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https://github.com/martinctc/ggplot_theme_tester

🎨 A workflow for designing and testing custom ggplot themes
https://github.com/martinctc/ggplot_theme_tester

Last synced: 4 months ago
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🎨 A workflow for designing and testing custom ggplot themes

Host: GitHub
URL: https://github.com/martinctc/ggplot_theme_tester
Owner: martinctc
Created: 2020-05-09T17:46:19.000Z (almost 5 years ago)
Default Branch: master
Last Pushed: 2020-06-13T17:01:36.000Z (over 4 years ago)
Last Synced: 2024-08-06T03:04:02.989Z (7 months ago)
Language: R
Homepage:
Size: 1.04 MB
Stars: 32
Watchers: 5
Forks: 1
Open Issues: 0
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md

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README

        # 🎨 ggplot theme tester

## About

The aim of this project is to **optimise a workflow for designing and testing custom ggplot themes in R.** 

This project is for you if you are developing ggplot2 themes, or trying to figure out how a theme looks on a variety of plots (or a variety of themes on a plot). This project is built on the `purrr` workflow from this [blog post](https://martinctc.github.io/blog/vignette-generate-your-own-ggplot-theme-gallery/).

Sample output from `theme_executive()`:

![](/examples/example_executive.png)

---

### Pre-requisites

You don't need much to get started:

- {tidyverse} (essential) 

- {patchwork} (essential)

- RStudio (recommended)

- {extrafont} (recommended)

{extrafont} enables you to use a much wider range of fonts in your ggplots. If you have never initialised {extrafont} before, I recommend you to run the following lines of code. You'll only need to do this once:

```r

install.packages("extrafont")

extrafont::font_import()

extrafont::loadfonts(device = "win")

```

This process of loading the fonts can take around 5 minutes, but I assure you it is well worth it.¹ After the process is completed, you will just need to load the {extrafont} library with `library(extrafont)` to use the desired fonts in ggplot.

---

### Workflow Basics

You can get started by cloning this repository, using GitHub Desktop or cloning it the traditional way using git. Open the `.Rproj` file in the main directory with RStudio, and open/save your scripts in the `scripts` folder (Don't use `setwd()`!).²

1. Load {tidyverse} and {extrafont} to ensure all ggplot2 features and fonts are available in the design and testing process.

2. Use `source()` to load in the pre-built ggplot objects from the `base_plots` folder. These are basically simple plots created with {ggplot2} to be used for designing and testing the themes you are creating. You can create more complicated base ggplots for testing if you prefer.

3. Create your ggplot theme as a function, and save the R file under "themes". In the main script, use `source()` again to load in the theme you've created. 

4. Run the test function to iterate through how your theme would look like with different base plot configurations. In this workflow, I use {patchwork} to combine the plots for easy viewing.

---

### Quick Example

Here is an example using the `theme_dbz()` theme that I used on the plots from my blog post [Data cleaning with Kamehamehas in R](https://martinctc.github.io/blog/data-cleaning-with-kamehamehas-in-r/):

```r

library(tidyverse)

library(patchwork)

library(extrafont)

#### Load base plots ####

source("base_plots/base_plots.R")

#### Design theme ####

source("themes/theme_dbz.R")

#### test themes ####

test_themes <- function(plots,

                        theme,

                        theme_label){

  plots +

    theme +

    labs(subtitle = theme_label)

  

}

#### Run plots ####

base_plots %>%

  map(test_themes,

      theme = theme_dbz(),

      theme_label = "theme: theme_dbz()") %>%

  reduce(`+`)

```

And here is the result:

![](examples/example_dbz.png)

---

### Theme Gallery

I am using this project for my personal use in developing themes. Please feel free to explore the themes that I am working on: 

#### FT Theme (`theme_ft()`)

![](examples/example_ft.png)

![](examples/example_ft2.png)

#### Executive Theme (`theme_executive()`)

![](/examples/example_executive.png)

![](/examples/example_executive2.png)

Apart from themes, another feature that is being incorporated into this workflow is the ability to develop colour palettes. Currently, there is a `brands_pal.R` file that allows you to use the colours of some well-known brands:

##### Microsoft: `scale_colour_brands(palette = "msft")`

![](/examples/example_executive2_msft.png)

##### Instagram: `scale_colour_brands(palette = "ig")`

![](/examples/example_executive2_ig.png)

##### Google: `scale_colour_brands(palette = "google")`

![](/examples/example_executive2_google.png)

#### Dark DBZ Theme (`theme_dbz()`)

![](/examples/example_dbz.png)

![](/examples/example_dbz2.png)

#### Economist Theme (`ggthemes::theme_economist()`)

You can also apply this workflow to themes in existing packages. Here is the Economist theme from {ggthemes}

![](/examples/example_economist.png)

![](/examples/example_economist2.png)

---

¹. For more information on the installation process, please see this Stack Overflow thread: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/34522732/changing-fonts-in-ggplot2

² See https://martinctc.github.io/blog/rstudio-projects-and-working-directories-a-beginner's-guide/.