About the project
Welcome aboard! This is where you will find my first public GitHub project: the Tableau Preferences file which contains the colors used in the IBM Design Language Color palette.
As a Data Analyst with a graphic design background, I was a little underwhelmed with the color options that come baked into Tableau by default. Many of the color options were not attention grabbing or accessible enough, in my opinion. Tableau also limits users to only 16 custom colors inside their desktop application if they want to use specific hex color codes, and this was simply not enough for this designer. Thus, I set out on a quest to import additional color themes for more beautiful visualizations.
I researched many companies design systems, and found IBM Design Language to be one of the best. From there, I edited the Preferences.tps file within a text editor, and added their hex color codes to the settings.
By using this preference file for Tableau, you will have access to the entire library of colors seen within the IBM Design Language color palette. You will find a wide variety of palettes useful for data visualization, including categorical, sequential, and diverging.
Project results
The result? 384 lines of PLSQL code injected into your Tableau Repository settings.
When Tableau is launched, the following color options are now there:
The upside to have these colors readily available has been immense. Mainly, it has:
- Brought a more uniform look to all of our dashboards, across many internal companies, and across client work.
- Increased dashboard development time by removing the guess work (read: time) of picking colors.
- Made our data visualizations more accessible by adhering to color theory and accessible color best practices.
- Allowed me to craft dashboards that grab the attention of key stakeholders.
If you would like to download this file and add it to your Tableau Repository, visit this project on my GitHub here.
