Misc. Projects: The Early Years

Projects from way back when

Role

Senior Designer, etc.

Role

Senior Designer, etc.

Role

Senior Designer, etc.

Industry

USMC, Aetna® Healthcare, MFA Boston, etc.

Industry

USMC, Aetna® Healthcare, MFA Boston, etc.

Industry

USMC, Aetna® Healthcare, MFA Boston, etc.

Years

1997-2002

Years

1997-2002

Years

1997-2002

Jen Corace website screenshot
Jen Corace website screenshot
Jen Corace website screenshot

Excuse Me While I Get Nostalgic.

I have worked on at a variety of places throughout my career, but some of the earliest design studios remain my favorites. Working on these early projects were among the most delightful times of my professional life.


Freelance Favorites: Jen Corace website

This was a freelance site from circa 2002, but I feel still stands up pretty well — mainly due to the illustration style of the incomparable Jen Corace.

  • This site used characters as navigation points.

  • It would check time on the local device, and serve a different scene where characters were interacting through the day, in real time.

  • So if the user checked in after 9pm, all the characters would be asleep. If the user visited from 8am to 11am, the characters would be eating breakfast.

  • Sadly, this site was created in Adobe Flash — so it is now long retired.


Excuse Me While I Get Nostalgic.

I have worked on at a variety of places throughout my career, but some of the earliest design studios remain my favorites. Working on these early projects were among the most delightful times of my professional life.


Freelance Favorites: Jen Corace website

This was a freelance site from circa 2002, but I feel still stands up pretty well — mainly due to the illustration style of the incomparable Jen Corace.

  • This site used characters as navigation points.

  • It would check time on the local device, and serve a different scene where characters were interacting through the day, in real time.

  • So if the user checked in after 9pm, all the characters would be asleep. If the user visited from 8am to 11am, the characters would be eating breakfast.

  • Sadly, this site was created in Adobe Flash — so it is now long retired.


Information Graphic of USMC supply chain
Information Graphic of USMC supply chain
Information Graphic of USMC supply chain
Hand drawn sketches of Aetna Healthcare website
Hand drawn sketches of Aetna Healthcare website
Hand drawn sketches of Aetna Healthcare website

Sapient Nitro: Government, Healthcare, and Education.

For two years, I worked at Sapient Nitro (which was then just "Sapient") as a Senior Visual Designer in the Government, Healthcare, Education and Non-Profit division.

  • In that time we relaunched Aetna Healthcare's web presence

  • I also worked on a project for the US Marine Corps, primarily helping to visualize logistics and supply chain flows.

  • The USMC project was an interesting experience in distilling data: we started with a 14 page process flow, and reduced it to a single page information graphic — comic style.

  • The USMC clients were so happy with the outcome that we used this information design style for all communications, including how to present the presentation that we worked on.


Foodline logo
Foodline logo
Foodline logo
Mary Cassat kiosk Museum of Fine Arts Boston
Mary Cassat kiosk Museum of Fine Arts Boston
Mary Cassat kiosk Museum of Fine Arts Boston
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel screenshot CD-ROM
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel screenshot CD-ROM
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel screenshot CD-ROM

The Very Beginning: ZEFER and Arkstudios

The earliest projects that I worked on still remain some of my favorites.

  • At ZEFER (a now long gone "Internet Business Consultancy") I worked with Foodline, a .com startup that allowed users to reserve tables online. This communicated with a POS kiosk in the restaurant. Keep in mind this was in 1998 - so this technology was groundbreaking at the time.

  • At ArkStudios, one highlight was working on a kiosk at a major exhibition for the exhibit "Mary Cassatt: Modern Woman" at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.

  • Pictured last is my very first project, "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel" created for Houghton Mifflin publishers. I have portrayed what it looked like on the PowerMac computer I actually used to create it on, way back in 1996.

The Very Beginning: ZEFER and Arkstudios

The earliest projects that I worked on still remain some of my favorites.

  • At ZEFER (a now long gone "Internet Business Consultancy") I worked with Foodline, a .com startup that allowed users to reserve tables online. This communicated with a POS kiosk in the restaurant. Keep in mind this was in 1998 - so this technology was groundbreaking at the time.

  • At ArkStudios, one highlight was working on a kiosk at a major exhibition for the exhibit "Mary Cassatt: Modern Woman" at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.

  • Pictured last is my very first project, "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel" created for Houghton Mifflin publishers. I have portrayed what it looked like on the PowerMac computer I actually used to create it on, way back in 1996.

Other projects

Copyright 2024 by Jason Ralls

Copyright 2024 by Jason Ralls

Copyright 2024 by Jason Ralls