Roller Coaster Timeline

Adobe Illustrator and After Effects, various sizes

This project is a timeline of the "World's Tallest Roller Coaster" record holders since 1983, formatted for 3 different deliverables — A 2'x10' banner, a set of 2"x10" bookmarks, and a motion graphic meant to be played on a large screen in a walk-through exhibit.

The final pieces can be seen to the right, and some of my process work can be seen below the final pieces.

Process

To the right are some very early initial sketches I made after being assigned the project. The 3D exhibit was originally meant to be much larger and not just one screen on a wall, but timing resulted in me downscaling the piece.

The list in the bottom right is the results of my research. I already knew a lot about this topic, but needed to research further to verify the record holders. Part of it was subjective, however, as there are different definitions for what counts as a height record-breaker and what doesn't.

I chose the definition with the coasters that would best utilize the space on the banner and motion graphic, and this also inspired the decision to make bookmarks. Their tall and narrow orientation matches that of the coasters I chose very well.

The image on the left shows the beginning of my process in Adobe Illustrator. After creating vector art for each ride, I added lines in the background to represent 100 feet each. I then adjusted the height of each ride accordingly.