avoiding automatic use of crossed box shape

[profPlum]

This is just a enhancement/feature request regarding the default shapes used by ggplot2 when a variable is mapped to shape. I was hoping that maybe the priority/id of the crossed box () could be lowered significantly since it is a very confusing shape. It is hard to make out in occlusion situations & it can be mistaken for a simple box.

It could maybe be replaced by a hexagon, a solid 5-pointed star pictogram, outline shapes, or something else more discernible.

[paleolimbot]

I think it is probably too late to change the default, but you are certainly welcome to create your own discrete shape palette (see scales::shape_pal() for an example of the default) and use scale_shape(palette = ...) and use that. We aren't quite at the point where you can customize the default scales, but in the future this will probably be possible.

[teunbrand]

I agree with Dewey here that the way to go is to use a custom palette. You can even set it globally by overriding the scale_shape_discrete() funciton:

library(ggplot2)

scale_shape_discrete <- function(...) {
  scale_shape_manual(values = c(16, 17, 15, 3, 8, 11), ...)
}

ggplot(mpg, aes(displ, hwy, shape = fl)) +
  geom_point()

^{Created on 2024-07-15 with reprex v2.1.1}

If you want shapes that are outside the normal shape table, like hexagons and 5-pointed starts, I'd recommend using unicode characters instead:

library(ggplot2)

scale_shape_discrete <- function(...) {
  scale_shape_manual(values = c("\u2b24", "\u25b2", "\u25a0", "\u2b22", "\u2605"))
}

ggplot(mpg, aes(displ, hwy, shape = fl)) +
  geom_point(size = 6)

^{Created on 2024-07-15 with reprex v2.1.1}

Or you could use {ggstar} to solve such issue. In any case, I think there are plenty of alternatives available, so I'd like to close this issue.