Thinking about where the web is now, I can’t help but reflect on my early days at Honey Butter. Back then, the internet was painfully slow, browsers were frustratingly unreliable, and sacrificing bandwidth for aesthetics was practically heresy. But I ignored all of that and convinced my clients that design is everything. Somehow, despite the limitations, we managed to create some pretty decent work.
Sasha – The Geisha Mermaid (2000)
This was my second project in the industry, and wow, was it a hot mess. The site’s layout and navigation were so inconsistent it was almost like I was testing the user’s patience on purpose. To make things worse, the pages were painfully slow to load, and the Macromedia “image-swap” functionality I abused on nearly every page led to a cascade of JavaScript errors.
Despite its flaws, one bright spot stood out: my illustration of a mermaid in the client’s likeness. Sasha loved the artwork, and so did I—it was a rare win in an otherwise chaotic project. Looking back, I cringe at the technical side of things but take pride in the creativity that sparked the whole idea.
Taylor Li – The Agent Girl (2000)
When Taylor came to me with the idea of a “sexy spy” theme inspired by Mission Impossible II, I rolled my eyes at little. Another gimmick, I thought. But as the project took shape, I got hooked on the concept.
The site’s interface mimicked a high-tech gadget that allowed users to view a dossier on the Agent Girl. For the time, this was cutting-edge—and then we took it even further. The pièce de résistance was an interactive 360-degree spin feature, letting users rotate the Agent Girl and see every angle. It was equal parts ridiculous and groundbreaking.
The site turned out to be a hit, generating buzz both in and outside the industry. I’ll never forget the day a friend called to tell me a morning radio show in Austin, Texas had pulled up the site live on air. Their on-air antics crashed the server, and while I was mortified at first, I couldn’t help but feel proud of how far the project had come.
Jade (2000)
The early 2000s were all about the “high-tech” aesthetic—futuristic fonts, angular shapes, and metallic textures. I leaned hard into this trend.
When Jade hired me, she gave me full creative freedom, which was both a blessing and a curse. I went completely overboard, layering on every futuristic element I could think of. The site was a visual spectacle, but in hindsight, it was also a lot. Still, it marked a turning point where I felt more confident about experimenting and defining my style.
Vannessa (2003)
By 2003, I had fully embraced Flash. Animations were my new obsession, and nothing escaped the allure of the keyframe. Every part of Vannessa’s site moved, shifted, or glided into place, creating a dynamic and immersive experience. Flash gave me the freedom to create in ways that static HTML simply couldn’t at the time.
Lessons Learned (and a Few Laughs)
These projects remind me of how far web design has come and how much I’ve grown as a designer. From inconsistent layouts and broken JavaScript to over-the-top animations and viral server crashes, every project taught me something valuable—about creativity, limitations, and, most importantly, collaboration.
While today’s tools make it easier than ever to create polished, modern websites, I’ll always have a soft spot for those early, chaotic days. They pushed me out of my comfort zone, shaped my approach to design, and gave me plenty of stories to tell.