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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 to harsh?

Note: Feel free to critique other parts as well.

I don't feel the colors "jump out" in any way. I think the contrast ratio is far too low. for everything other than the darkest blue. In fact,that light blue and light yellow are nearly impossible to see. The variation between the darker blues is so minute, one would need to be specifically looking for that aspect to pick up on it.

If it were my work, I'd alter colors so the contrast is much, much greater between the bar and the circles. However, without the full picture, this is all merely conjecture. Labels may make the circles work better than the mage presented here.

As for rectangles not looking like rectangles....

It's all really matter of opinion.

I might cap the ends to provide definition:

Or you could fade them....

It's very difficult to give suggestions without the complete context. A specific solution may be readily apparent when looking at the entire design as opposed to one minute piece.

No need to squeeze the dots inside the line. 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.