ColorBrewer is an online tool for selecting
map color schemes based on palettes created by
Cynthia Brewer.[1] It was launched in 2002 by Brewer, Mark Harrower, and
The Pennsylvania State University. Suggested color schemes are based on data type (sequential, diverging, or qualitative). It also provides options for varied display environments, such as laptop, photocopy, and LCD projector, and
colorblind safe options.[2]
Valid names and a full color representation for each palette are shown below. If this is viewed in a compliant browser, moving the mouse cursor over each box will pop up the corresponding color number as a
tooltip.
Sequential (1-9)
YlGn
YlGnBu
GnBu
BuGn
PuBuGn
PuBu
BuPu
RdPu
PuRd
OrRd
YlOrRd
YlOrBr
Purples
Blues
Greens
Oranges
Reds
Greys
Divergent (1-11)
PuOr
BrBG
PRGn
PiYG
RdBu
RdGy
RdYlBu
Spectral
RdYlGn
Qualitative (1-8/12)
Accent
Dark2
Paired
Pastel1
Pastel2
Set1
Set2
Set3
Applications
Palette chosen by climatologist
Ed Hawkins in his
warming stripes graphics for portraying global warming
Example of a display with warming stripes, at a climate conference
In 2018, climate scientist
Ed Hawkins chose the eight most saturated blues and reds from the ColorBrewer 9-class single-hue palettes in his design of
warming stripes graphics, which visually summarize
global warming as an ordered sequence of stripes.[4]
^Olson, Judy M.; Brewer, Cynthia A. (March 1997). "An Evaluation of Color Selections to Accommodate Map Users with Color-Vision Impairments". Annals of the Association of American Geographers. 87 (1): 103–134.
doi:
10.1111/0004-5608.00043.