Curated Color Themes & Schemes for Diagrams & Graphs

Boneless magnolia

"Magnolia" by Yun Shouping (惲壽平), National Palace Museum in Taipei. (my photo).

Light neutral (ideal for call-out boxes):

Highlight color:

Simple cell diagram swatch.

Bright roots

Photo by peardg

Highlight color:

Figure I drew for the Ane Lab and this paper.

Night Shift

Photo by Garry Knight

4 separate main dark colors:

Cover I drew for the Ane Lab and this paper.

Live forever

Photo by Rhys Moult

4 separate main light colors:

Highlight color:

Light colors with dark text look nice within a Word doc, like in a grant proposal, but a collection of light colors can wind up looking like a pastel easter egg. This color scheme has a a little funkiness that prevents it from looking like a baby shower.

Content-stripped-out-version of a figure I made for a large grant proposal.

Adobe & Petals

Photo by Carolyn

Highlight color:

General colors:

Light neutral (ideal for call-out boxes):

I've used this general color scheme a lot, and it's always well received.

Part of a poster I made for the Mario Izaguirre-Sierra Lab.

Zot Tones

Mt. Sinai Cemetery photo by Christina Rutz

4 separate main dark colors:

These are carefully calculated to represent four equal, distinct programs that complement each other. The intermediate colors are also nice if some items are in-between programs.

Content-stripped-out-version of a figure I made for a grant proposal.

Kate Baldwin