suezalla: A custom ggplot2 theme and colour palette

suezalla is a lightweight R package that provides:

• Custom ggplot2 themes: theme_suezalla(), theme_zombie(), theme_academic1940(), and theme_academic1940_pattern()
• Several curated colour palettes inspired by polaroids, jam jars, retro aesthetics, zombies, and classic scientific graphics
• Pattern fill utilities for ggpattern, including suezalla_academic_style()
• Custom scale functions: scale_colour_suezalla() and scale_fill_suezalla()

These tools help you create clean, consistent, or stylistically bold visualizations with minimal effort.

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Installation

Install the development version of suezalla from GitHub using devtools:

# If not already installed
install.packages("devtools")

# Install suezalla
devtools::install_github("sucanavan/suezalla")

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Available palettes

Use with suezalla_palette(), scale_colour_suezalla(), or scale_fill_suezalla():

Palette	Description	Hex codes (discrete)
polaroid	Soft pastel colours inspired by vintage photography	#45AAB4, #038DB2, #206491, #F9637C, #FE7A66, #FBB45C
vibrant	Bright, high-contrast colours	#FFC567, #FD5A46, #00995E, #FB7DA8, #552CB7, #058CD7
jam	Rich, warm colours reminiscent of jam	#FBC9BE, #DB7B65, #ECB865, #695356, #255F63
corporate	Clean, professional business tones	#23C2A2, #EC3431, #FBDE21, #138ABD, #9BBAFA
lively1	Energetic, colorful combinations	#ED5565, #FFCE54, #48CFAD, #5D9CEC, #FC6E51, #A0D468, #4FC1E9, #AC92EC
lively2	Another bold and dynamic palette	#DA4453, #F6BB42, #37BC98, #4A89DC, #E9573F, #8CC152, #3BAFDA, #967ADC
retro	Nostalgic, mid-century colours	#E7363C, #F56438, #FCAB20, #59AC99, #3E446E
autumn	Warm seasonal tones	#388388, #4ABFBD, #8AB17D, #E9C46A, #F4A261, #E76F51
zombie	Gritty, earthy tones ideal for bold plots	grey70, #F56438, #59AC99
academic	Greyscale palette for old-style scientific plots	black, grey10, grey40, grey70, white

# Return 4 discrete colours
suezalla_palette("jam", n = 4)

# Return 10 interpolated colours from the 'autumn' palette
suezalla_palette("autumn", n = 10, type = "continuous")

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Fonts

The suezalla package auto-loads:

• Roboto from Google Fonts for theme_suezalla()
• XKCD (if available locally) for theme_zombie()
• Abhaya Libre for academic themes (theme_academic1940())

These are handled automatically via sysfonts and showtext when the package is attached.

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Quick examples

Magazine

library(suezalla)
library(ggplot2)

ggplot(mtcars, aes(x = wt, y = mpg, colour = factor(cyl))) +
  geom_point(size = 3) +
  scale_colour_suezalla(palette_name = "jam") +
  theme_magazine() +
  labs(
    title = "Car efficiency by weight",
    x = "Weight",
    y = "Miles per Gallon",
    colour = "Cylinders"
  )

Zombie

library(suezalla)
library(ggplot2)

ggplot(mtcars, aes(y = wt, x = mpg)) + 
  geom_point(aes(fill = factor(cyl), size = cyl), shape = 21, alpha = 0.8) + 
  scale_fill_suezalla(palette_name = "zombie") + 
  theme_zombie() +
  labs(
    title = "Car efficiency by weight",
    x = "Weight",
    y = "Miles per Gallon",
    colour = "Cylinders"
  )

LaTeX academic plot (clean black & white with serif font)

library(suezalla)
library(ggplot2)

ggplot(mtcars, aes(x = mpg, y = wt, shape = factor(carb))) +
  geom_point(size = 2, stroke = 0.4) +
  theme_latex() +
  labs(
    title = "Car efficiency by weight",
    x = "Miles per Gallon",
    y = "Weight",
    shape = "Carburetors"
  )
  

Academic 1940

library(suezalla)
library(ggplot2)

ggplot(mtcars, aes(x = mpg, y = wt, shape = factor(carb))) +
  geom_point(size = 2, stroke = 0.4, color = "black", fill = "white") +
  scale_shape_manual(values = c(0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)) +  # adjust if more shapes are needed
  theme_academic1940() +
  labs(
    title = "Car efficiency by weight",
    x = "Miles per Gallon",
    y = "Weight (1000 lbs)",
    shape = "Carburetors"
  )

Academic pattern style (with ggpattern)

library(suezalla)
library(ggplot2)

# Prepare summarized data
df <- aggregate(wt ~ cyl, data = mtcars, FUN = mean)
df$cyl <- factor(df$cyl)

# Apply theme with automatic fill and pattern
ggplot(df, aes(x = cyl, y = wt, fill = cyl, pattern = cyl)) +
  theme_academic1940_pattern(n = 3)

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License

MIT © Susan Canavan, 2025