Red Dock Palette
Part of the theYvonne Palette Library. See all palettes: Genderly Inclusive | Genderly | IronOcean | Twilight Coast | Red Dock | Crimson Brick
Palette Details
| Background | #FFFFFF | White |
| Title | #48304D | English Violet |
| Line | #48304D | English Violet |
| Footer | #000000 | Battleship Gray |
| Average | #D5D5D5 | Light Gray |
| Below Average | #E15759 | Indian Red |
| Above Average | #76B7B2 | Green Sheen |
Reading time: 37 secs
Usage
Highlight data is Above Average, Below Average, and Average
Description
This palette was created for a data set with data split into three groups: Above Average, Below Average, and Average. Since the data, which is average, is not essential to the story of a Light Gray ( #D5D5D5 ) color was used. Below Average used a red shade (Indian Red #E15759), while Above-average used Blue tone (Green Sheen #76B7B2).
The story behind Red Dock:
Red Dock was created for the Project Health Viz 2021 challenge on nursing salaries, where the data needed to show three clear states: above average, below average, and within the average range. The palette design challenge was to make those three states immediately readable without the below-average color reading as alarming, since in many cases a below-average salary is explained by lower regional cost of living rather than unfair pay.
That constraint ruled out a bright warning red. Indian Red (#E15759) was chosen instead, a softer red that signals difference without triggering an alarm response. Green Sheen (#76B7B2), a muted blue-green, represents above average without using a saturated green that would imply a strong positive judgment. Light Gray (#D5D5D5) recedes visually for the average category, keeping attention on the outliers.
What each color does:
Indian Red (#E15759): below average, signals difference without alarm Green Sheen (#76B7B2): above average, positive but not emphatic Light Gray (#D5D5D5): average, visually neutral and recessive English Violet (#48304D): titles and key text White (#FFFFFF): background.
Hex codes (copyable):
#E15759 Indian Red #76B7B2 Green Sheen #D5D5D5 Light Gray #48304D English Violet #FFFFFF White
When to use Red Dock:
Ideal for any three-category visualization where your groups are above average, below average, and average, or any similar above/middle/below structure. Works well for salary data, performance comparisons, benchmark reporting, and any dataset where the middle category is less important than the outliers.
Tableau Palette Code
Add the code snippet to your Preferences.tps, a xml file found in My Tableau Repository folder in your Documents directory. I typically Place above the </preferences> tag at the end. You can use a text or xml editor.
Tableau Code Snippet
<color-palette name="theYvonne Red Dock" type="regular" >
<color>#48304D</color>
<color>#E15759</color>
<color>#76B7B2</color>
<color>#D5D5D5</color>
<color>#8B8B8B</color>
<color>#FFFFFF</color>
</color-palette>
Preferences.tps Example File
Reference
Color Palette Information
To see all palettes I have designed for specific data analysis situations, review the Color Palette Portfolio Page. For more color palette tools and resources for data visualization, visit the Color Palette section of the Resources page — including tools specifically designed for accessible and inclusive design.
Example Viz
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