Data visualization is a pivotal task in the job of a data scientist. matplotlib is one of the most widely used Python data visualization libraries. Being developed in late 1990's to mimic look and feel of Matlab -- then de-facto standard, matplotlib graphs suffer several problems. seaborn is an attempt to solve such problems, and to provide other improvements. This module uses seaborn to create plotting themes that meet WordPress.com color scheme, as well as several other enhancements.

WorPress.com colors are based on the specifications mentioned in the design handbook. Missing colors were added using the excellent iwanthue service.

WorPress.com color definitions reside in a8c_colors.py.

Importing a8c_styling also imports seaborn and sets the plotting style to a8c_styling.a8c_style.

import a8c_styling
import seaborn as sns
from matplotlib import pylab as plt

plt.figure()
a8c_styling.sinplot(4) #this is how a default plot looks like

This is the result:

Some parameters cannot be changed by the means of set_style. Thus, a8c_styling provides several convenience functions and definitions:

plt.figure()
a8c_styling.sinplot(4)
plt.ylabel('this is Y',
           **a8c_styling.ylabelparams) #horizontal label for
                                    #more readability
plt.title('This is an improved title', **a8c_styling.axtitleparams)
a8c_styling.cleanup()

This is the final design:

GPLv2+