Bar chart color choices

One color (the default)

Single-color bar charts work for almost every comparison. Pick one mid-saturation color — not too dark, not too light — that complements the rest of your document. Black or near-black bars look authoritative; mid-tones (slate blue, forest green, ochre) feel friendlier; light colors lose the contrast that makes a bar chart readable.

Two colors (highlight + neutral)

When you want the reader's eye to land on a specific bar, color it differently. The rest of the chart stays in a neutral grey or muted version of your accent color. The contrast is the message. Limit yourself to one highlight color per chart — two highlights become noise.

Multiple colors (when categories warrant)

Stacked bars, grouped bars, and segments-within-bars need distinct colors per series. Aim for hues that are visually different (orange, blue, green, purple) rather than shades of one color (light blue, medium blue, dark blue). The latter implies an order that may not exist in your data.

Diverging data

For positive vs negative, use two complementary colors. Blue + orange is the most color-blind-friendly pair. Red + blue works for political / financial contexts where the convention is established. Avoid red + green — about 8% of men have red-green color blindness.

Color-blindness checks

Use a tool like Stark, Sim Daltonism, or the Chrome devtools color-blindness simulator to check your chart. The most common deficiency (deuteranopia) makes red and green look similar. If your chart still reads correctly in deuteranopia simulation, you're probably fine.

Print and dark mode

Charts displayed on screen and printed look different. High-saturation colors print fine but can look harsh on screen; muted colors look great on screen but lose definition in print. If the chart will appear in both contexts, test it in both. Dark mode adds a third version — bars need lighter, less saturated colors against dark backgrounds.