Type: Package
Title: Icon-Based Population Charts and Plots for 'ggplot2'
Version: 1.7.0
Date: 2026-03-06
Description: Create engaging population and point plots charts in R. 'ggpop' allows users to represent population data and points proportionally using customizable icons, facilitating the creation of circular representative population charts as well as any point-plots.
License: MIT + file LICENSE
Encoding: UTF-8
RoxygenNote: 7.3.3
Suggests: testthat (≥ 3.0.0), knitr, rmarkdown, cowplot, ggforce, gganimate, ggrepel, ggtext, scales, reactable, reactablefmtr
Config/Needs/website: sf, geofacet, ggtext, quarto
Config/testthat/edition: 3
Depends: R (≥ 4.0.5)
Imports: ggplot2, dplyr, ggimage, magick, rlang, tidyr, purrr, fontawesome, rsvg, cli, tibble
VignetteBuilder: knitr
ByteCompile: true
BugReports: https://github.com/jurjoroa/ggpop/issues
URL: https://jurjoroa.github.io/ggpop/
NeedsCompilation: no
Packaged: 2026-03-12 00:51:30 UTC; jorgeroa
Author: Jorge A. Roa-Contreras ORCID iD [aut, cre], Ralitza Soultanova ORCID iD [aut], Fernando Alarid-Escudero ORCID iD [aut], Carlos Pineda-Antunez ORCID iD [aut]
Maintainer: Jorge A. Roa-Contreras <jorgeroa@stanford.edu>
Repository: CRAN
Date/Publication: 2026-03-17 17:40:10 UTC

ggpop: Icon-Based Population Charts for R

Description

logo.png

ggpop is a ggplot2 extension for creating icon-based population charts and pictogram plots. Use geom_pop() and geom_icon_point() to visualize proportion and population data with 2,000+ Font Awesome icons.

Main functions

process_data()

Converts count data to one row per icon. group_var and sum_var are unquoted; high_group_var takes a character string for faceted charts. 

df_plot <- process_data(
  data        = data.frame(sex = c("Female", "Male"), n = c(55, 45)),
  group_var   = sex,
  sum_var     = n,
  sample_size = 20
)

geom_pop()

Draws icon grids. Add an icon column, map icon and color in aes(). Do not map x or y. 

ggplot() +
  geom_pop(data = df_plot, aes(icon = icon, color = type), size = 2) +
  scale_color_manual(values = c(Female = "#C0392B", Male = "#2980B9")) +
  theme_pop()

geom_icon_point()

Drop-in replacement for geom_point() using Font Awesome icons. 

ggplot(iris, aes(x = Sepal.Length, y = Petal.Length, color = Species)) +
  geom_icon_point(icon = "seedling", size = 1)

fa_icons()

Search the bundled Font Awesome icon list by keyword. 

fa_icons(query = "person")

Themes

Three built-in themes optimized for icon charts: theme_pop(), theme_pop_dark(), theme_pop_minimal().

Author(s)

Maintainer: Jorge A. Roa-Contreras jorgeroa@stanford.edu (ORCID)

Authors:

See Also

Useful links:

Examples

library(ggplot2)
library(dplyr)

## -------------------------------------------------------
## geom_pop(): population icon grid
## -------------------------------------------------------
df_plot <- process_data(
  data        = data.frame(sex = c("Female", "Male"), n = c(55, 45)),
  group_var   = sex,
  sum_var     = n,
  sample_size = 20
) %>%
  mutate(icon = ifelse(type == "Female", "person-dress", "person"))

ggplot() +
  geom_pop(data = df_plot, aes(icon = icon, color = type), size = 2) +
  scale_color_manual(values = c(Female = "#C0392B", Male = "#2980B9")) +
  theme_pop() +
  labs(title = "Population by sex", color = NULL)

## -------------------------------------------------------
## geom_icon_point(): icon scatter plot
## -------------------------------------------------------
ggplot(iris, aes(x = Sepal.Length, y = Petal.Length, color = Species)) +
  geom_icon_point(icon = "seedling", size = 1) +
  scale_color_manual(values = c(
    setosa     = "#43A047",
    versicolor = "#1E88E5",
    virginica  = "#E53935"
  )) +
  labs(title = "Iris dataset", x = "Sepal Length", y = "Petal Length")

Search and list Font Awesome icons

Description

Retrieves Font Awesome icon names, optionally filtered by a search query or category. Results can be returned as a plain character vector or as a tibble with category classification.

Usage

fa_icons(
  query = NULL,
  category = NULL,
  regex = FALSE,
  classify = TRUE,
  include_unclassified = TRUE,
  class_map = NULL,
  primary_only = TRUE,
  as_vector = FALSE
)

Arguments

query

Character string. Filter icons whose names contain query. Set to NULL (default) to return all icons. If regex = TRUE, query is treated as a Perl-compatible regular expression.

category

Character vector. One or more category names to filter by. Run fa_categories() to see valid options. Setting category implies classify = TRUE.

regex

Logical. When TRUE, query is interpreted as a Perl-compatible regular expression. Default FALSE (fixed-string match).

classify

Logical. When TRUE (default), each icon is classified into categories using class_map and a primary_class column is included in the returned tibble. Ignored when as_vector = TRUE and category = NULL.

include_unclassified

Logical. When FALSE, icons that do not match any category pattern are dropped. Default TRUE.

class_map

A named list mapping category names to regex patterns. Defaults to the internal .fa_default_class_map().

primary_only

Logical. When TRUE (default), the tibble contains only the primary_class column and omits all_classes.

as_vector

Logical. When TRUE, return a plain sorted character vector of icon names instead of a tibble. If category = NULL, classification is skipped entirely. Default FALSE.

Value

When as_vector = TRUE, a sorted character vector of icon names. Otherwise a tibble with columns:

icon

Icon name (character).

primary_class

Primary category the icon belongs to, or NA when unclassified (character).

all_classes

All matching categories (list-column of character vectors). Only present when primary_only = FALSE.

Examples


# All icons as a classified tibble
fa_icons()

# Quick lookup -- plain sorted vector
head(fa_icons(as_vector = TRUE), 10)

# Search for icons whose name contains "heart"
fa_icons(query = "heart")

# Filter by category
fa_icons(category = "animals")

# Regex search -- all icons starting with "arrow"
fa_icons(query = "^arrow", regex = TRUE)

Fetches the df_coordinates_final Dataset

Description

Downloads and caches the df_coordinates_final dataset if it is not already cached locally. This function ensures that the dataset is downloaded only once and loaded into memory without cluttering the global environment. The dataset is stored in a package-specific cache directory and retrieved efficiently for subsequent uses.

Usage

fetch_df_coordinates()

Details

The dataset is downloaded from GitHub The file is cached in a directory specific to the package, which is determined using R_user_dir. If the dataset is already cached, it will be loaded directly from the cache instead of downloading again.

Value

A data frame containing the df_coordinates_final dataset.

Examples


df <- fetch_df_coordinates()
head(df)

Create a scatter plot with Font Awesome icons instead of points

Description

Works exactly like geom_point(), but renders Font Awesome icons instead of dots. Pass any data with x and y variables - no special formatting required.

Usage

geom_icon_point(
  mapping = NULL,
  data = NULL,
  stat = "identity",
  position = "identity",
  na.rm = FALSE,
  show.legend = NA,
  inherit.aes = TRUE,
  icon = NULL,
  size = 1,
  dpi = 50,
  legend_icons = TRUE,
  stroke_width = NULL,
  ...
)

Arguments

mapping

Set of aesthetic mappings created by aes(). If specified and inherit.aes = TRUE (the default), it is combined with the default mapping at the top level of the plot. You must supply mapping if there is no plot mapping.

data

The data to be displayed in this layer. There are three options:

If NULL, the default, the data is inherited from the plot data as specified in the call to ggplot().

A data.frame, or other object, will override the plot data. All objects will be fortified to produce a data frame. See fortify() for which variables will be created.

A function will be called with a single argument, the plot data. The return value must be a data.frame, and will be used as the layer data. A function can be created from a formula (e.g. ~ head(.x, 10)).

stat

The statistical transformation to use on the data for this layer. When using a ⁠geom_*()⁠ function to construct a layer, the stat argument can be used to override the default coupling between geoms and stats. The stat argument accepts the following:

  • A Stat ggproto subclass, for example StatCount.

  • A string naming the stat. To give the stat as a string, strip the function name of the stat_ prefix. For example, to use stat_count(), give the stat as "count".

  • For more information and other ways to specify the stat, see the layer stat documentation.

position

A position adjustment to use on the data for this layer. This can be used in various ways, including to prevent overplotting and improving the display. The position argument accepts the following:

  • The result of calling a position function, such as position_jitter(). This method allows for passing extra arguments to the position.

  • A string naming the position adjustment. To give the position as a string, strip the function name of the position_ prefix. For example, to use position_jitter(), give the position as "jitter".

  • For more information and other ways to specify the position, see the layer position documentation.

na.rm

logical, whether remove NA values

show.legend

Logical. Should this layer be included in the legends? NA (default) includes the layer if any aesthetics are mapped. FALSE suppresses the layer's legend entries entirely.

inherit.aes

If FALSE, overrides the default aesthetics, rather than combining with them. This is most useful for helper functions that define both data and aesthetics and shouldn't inherit behaviour from the default plot specification, e.g. annotation_borders().

icon

Default Font Awesome icon (default: NULL).

size

Default icon size (default: 1).

dpi

Icon resolution (default: 50).

legend_icons

Show icons in legend (default: TRUE).

stroke_width

Numeric. Width of the icon outline/stroke.

...

additional parameters

Value

A ggplot layer.

Aesthetics

geom_icon_point uses standard ggplot2 scatter plot aesthetics:

Examples


library(ggplot2)
data <- data.frame(
  x = rnorm(20),
  y = rnorm(20),
  category = sample(c("A", "B", "C"), 20, replace = TRUE),
  icon = sample(c("heart", "star", "circle"), 20, replace = TRUE)
)

# Map icon to a column
ggplot(data, aes(x = x, y = y, icon = icon, color = category)) +
  geom_icon_point()

# Use a fixed icon
ggplot(data, aes(x = x, y = y, color = category)) +
  geom_icon_point(icon = "star")

Create a circular representative population chart

Description

Draws a circular representative population chart based on group proportions, where each point (person) represents a fixed number of individuals. Each person is rendered as a Font Awesome icon.

Usage

geom_pop(
  mapping = NULL,
  data = NULL,
  stat = "identity",
  position = "identity",
  na.rm = FALSE,
  show.legend = NA,
  inherit.aes = TRUE,
  icon = "ggmale",
  group_var = NULL,
  sample_size = NULL,
  arrange = FALSE,
  seed = NULL,
  sum_var = NULL,
  facet = NULL,
  size = 1,
  dpi = 50,
  legend_icons = TRUE,
  stroke_width = NULL,
  ...
)

Arguments

mapping

Set of aesthetic mappings created by aes(). If specified and inherit.aes = TRUE (the default), it is combined with the default mapping at the top level of the plot. You must supply mapping if there is no plot mapping.

data

The data to be displayed in this layer. There are three options:

If NULL, the default, the data is inherited from the plot data as specified in the call to ggplot().

A data.frame, or other object, will override the plot data. All objects will be fortified to produce a data frame. See fortify() for which variables will be created.

A function will be called with a single argument, the plot data. The return value must be a data.frame, and will be used as the layer data. A function can be created from a formula (e.g. ~ head(.x, 10)).

stat

The statistical transformation to use on the data for this layer. When using a ⁠geom_*()⁠ function to construct a layer, the stat argument can be used to override the default coupling between geoms and stats. The stat argument accepts the following:

  • A Stat ggproto subclass, for example StatCount.

  • A string naming the stat. To give the stat as a string, strip the function name of the stat_ prefix. For example, to use stat_count(), give the stat as "count".

  • For more information and other ways to specify the stat, see the layer stat documentation.

position

A position adjustment to use on the data for this layer. This can be used in various ways, including to prevent overplotting and improving the display. The position argument accepts the following:

  • The result of calling a position function, such as position_jitter(). This method allows for passing extra arguments to the position.

  • A string naming the position adjustment. To give the position as a string, strip the function name of the position_ prefix. For example, to use position_jitter(), give the position as "jitter".

  • For more information and other ways to specify the position, see the layer position documentation.

na.rm

logical, whether remove NA values

show.legend

logical. Should this layer be included in the legends? NA, the default, includes if any aesthetics are mapped. FALSE never includes, and TRUE always includes. It can also be a named logical vector to finely select the aesthetics to display. To include legend keys for all levels, even when no data exists, use TRUE. If NA, all levels are shown in legend, but unobserved levels are omitted.

inherit.aes

If FALSE, overrides the default aesthetics, rather than combining with them. This is most useful for helper functions that define both data and aesthetics and shouldn't inherit behaviour from the default plot specification, e.g. annotation_borders().

icon

Default icon to use when no icon column is mapped.

group_var

(Deprecated) Use aes(group = ...) instead.

sample_size

The total number of individuals (points) to draw.

arrange

Logical; if TRUE, output data is arranged by group.

seed

Optional numeric seed used only when arrange = FALSE.

sum_var

Optional variable to sum over instead of counting.

facet

Optional faceting variable. If provided, final plot must be faceted with ggplot2 (use validate_geom_pop_faceting(p)).

size

Icon size. If mapped in aes(size = ...) the parameter is ignored.

dpi

Height (in pixels) of the rendered PNG when using fontawesome::fa_png(). Higher values produce sharper icons.

legend_icons

Logical; if TRUE, legend displays the selected icons.

stroke_width

Numeric. Width of the icon outline in pixels (single value).

...

additional parameters

Value

A ggplot layer that renders a circular population chart with icons.

Aesthetics

geom_pop understands the following aesthetics:

See Also

geom_icon_point, process_data, geom_image

Examples


library(ggplot2)

df <- data.frame(
  sex  = rep(c("F", "M"), each = 10),
  icon = rep(c("female", "male"), each = 10)
)

ggplot() +
  geom_pop(
    data = df,
    aes(icon = icon, group = sex, color = sex),
    size = 3,
    dpi = 80
  )

Process Population Data for Visualization

Description

The process_data function processes a dataset to calculate group proportions and generates a sampled dataset based on specified parameters. This processed data is suitable for creating visual representations, such as population charts, where each sample represents a group with associated counts and proportions.

Usage

process_data(
  data,
  high_group_var = NULL,
  group_var,
  sum_var = NULL,
  sample_size = 100
)

Arguments

data

A data frame containing the population data to be processed.

high_group_var

Character vector, optional. The variables used to group individuals hierarchically. This should be a categorical variable. If provided, the function samples individuals within each group defined by these variables.

group_var

Quosure. The variable used to group individuals in the dataset. This should be a categorical variable.

sum_var

Quosure, optional. The variable to sum over within each group. If NULL, the function counts the number of individuals per group.

sample_size

Integer. The total number of individuals to sample based on group proportions. Must be a positive integer.

Value

A tibble (data frame) with the following columns:

type

The sampled group type.

group

The group identifier.

n

The count of individuals in the group.

prop

The proportion of the group relative to the total population.

Legend helper for geom_pop/geom_icon_point legends

Description

A convenience function to set appropriate legend key sizes for icon-based legends. This is equivalent to using theme(legend.key.size = ...) but provides sensible defaults for population icon plots.

Usage

scale_legend_icon(
  size = 10,
  unit = "mm",
  spacing = 0.2,
  size_multiplier = 2,
  ...
)

Arguments

size

Numeric. Legend key size in specified units (default 10).

unit

Character. Unit for legend key sizing (default "mm").

spacing

Numeric. Spacing between legend items as fraction of size (default 0.2).

size_multiplier

Numeric. Multiplier to apply to the size for spacing calculations (default 2).

...

Additional theme arguments.

Value

A ggplot2 theme object that can be added to a plot.

Examples


library(ggplot2)
df <- data.frame(
  type = rep(c("A", "B"), each = 10),
  icon = rep(c("circle", "square"), each = 10)
)
ggplot(df, aes(icon = icon, color = type)) +
  geom_pop() +
  scale_legend_icon(size = 20)

Population Plot Theme

Description

A minimal theme optimized for icon-based population plots. Similar to theme_void() but with automatic legend key sizing, appropriate margins, and sensible defaults for population visualizations.

Usage

theme_pop(
  base_size = 11,
  base_family = "",
  base_line_size = base_size/22,
  base_rect_size = base_size/22,
  legend_icon_size = NULL,
  legend_spacing = NULL,
  plot_margin = NULL,
  legend_position = "right"
)

Arguments

base_size

Base font size in points (default: 11).

base_family

Base font family (default: "").

base_line_size

Base size for line elements (default: base_size/22).

base_rect_size

Base size for rect elements (default: base_size/22).

legend_icon_size

Size of legend icons in cm. If NULL (default), automatically calculated as base_size/20 for proportional sizing.

legend_spacing

Spacing between legend items in cm (default: 0.3 * legend_icon_size).

plot_margin

Plot margins. Default: margin(5.5, 5.5, 5.5, 5.5, "pt"). Can be a single numeric (applied to all sides) or margin() object.

legend_position

Position of legend: "none", "left", "right", "bottom", "top" (default: "right").

Value

A ggplot2 theme object.

Examples


library(ggplot2)
df <- data.frame(
  type = rep(c("A", "B"), each = 10),
  icon = rep(c("circle", "square"), each = 10)
)
ggplot(data = df, aes(icon = icon, color = type)) +
  geom_pop(size = 1) +
  theme_pop()

Dark Population Plot Theme

Description

A dark variant of theme_pop() with white text on black background. Perfect for presentations or dark-mode visualizations.

Usage

theme_pop_dark(
  base_size = 11,
  base_family = "",
  base_line_size = base_size/22,
  base_rect_size = base_size/22,
  legend_icon_size = NULL,
  legend_spacing = NULL,
  plot_margin = NULL,
  legend_position = "right",
  bg_color = "black",
  text_color = "white"
)

Arguments

base_size

Base font size in points (default: 11).

base_family

Base font family (default: "").

base_line_size

Base size for line elements (default: base_size/22).

base_rect_size

Base size for rect elements (default: base_size/22).

legend_icon_size

Size of legend icons in cm. If NULL (default), automatically calculated as base_size/20 for proportional sizing.

legend_spacing

Spacing between legend items in cm (default: 0.3 * legend_icon_size).

plot_margin

Plot margins. Default: margin(5.5, 5.5, 5.5, 5.5, "pt"). Can be a single numeric (applied to all sides) or margin() object.

legend_position

Position of legend: "none", "left", "right", "bottom", "top" (default: "right").

bg_color

Background color (default: "black").

text_color

Text color (default: "white").

Value

A ggplot2 theme object.

Examples


library(ggplot2)
df <- data.frame(
  type = rep(c("A", "B"), each = 10),
  icon = rep(c("circle", "square"), each = 10)
)
ggplot(data = df, aes(icon = icon, color = type)) +
  geom_pop(size = 1) +
  theme_pop_dark(base_size = 40)

Minimal Population Plot Theme

Description

An ultra-minimal variant with no margins or legend, perfect for icon arrays without annotations.

Usage

theme_pop_minimal(base_size = 11, base_family = "")

Arguments

base_size

Base font size in points (default: 11).

base_family

Base font family (default: "").

Value

A ggplot2 theme object.

Examples


library(ggplot2)
df <- data.frame(
  type = rep(c("A", "B"), each = 10),
  icon = rep(c("circle", "square"), each = 10)
)
ggplot(data = df, aes(icon = icon, color = type)) +
  geom_pop(size = 1) +
  theme_pop_minimal()

Validation Functions for geom_pop

Description

Internal validators for parameter and data validation in geom_pop(). These functions are not exported and are used internally by the package.

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