In this example of a fairly simple project task that I had creative freedom over, what could have been a pretty straightforward, linear timeline graphic instead became more of an art piece filled with information and decoration. I wanted to do something stark and provocative visually, with high contrast, bold color, and interesting shapes. The idea of life shattering by the weight of a heroin needle (a Space Needle, at that…) eventually stuck as I explored various ideas.

Everything came together piece by piece once I landed on the strict black, white, and red color scheme, which worked well both tonally and thematically, and choose to mostly use simple, flat shapes. As for navigation, I found that subtle but effecting use of color and contrast was enough in using small, white “glass arrow shards” that lead the eye from one timeline blurb to the next. Red and black items are in the background, and white items are mostly made up of foreground focal points.