Themes¶

MSUthemes provides a complete theming system that applies Michigan State University's brand guidelines to your matplotlib plots. The theme includes colors, fonts, spacing, and styling to create professional, on-brand visualizations.

Quick Start¶

Apply the MSU theme to all your plots:

from msuthemes import theme_msu
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

# Apply the theme
theme_msu()

# Create a plot - it will automatically use MSU styling
plt.plot([1, 2, 3, 4], [1, 4, 2, 3])
plt.title('My MSU-Themed Plot')
plt.show()

Theme Features¶

The MSU theme includes:

Colors: MSU green color cycle and MSU-branded colors
Fonts: Metropolis font family (MSU's official typeface)
Styling: Clean, professional appearance with appropriate spacing
Grid: Optional gridlines for improved readability
Spines: Configurable axes borders

Basic Usage¶

Default Theme¶

from msuthemes import theme_msu
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

# Apply theme with defaults
theme_msu()

# Create a plot
x = np.linspace(0, 10, 100)
y = np.sin(x)
plt.plot(x, y, linewidth=2)
plt.xlabel('X-axis')
plt.ylabel('Y-axis')
plt.title('Sine Wave with MSU Theme')
plt.show()

With Grid¶

from msuthemes import theme_msu
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

# Apply theme with grid
theme_msu(grid=True)

# Your plot will now have gridlines
plt.plot([1, 2, 3, 4], [1, 4, 2, 3])
plt.show()

Customization Options¶

Base Size¶

Control the overall size of text elements:

from msuthemes import theme_msu

# Larger text for presentations
theme_msu(base_size=14)

# Smaller text for publications
theme_msu(base_size=9)

The base_size parameter controls: - Axis labels - Tick labels - Title sizes - Legend text

Grid Options¶

Control gridline appearance:

# Enable grid
theme_msu(grid=True)

# Enable only major gridlines (default when grid=True)
theme_msu(grid=True)

# Disable grid (default)
theme_msu(grid=False)

Axes Spines¶

Control which axes borders (spines) are visible:

# Show only bottom and left spines (default)
theme_msu(spines='bl')

# Show all spines
theme_msu(spines='all')

# Show only bottom spine
theme_msu(spines='b')

# Show no spines
theme_msu(spines='none')

Spine options: - 'bl': Bottom and left (default) - 'all': All four spines - 'b': Bottom only - 'l': Left only - 't': Top only - 'r': Right only - 'none': No spines

Font Control¶

Control Metropolis font registration:

# Register fonts automatically (default)
theme_msu(register_fonts=True)

# Skip font registration (if already registered)
theme_msu(register_fonts=False)

Complete Example¶

from msuthemes import theme_msu
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

# Apply customized theme
theme_msu(
    base_size=12,
    grid=True,
    spines='bl',
    register_fonts=True
)

# Create multiple subplots
fig, axes = plt.subplots(2, 2, figsize=(12, 10))

# Plot 1: Line plot
x = np.linspace(0, 10, 100)
axes[0, 0].plot(x, np.sin(x))
axes[0, 0].set_title('Sine Wave')

# Plot 2: Scatter plot
axes[0, 1].scatter(np.random.rand(50), np.random.rand(50))
axes[0, 1].set_title('Scatter Plot')

# Plot 3: Bar plot
axes[1, 0].bar(['A', 'B', 'C', 'D'], [3, 7, 2, 5])
axes[1, 0].set_title('Bar Chart')

# Plot 4: Histogram
axes[1, 1].hist(np.random.randn(1000), bins=30)
axes[1, 1].set_title('Histogram')

plt.tight_layout()
plt.show()

Seaborn Integration¶

MSUthemes also provides seaborn styling:

from msuthemes import set_msu_style
import seaborn as sns

# Apply MSU style to seaborn
set_msu_style()

# Use seaborn plotting functions
sns.boxplot(data=data)
plt.show()

Seaborn with MSU Palettes¶

from msuthemes import set_msu_style, msu_qual1
import seaborn as sns

# Apply style
set_msu_style()

# Use MSU palette
palette = msu_qual1.as_seaborn_palette()
sns.boxplot(data=data, palette=palette)
plt.show()

Resetting the Theme¶

Return to matplotlib defaults:

from msuthemes import reset_theme

# Reset to default matplotlib style
reset_theme()

Or use matplotlib's built-in reset:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

# Reset to matplotlib defaults
plt.rcdefaults()

Font Management¶

Checking Font Availability¶

from msuthemes import is_metropolis_available

# Check if Metropolis fonts are registered
available = is_metropolis_available()
print(f"Metropolis available: {available}")

Manual Font Registration¶

from msuthemes import register_metropolis_fonts

# Manually register Metropolis fonts
register_metropolis_fonts()

Font Troubleshooting¶

If fonts don't appear:

Clear matplotlib's font cache:
```
rm -rf ~/.cache/matplotlib
```

Re-register fonts:

from msuthemes import register_metropolis_fonts
register_metropolis_fonts()

Verify registration:

from msuthemes import is_metropolis_available
print(is_metropolis_available())

Theme Components¶

The MSU theme modifies these matplotlib rcParams:

Text and Fonts¶

Font family: Metropolis (sans-serif)
Font sizes scaled by base_size
Figure title size: 1.2× base
Axes title size: 1.1× base
Axes label size: 1.0× base
Tick label size: 0.9× base
Legend size: 0.9× base

Colors¶

Color cycle: MSU green, orange, teal, and additional colors
Axes face color: White
Axes edge color: Dark gray
Grid color: Light gray
Text color: Black

Layout¶

Figure DPI: 100
Figure face color: White
Axes line width: 1.5
Tick width: 1.5
Grid line width: 0.8

Grids¶

Grid style: Dashed lines
Grid alpha: 0.3
Grid color: Light gray

Complete Theming Example¶

from msuthemes import theme_msu, msu_qual1
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

# Apply full MSU theme
theme_msu(base_size=11, grid=True, spines='bl')

# Create professional visualization
fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(10, 6))

# Multiple series with MSU colors
x = np.linspace(0, 10, 50)
colors = msu_qual1.as_hex()

for i, color in enumerate(colors):
    y = np.sin(x + i * 0.5) + i
    ax.plot(x, y, color=color, linewidth=2.5,
            label=f'Series {i+1}')

ax.set_xlabel('Time (seconds)')
ax.set_ylabel('Amplitude')
ax.set_title('Multi-Series Time Plot with MSU Theme')
ax.legend(frameon=False)

plt.tight_layout()
plt.show()

Tips and Best Practices¶

Apply theme early: Call theme_msu() before creating plots
Consistent sizing: Use the same base_size across related figures
Grid usage: Enable grids for data-heavy plots, disable for simple plots
Color cycles: The theme sets up an MSU color cycle, but you can override with specific colors
Font availability: The theme works even if Metropolis fonts aren't available (falls back to sans-serif)
Save settings: Store your preferred theme settings in a configuration file for reuse