What: I made a linear timeline that incorporated music score and world map. It shows my education, interests and work/internship. The overall feeling I am going for is minimalism. The dark blue, gradient effect in the background and straight lines with dots both help achieve the feeling. They are like the starry night sky. The long lines together also look like water falls.

How: I used Keynote to make the chronology. With it I can draw music score and notes, and incorporate real music and actions. Each note appears to the point where the music plays, which makes the chronology more interactive and engaging for audiences.

Why: This chronology is the combination of my interests. Piano is what I’ve been passionate about, so the “music score” idea is what first came into my mind.

There are three parts in the chronology. First, in the middle, is the world map. It shows movement, where I moved from my hometown Changchun to New York. The geographical length between CC and NY made linear timeline possible. So I took them as two endpoints on the timeline. On the left, the yellow dividing line in “chalk” is the International Date Line. In a world map, it’s near Asia on the pacific ocean. On the timeline, I place it using the same portion as in the real map. This line also points out the time I moved to the America. I came here in 2013, slightly earlier than the “Yale” spot on the top. So the International Date Line makes sense both in geography and in time.

The second part is on the top. It is part of the real music score, serving as companion. So it basically is a companion in the timeline, just to show the year I was born and three schools I went to. On the top left there is a  ballerina. Ballet is one of my interests so I placed it there. Also, the silhouette of the ballerina is like a treble clef on the music sheet.

Last but not least, the bottom is also part of the music score — Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso Op.28 by Saint-Saens. It’s the major melody, compared to the one on the top. Blue notes represents “swimming” because water is blue. Pink notes are “ballet” because it looks like a beautiful tutu dress. Green notes are “Japanese.” Orange notes are “theatre.” Red notes are “fashion.” This way my interests are bond to music and color. I learned swimming and ballet when I was little and when I was in China, so they are on the left, left of the Date Line. I learned Japanese and Theatre at Boston College, so they are placed between BC and Parsons. Fashion is what I’m going to study at Parsons. “Art Director” is my internship related to my study in Theatre. “Contributor” is my job to write about fashion for local magazine.

There are many intersections that connect three parts of the chronology, making them resonant to each other — making my chronology a harmonic piece.

Process

gathering memories – exploring art forms – narrowing down ideas – set for “music score” idea

constructing on keynote – adding actions for each note, making them appear in order as the music plays