INFOGRAPHIC SERIES - CREATING TIMELINES • PART 3 OF 3

Part 3 of 3 for creating an infographic time line. This one is a bit more complicated but the end result can be quite stunning. This is a radial timeline, create using the Polar Grid Tool and the creative possibilities for this are nearly endless.

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Start with the Polar Grid Tool, nested with the Line Tool

You can click on the document with the Polar Grid Tool to call up the dialog box to inout the dimensions and dividers.

Or you can draw the Polar grid, hold SHIFT then (while still holding the mouse down) use the up, down, left, right arrows to create more/less concentric circles or more/less dividers.
UP creates more concentric rings, RIGHT creates more dividers. DOWN and LEFT take them away!

Select the Polar Grid and using the Pathfinder Panel, use the Divide Function then choose Object>Ungroup to break each segment apart. You may need to ungroup a few times to fully ungroup them all.

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Start be selection the segments you want to create a ring from, add a fill to each. Using the Lasso Selection Tool may make things a bit easier to select. Or Use the Selection Tool and hold SHIFT to select multiple segments together.

Fill each ring with color. I deleted the small center section from the core as it gets very busy visually.

Select one segment of color and then choose Object > Select > Same > Fill color. This will select all the shapes with that fill color. Then use the Unite (Add) function in the Pathfinder Panel to create a solid ring of color. Repeat this with all the colors. The dividers will disappear from the rings as you add the shapes

Select un unfilled shape. Choose Object > Select > Same > Stroke Weight. Then set the stroke weight to zero in the stroke panel and all the stroke will go away. Next, select just the color-filled section, add a 4 pt stroke in white to help separate the shapes from each other.

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Draw a line from the exact center of the chart to beyond the edge. 

Using the Rotate Tool, hold OPTION and click at the base of the line in the exact center of the graph. This sets the point of rotation and also opens the Rotate dialog box.
I set my rotation to 18° to match the segments I create in the Polar Grid, then click COPY

Here I used COMMAND + Y to show just the outlines of the shapes and why I chose 18° to line up with my segments perfectly.

With the line copied at 18°, used COMMAND + D several times to copy the line each time around the shape until you come back to the beginning.

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Using the Pen Tool, add a point to the lines where the line would stop on chart.

Use the Direct Selection Tool to select the other part of the line you do not want and delete it.

The end result is connector lines that start at the segments.

Using the Pen Tool, click on the end of each connector then hold SHIFT and draw a straight line away from the connector. Use the Smart Guides to line up the lines to the left and right sides.

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Add test to the call-outs. I added circles with a matching color fill and a white stroke to add to the lines for more data.

Using the rectangle tool, draw rectangles from the start points. Use the Eyedropper tool to sample the colors and apply them to the corresponding rectangle to match the lines, I then used the opacity slider in the control bar to screen them back to 35%