What Python's MatPlotlib allows for in flexibility, it majorly lacks in aesthetics. Compared to graphs produced using ggplot2, the graphs I make using matplotlib strain my eyes. For the most part, this is caused by its default color scheme which the creator, John Hunter, optimized for display in publications rather than the web.

I spent some time over the weekend to refine the default colors and settings for my matplotlib installation. The result of this work is embodied in this .matplotlibrc color theme file. If you want graphs that look like the ones below by default, download it and place the file under ~/.matplotlib/matplotlibrc.