Valuebox like function for static reports

Question

I really like the clean look of R's valueboxes in flexdashboards and shinydashboards:

Is there a package, or a recipe using familiar tools (i.e. ggplot2) to easily produce similar output for a static report? For example, in a PDF document knitted from RMarkdown

EDIT:

After a few tries I got something usable using ggplot2 (answer below). Other answers welcome!

Answer 1

I created a function to make the code from @StefanAvey more portable.

I put it on GitHub in a repository, so anyone can make it better.

Right now, the height and width of the boxes, padding between them, and the number of rows are arguments.

There are a few things I have not implemented, like treatment for rows of unequal length.

createValueBoxes <- function(df, h = 4, w = 6, padding=0.5, rows = 2){
  # required packages
  library(ggplot2)
  library(emojifont)
  # verify our inputs
  if (!is.data.frame(df)) {
    stop(paste("Argument", deparse(substitute(df)), "must be a data.frame."))
    }
  if(!all(i <- rlang::has_name(df,c("values", "infos", "icons")))){
    stop(sprintf(
      "%s does not contain: %s",
      deparse(substitute(df)),
      paste(columns[!i], collapse=", ")))
  }
  
  boxes = nrow(df) # number of items passed
  # calculate the grid
  cols = boxes/rows
  plotdf <- data.frame(
    x = rep(seq(0, (w+padding)*cols-1, w+padding), times=rows),
    y = rep(seq(0, (h+padding)*rows-1, h+padding), each=cols),
    h = rep(h, boxes),
    w = rep(w, boxes),
    value = df$values,
    info = df$infos,
    icon = fontawesome(df$icons),
    font_family = c(rep("fontawesome-webfont", boxes)),
    color = factor(1:boxes)
  )
  print(plotdf)
  ggplot(plotdf, aes(x, y, height = h, width = w, label = info)) +
    ## Create the tiles using the `color` column
    geom_tile(aes(fill = color)) +
    ## Add the numeric values as text in `value` column
    geom_text(color = "white", fontface = "bold", size = 10,
              aes(label = value, x = x - w/2.2, y = y + h/4), hjust = 0) +
    ## Add the labels for each box stored in the `info` column
    geom_text(color = "white", fontface = "bold",
              aes(label = info, x = x - w/2.2, y = y-h/4), hjust = 0) +
    coord_fixed() +
    scale_fill_brewer(type = "qual",palette = "Dark2") +
    ## Use `geom_text()` to add the icons by specifying the unicode symbol.
    geom_text(size = 20, aes(label = icon, family = font_family,
                             x = x + w/4, y = y + h/8), alpha = 0.25) +
    theme_void() +
    guides(fill = FALSE)
  
} 

It would be called like so:

df <- data.frame(
values=c("50%", "7", "1245"), 
infos=c("now", "super", "hours"), 
icons=c("fa-gear", "fa-diamond", "fa-tasks")
)
createValueBoxes(df, rows=1)

The result from this example is:

Answer 2

I extended HAVB's answer to make the appearance more like valueboxes by using the Emojifont R package.

Below is the code modified from HAVB's answer including a mix of font-awesome icons and emojis. I also broke up the text parts into the large (value) and small (info) text so that I could size them differently.

library(ggplot2)
library(emojifont)
df <- data.frame(
    x = rep(seq(2, 15, 6.5), 2),
    y = c(rep(6.5, 3), rep(2,3)),
    h = rep(4.25, 6),
    w = rep(6.25, 6),
    value = c("78%",
             "+10K",
             "8/10",
             "ALL",
             "6",
             "< 0.5"),
    info = c("meaningless plots",
             "hours wasted",
             "zombies prefer brains",
             "dogs go to heaven",
             "infoboxes",
             "target pvalue"),
    icon = c(fontawesome(search_fontawesome("chart")),
             emoji("athletic_shoe")),
    font_family = c(rep("fontawesome-webfont", 5),
                    "EmojiOne"),
    color = factor(1:6)
)

ggplot(df, aes(x, y, height = h, width = w, label = info)) +
    ## Create the tiles using the `color` column
    geom_tile(aes(fill = color)) +
    ## Add the numeric values as text in `value` column
    geom_text(color = "white", fontface = "bold", size = 10,
              aes(label = value, x = x - 2.9, y = y + 1), hjust = 0) +
    ## Add the labels for each box stored in the `info` column
    geom_text(color = "white", fontface = "bold",
              aes(label = info, x = x - 2.9, y = y - 1), hjust = 0) +
    coord_fixed() +
    scale_fill_brewer(type = "qual",palette = "Dark2") +
    ## Use `geom_text()` to add the icons by specifying the unicode symbol.
    geom_text(size = 20, aes(label = icon, family = font_family,
                             x = x + 1.5, y = y + 0.5), alpha = 0.25) +
    theme_void() +
    guides(fill = FALSE)

I think the result is quite nice and could be further improved to be more aesthetically pleasing.

Answer 3

ggplot2's geom_tile can be used to make colorful rectangles, and then geom_text to add the labels/info. The solution is clunky compared with the ease of using infobox / valuebox in shiny, but it will do.

library(ggplot2)

df <- data.frame(
    x = rep(seq(2, 15, 6.5), 2),
    y = c(rep(2,3), rep(6.5, 3)),
    h = rep(4, 6),
    w = rep(6, 6),
    info = c("78%\nmeaningless plots",
             "+10K\nhours wasted",
             "8/10\nzombies prefer brains",
             "ALL\ndogs go to heaven",
             "6\ninfoboxes",
             "< 0.5\ntarget pvalue"),
    color = factor(1:6)
)


ggplot(df, aes(x, y, height = h, width = w, label = info, fill = color)) +
    geom_tile() +
    geom_text(color = "white", fontface = "bold") +
    coord_fixed() + 
    scale_fill_brewer(type = "qual",palette = "Dark2") +
    theme_void() +
    guides(fill = F)