I am working with this timeline as seen below. I’ll try to explain it a bit:
- Each circle represents an event.
- There are no tick marks because it’s not a “mission-critical” kind of
data set.- We just need a rough idea of events. Also, I have omitted the text
for clarity.- Desired aesthetic is still a professional one though
My personal take on my own work is good for the most part. I like how the colors “jump” out of the gray background rectangles.However, the edges of the timeline (far left, far right) seem harsh. I tried capping them off with semi-circles but that resulted in a too “playful” kind of look. It seems adding too many circular elements tends to make it look less professional — at least to my eyes.
Question
Is there a way to keep the rectangular shape of the rectangles without seeming too harsh?
Note: Feel free to critique other parts as well.
Answer
The purpose of a timeline is to show how the dots (or events in your case) break the line, so no need to squeeze the dots inside the line. Also adding bananas or cherries at the ends of the line and a pattern behind all this can affect the meaning and visibility of the actual break points.
I would decrease the thickness of the line and make the dots larger, also play with the colors a bit, as what you have doesn’t provide enough contrast between the line and the dots. Remove that pattern behind the timeline to make it look more professional and go with a plain white background. Clean it up.
Make it stand out even more by turning the dots into rings like this.
Or, you can remove the circles completely and play with this in many ways.
Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : Arash Howaida , Answer Author : Lucian