Cédric Scherer
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cedricscherer.com
Cédric Scherer
@cedricscherer.com
5.7K followers 690 following 360 posts
🧙‍♂️✨📊

Independent Data Visualization Designer, Consultant & Instructor | available for projects and workshops

All things data & design with #rstats, #ggplot2, #Figma, #DataWrapper, #Flourish, and more

Co-Founder of the #30DayChartChallenge
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cedricscherer.com
Richard takes wonderful photographs!
More here: www.instagram.com/richard.stro...
A screenshot of Richard's gallery on Instagram
October 28, 2025 at 4:44 PM
cedricscherer.com
This and the previous posts showcase this new template — first with the blue corporate palette, then with a few suggested alternatives derived from the brand colors but adjusted for a smooth, linear lightness progression.

#dataviz #colors
The same photo-profile-heatmap setup for three variants of sequential color palettes using the brand colors as a starting point (blue-cyan purple-cyan, and blue-purple-pink gradients with increasing luminance).
October 28, 2025 at 4:42 PM
cedricscherer.com
Today, I extended my framework: the template now also shows the lightness profile and a generic heatmap using the same palette.

The latter is inspired by the Palette Finder from Yan, that is integrated into our latest #ggplot2 [un]charted lesson.
👉 www.ggplot2-uncharted.com/module2/pale...
The same color palette with inconsistent changes and two alternatives with linear scaling using the template: the recolored photo, an area chart showing the lightness profile and a heatmap illustrating the use of the palette for data visualization.
October 28, 2025 at 4:40 PM
cedricscherer.com
It’s simple: applying the palette to the lightness values of a photo makes color gradient issues impossible to ignore.

A corporate palette that looks great in a brand guide can quickly fall apart on an image: abrupt jumps, lost detail, strange banding.
A blue-shaded version of the photo with inconsistent changes in lightness. Two generic heatmaps below compare that palette with a well-designed gradient with linear change in lightness.
October 28, 2025 at 4:35 PM
cedricscherer.com
🦧📉 Why are there colorful apes in my #dataviz workshops?

📸 The photo taken years ago by my friend Richard Strozynski has become a tradition in my client projects and courses.

I like to recolor it with different palettes to show how palette design affects perception.

Thread 👇
A photograph of two apes (mother holds her child) and three recolored versions of the same phtograph using three palettes of different quality.
October 28, 2025 at 4:32 PM
cedricscherer.com
🌏 A compact snapshot on where people live around the globe (2023 data) — over 60% of #humans live in #Asia!

I originally created a more basic version for our new #ggplot2 [un]charted lesson on 🎨 "Color Choice" to discuss color accessibility:
👉 www.ggplot2-uncharted.com/module2/colo...
A treemap showing the world’s population by country, grouped by continent. Each rectangle’s area represents a country’s estimated 2023 population, with labels on the 10% most populous countries. Asia dominates with over 60% of the global population, followed by Africa, the Americas, Europe, and Oceania.
October 22, 2025 at 3:56 PM
cedricscherer.com
📸 Fun photoshoot yesterday!

Finally updating the profile pic and those “hard at work” photos.

Behind-the-scenes outtake: new office, new favorite mug, new kitten… and me, mid-shrug, wondering how people do this gracefully 😄🤷
A photograph from the photo shooting with me sitting on the couch in my office with headphones and one of our cats next to me, shrugging.
October 17, 2025 at 12:43 PM
cedricscherer.com
Chart crimes are everywhere. I ate it.
A screenshot from the outro of a episode of "Welcome to Gravity Falls" with a swine pointing to a (badly designed) pie chart and the meme text "dis pie chart - i ated it"
August 18, 2025 at 8:46 AM
cedricscherer.com
The virtual #user2025 event takes place today — and our talk "Plot Twist: Adding Interactivity to the Elegance of ggplot2 with ggiraph" airs is lined up next! 🎥

#rstats #ggiraph #ggplot2 #dataviz
Title slide for our talk at useR entitled "Plot Tiwst:Adding interactivity to the elegance of ggplot2 with ggiraph"
August 1, 2025 at 3:49 PM
cedricscherer.com
Find the data 🧐🤓
#dataviz #datatoinkratio
One of many line graphs in the NASA Mariner-Venus Report from 1962. Due to the rather black and bold and many grid lines, the straight lines that show the results (which are also black) are almost invisible.
July 25, 2025 at 11:37 AM
cedricscherer.com
The version in our online "ggplot2 [un]charted" workshop to illustrate how to create partial radial plots with #ggplot2 — part of the lesson "Coordinate Systems: Setting the Stage for Your Plot"

www.ggplot2-uncharted.com/module1/coor...
Screenshot of the gauge chart, along with the code in our interactive in-browser sandbox in the coordinate lesson of our course "ggplot2 uncharted".
July 23, 2025 at 3:48 PM
cedricscherer.com
Last week, I crafted my first-ever gauge chart 🏎️ to showcase partial radial plots for our #ggplot2 [un]charted lesson on "coordinate systems"

Thanks to coord_radial(), partial circles like those are super easy now — and of course I couldn’t resist making a polished and animated version 💅📽️ #rstats
July 23, 2025 at 3:43 PM
cedricscherer.com
Two redesigns of the cluttered bar chart on Europe’s largest urban areas 📊

Two reworked variants — same data, different goals:
show the data vs. tell a story.

Decluttering, refocusing, adding context, and using visual emphasis can turn a chart into insight.

#dataviz #ggplot2 #rstats #tidyverse
A collage of a decluttered, colorful bar chart and two reworked version — one with ranked vertical bars, all with the same weight, and a cleaner theme direct labels. and a more descriptive title, and the other with a key message highlighting the 7th ranked urban area Berlin in both the title, and the chart itself.
July 18, 2025 at 2:57 PM
cedricscherer.com
It's always fun to create bad charts for workshops 🤪
#retro #dataviz #workshop #ggplot2 #rstats
A retro-vibe bar chart with many colors and a grey theme with too many labels, grid lines, and font styles, rotated labels, a superfluous legend and more.
July 17, 2025 at 8:55 AM
cedricscherer.com
Why do we 💙 #ggplot2?

Yes, it's for the Grammar!

But also for the passionate and supportive community — and their steady contributions to the ggplot2 universe: all the extension packages 🧩 that take its impressive flexibility even further, making it more powerful and beautiful 🙌
#rstats #tidyverse
A collage of colorful hex logos from popular ggplot2 extension packages. Each hex represents an R package that expands ggplot2’s functionality. The overall layout celebrates the diversity and creativity of the ggplot2 ecosystem — while being able to just show a tiny sample from it.
July 14, 2025 at 4:04 PM
cedricscherer.com
Working on the latest #ggplot2 [un]charted lesson about “Handling Caveats When Mapping Variables,” I let loose a bit

The sections ended up fun — yes, and maybe a bit silly at times 🤡

Highlight:
a new #aesthetics anthem as a memorable mnemonic 🎶

Out now for members!
www.ggplot2-uncharted.com
A screenshot of the anthem (and the introductory text to understand the context): Again, ask yourself: Am I setting or mapping? Now, repeat with me...     🎶 🎶 Columns inside, constants out —   That's what aes() is all about 🎶 🎶   
June 6, 2025 at 3:21 PM
cedricscherer.com
New interactive lesson live! 🎉

🎨 Aesthetics: Mapping Data to Visual Properties is now live for members of our #ggplot2 [un]charted workshop!

🎮 Drag-and-drop aes game
🔍 Aesthetics Explorer
🏆 6 exercises

Learn now 👉 ggplot2-uncharted.com/module1/aest...

#dataviz #datavis #rstats #tidyverse
Screenshot of the header of the third lesson in module 1, "Foundations of ggplot2", of our interactive online course ggplot2 [un]charted. A screenshot of the drag-and-drop game: users can pick columns from the mpg data set and move them to the x or y aesthetic. The code and plot below updates accordingly! One of many interactive code examples that make use of our in-browser sandboxes that allow users to modify and run the code to learn and play! The latest addition to our features: an interactive data viewer that provides the name, source, description, and a sortable table of the data sets we use in the lessons and exercises.
June 4, 2025 at 9:14 AM
cedricscherer.com
New bonus lesson out now! 🎉

"A Quick Introduction to R" is for all course members that are new to #rstats or need a refresher 🧑‍💻

➕ 7 exercises and lots of in-browser code examples

Part of our interactive workshop #ggplot2 [un]charted 💙
Get access 👉 www.ggplot2-uncharted.com

#dataviz #datascience
A screenshot of the bonus lesson "Getting Started: A Quick Introduction to R" with the title, a short intro and the first part on "Executing R Code". Also shows the first code examples which members can execute inside their browser thanks to our sandboxes.
May 23, 2025 at 3:08 PM
cedricscherer.com
🚀 We'll continuously add new lessons to our interactive online workshop on #ggplot2 💙

We're currently wrapping up “Principles of ggplot2” with fantastic widgets to explore plot components 🖥️

💸 Early-bird discount still on — check it out + share feedback:
www.ggplot2-uncharted.com

#rstats #dataviz
A screenshot of the WIP lesson on principles of ggplot2 showing some of the content and teasing the interactive feature to explore components.
May 16, 2025 at 3:42 PM
cedricscherer.com
Our ggplot2 [un]charted course is live! 🎉

Lesson 1, “Why R and ggplot2?”, is free to explore — short, thoughtful & a bit different.

Get the early-supporter price!
👉 ggplot2-uncharted.com

Follow along as new content drops and learn while running your code in the browser 👩‍💻
Screenshot of the first lesson called"Why R and ggplot2?". The header text reads: Course Foundations of ggplot2 Why R and ggplot? Why R and ggplot2? This lesson shows why programming is so powerful for data visualization. It covers what sets R and ggplot2 apart, highlighting their strengths, trade-offs, and how they compare to other tools. Let's get a clear sense of when and why to use ggplot2! ... and the first paragraphs: 🌍 A World of Visualization Tools Data visualizations are everywhere— on web pages, in reports, and at the heart of dashboards. What used to be a time-consuming, manual process is now much faster, thanks to powerful tools that turn raw data into clear, engaging graphics. But with so many options out there, choosing the right tool can be tough 😔. There are 5 main categories of visualization tools. Some are quick-and-easy chart makers, while others are flexible, code-driven libraries. The right choice depends on factors like data complexity, custom design, and the need for reproducibility. Explore the categories below to find the best fit for your needs! Another screenshot of the lesson, showing the three main reasons to use coding to work with data and create visualizations: 1. reproducibility 2. Customization 3. Automation It also shows a gallery of some of data visualizations such as the circular astronauts plot and the stream graph about appearances of the main X-Men characters.
May 13, 2025 at 3:03 PM
cedricscherer.com
I hope it's fine like this–let me know if you'd like to have some adjustments. And thanks again!
Screenshot of the updated testimonial wall on our course webpage with Jorges post as new testimonial.
May 13, 2025 at 9:35 AM
cedricscherer.com
Excited to launch "ggplot2 [un]charted" with @yan-holtz.bsky.social! 🎉

An online course to master #ggplot2 with exercises, quizzes, and modules—and hands-on code running in your browser!

Still WIP—sign up now for a limited discount:
👉 www.ggplot2-uncharted.com

#rstats #DataViz #DataVisualization
The landing page of the course "ggplot2 uncharted" with the title teasing it with "Master Data Visualizations with ggplot2".
May 12, 2025 at 3:58 PM
cedricscherer.com
Rest well, lovely Lotte ♥️

You brought so much joy, warmth, and love to our home. We’re grateful for all the years we had together and will miss you forever.
A picture from 2020 of our cat Lotte who died last night.
April 22, 2025 at 5:30 PM
cedricscherer.com
Thanks for the note, we forgot to add it to the readme. Just fixed it!
Screenshot of the prompts overview graphic on our GitHub repository.
April 3, 2025 at 1:03 PM
cedricscherer.com
#30DayChartChallenge 2025 — #Day2: Slope

📉 Quick #DataViz for the second day, highlighting the steep drop in favorability of the #USA according to YouGov's EuroTrack survey.

Made in #rstats with #ggplot2 💙

#DataVisualization #Politics #SurveyData #Europe #US #YouGov
Seven slope charts showing changes in favorability of the USA across seven European countries based on YouGov’s EuroTrack surveys from August 2024 and 2025. Each country is represented by a line connecting its favorability rating in 2024 to its rating in 2025(with filled area below). Denmark, Sweden, and Germany show the steepest declines, with drops of 20 percentage points and more. The overall trend highlights a significant decrease in positive sentiment toward the U.S. following Donald Trump’s return to the political stage.
April 2, 2025 at 8:16 PM