Gold
Rust
Lavender
Divering colour ramps
Diverging colour ramps are used to visualise two diverging categories with a neutral central point. The data visualised usually has numerical meaning, with the central point taking the value of 0. Additional diverging colour ramps can be created using the interactive colour picker.