Portfolio
This portfolio is an archive of selected projects that I worked on from 1999-2008.
Featured projects are marked with a 
icon.
Web Projects
ASTD
- Insider: Membership Benefits Tour
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This small website consists of an overview and six subpages, coded in Flash and HTML.
The animations are upbeat, the music is cheesy, and all the external links are probably dead by now.. but the main nav has a fun wiggle, so check it out.
2004
American Express
- Own Your Vacation
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This is basically the 2007 refresh to the "My Timeshare" website. While the client liked the previous year's Flash-based site, their desire for SEO optimization ultimately won out, and the site was redone as HTML.
In order to facilitate updates, the data was stored in XML, and a simple yet robust XSLT stylesheet I created to handle sites like this handled all the display logic.
Extending the XML data structure and reusing the same core ActionScript I developed for the Amex "My Vacation" websites, I was able to very quickly put together a "featured offers" Flash widget for this project.
2007
- Going Once
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In order to facilitate updates, the data for this small HTML website was stored in XML, and a simple yet robust XSLT stylesheet I created to handle sites like this handled all the display logic.
Special attention was paid to the HTML and CSS, to make the site as SEO-friendly and accessible as possible, while keeping true to the designer's intentions.
I also had to add audio to the existing Flash demo. Because the demo was originally created by someone else using complex nested movieclips and ActionScript, it had to be significantly reworked to get it to sync with the streamed audio.
2007
- My Family Vacation
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I developed the "My Vacation" Flash engine knowing that it would be reused across multiple sites. Special attention was paid to data architecture, flexibility and reuse of components from site to site, to keep updates as quick and painless as possible.
The data for this website was stored in XML, and a custom internally-developed XPATH / XSLT library was used to handle selection and transformation of content. All fonts were loaded dynamically, and flash text was styled with CSS.
And like nearly all AMEX sites, almost every click is tracked via custom JavaScript code.
2006
- My Sun Vacation
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I developed the "My Vacation" Flash engine knowing that it would be reused across multiple sites. Special attention was paid to data architecture, flexibility and reuse of components from site to site, to keep updates as quick and painless as possible.
The data for this website was stored in XML, and a custom internally-developed XPATH / XSLT library was used to handle selection and transformation of content. All fonts were loaded dynamically, and flash text was styled with CSS.
And like nearly all AMEX sites, almost every click is tracked via custom JavaScript code.
2006
- My Vacation Rental
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I developed the "My Vacation" Flash engine knowing that it would be reused across multiple sites. Special attention was paid to data architecture, flexibility and reuse of components from site to site, to keep updates as quick and painless as possible.
The data for this website was stored in XML, and a custom internally-developed XPATH / XSLT library was used to handle selection and transformation of content. All fonts were loaded dynamically, and flash text was styled with CSS.
And like nearly all AMEX sites, almost every click is tracked via custom JavaScript code.
2006
- Where To Next?
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I built this site by extending the "My Vacation" site engine to allow for a new site structure, layout, and feature set.
The data for this website was stored in XML, and a custom internally-developed XPATH / XSLT library was used to handle selection and transformation of content. All fonts were loaded dynamically, and flash text was styled with CSS.
And like nearly all AMEX sites, almost every click is tracked via custom JavaScript code.
2007
Biogen
- MS Leaders of Hope '04
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This very small, simple HTML site was coded entirely in old-school "tables & quirks mode" HTML.
The homepage flash animation was positive and energetic, with an upbeat cut of music from the ol' stock library.
2004
Converse
- 2002 Web Redesign Prototype
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Unfortunately, this hybrid HTML / Flash site never got past the prototype stage, as our client there got fired.. and with her, so did we.
But, nonetheless, the main nav we created was pretty innovative and a lot of fun to use. I've always wanted to use the concept in another project.. and perhaps someday I will!
2002
E*Trade Financial
- 2004 Annual Report
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Another very small, simple HTML site that was coded entirely in old-school "tables & quirks mode" HTML, this time using Dreameaver templates.
Trying to save time in a creative way, I used JavaScript to show "current" status in the main nav, which kept the nav template simple. Of course, when the client recoded this site to work in their new CMS a year later, they broke the nav-highlighting functionality. Oh well!
The homepage flash animation was simple, featuring design elements from the E*Trade logo.
2005
Impact Consulting Enterprises
- 2002 Web Redesign
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A small, simple, clean HTML website with a Flash intro.
As with many of my older sites, this was coded entirely in old-school "tables & quirks mode" HTML, and isn't remarkable in any way.. but it looks cool, so it's here.
2002
Jason Foundation
- Explorers
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This hybrid Flash / HTML website was a tech demo & showcase for streaming media over a LAN using a proprietary Cisco content delivery system.
The core of the website is a draggable Flash "timeline" main nav, which is supported by dynamically-loaded content and images.
The data for this website was stored in XML, and a custom internally-developed XPATH / XSLT library was used to handle selection and transformation of content, which was quite a challenge for Flash 5, but we made it work.
(note: the video doesn't work in this version)
2002
Pangea Media
- Quibblo.com
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Referencing a single jpeg comp, I redesigned Quibblo.com using semantic HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
After I was done realizing the front-end code, I handed it off to our perl developers, who implemented it into the existing back-end with my help.
2008
Personal
- Cowboy 4.0
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The goal for my own personal website was to highlight my abilities as a designer, Flash developer, programmer, and musician in a visually engaging (but usable) way, and also to provide an online portfolio of my work.
I usually just program & animate, consulting with creative directors and designers along the way, but for this site, I did all the design work myself. And besides, I had this great idea for a 3D nav that I really wanted to experiment with.
The PHP back-end handles actions like sending emails or signing my guestbook. Entries from my blog and photos from my Flickr page are integrated automatically. A custom-programmed music player loads and plays MP3 audio files of my music dynamically.
2003
- Cowboyscripts.org
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I designed and created this personal website in 1999 as a showcase for my assorted FPS- and mIRC-scripts. Eventually I added my Applescripts as well as a JavaScript webcam script and bookmarklets.
Because of the popularity of my scripts, the site got over 10k hits in the first few weeks. Not bad for a small niche in '99.
Despite the fact that I haven't updated the site or its contents in a few years, it's had over 300k hits, and still sees a few dozen daily script downloads. (Most from Germany, interestingly enough)
1999
RJ3 Productions
- Big Ben Hillman
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I designed and programmed this Flash website in 2002 for my good friend and associate Ben Hillman.
At the time, this website was pretty cutting-edge, with text content and music being loaded dynamically, and a unique quasi-cel-shaded animation style that I ended up using heavily in the Converse "Shine" project.
2002
- The Freelance Bishops
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I designed and programmed this simple HTML website for The Freelance Bishops as an update to their original website. The Flash intro was simple and fun, and was based on their first album cover.
At the time, I just knew the guys and loved their music. Now, I'm in the band, playing bass. You can hear me playing in the "Live" audio clips on the Music page.
2003
The New York Times
- Small Business Summit
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In order to facilitate updates, the data for this small HTML website was stored in XML, and a simple yet robust XSLT stylesheet I created to handle sites like this handled all the display logic.
Special attention was paid to the HTML and CSS, to make the site as SEO-friendly and accessible as possible, while keeping true to the designer's intentions.
2007
Viewpoint Creative
- ViewpointLifestyle.com
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Given a relatively short timeframe, I created this functional and clean website for the client using semantic HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Utilizing the JQuery DHTML library, I was able to easily create a simple, yet eye-catching animation to introduce the site, without sacrificing accessibility or SEO optimization.
2008
Flash Projects
AOL
- AOL Media Networks
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Reusing the same core ActionScript I developed for the Amex "My Vacation" websites, I was able to quickly put together an XML-driven widget for this project. This allowed the client to have both cool looking and easily updateable buttons on the homepage of the AOL Media Networks website.
The data for this widget was stored in XML, and a custom internally-developed XPATH / XSLT library was used to handle selection and transformation of content. All fonts were loaded dynamically, and flash text was styled with CSS.
2007
ASTD
- Get Listed
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An email blast was sent out, linking directly to this Flash movie on the client's website, which was used as the intro to their website's new "Buyer's Guide" secton.
This piece was fun because I was given a lot of creative flexibility with my animations, not to mention the funky design and disco music.
I was responsible for all the animations, actionscript, and audio editing.
2003
American Express
- Agency Day Thank You
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Again reusing the same core ActionScript I developed for the Amex "My Vacation" websites, I was able to quickly put together an animated Flash movie that not only looked fun, but also loaded all of its text data dynamically, even displaying a different name based on a UID in the URL.
The data for this Flash movie was stored in XML, and a custom internally-developed XPATH / XSLT library was used to handle selection and transformation of content. All fonts were loaded dynamically, and flash text was styled with CSS. I was also responsible for all the animations and audio editing.
(There's a link to check out the XML datafile at the end of the Flash movie)
2007
- Get Wishlist (flash movie)
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This fun and informative Flash movie helped American Express explain the benefits of thir extremely popular "My Wishlist" campaign to prospective partners.
I was responsible for all the animations and actionscript.
2007
- My Life My Card: My Ski Vacation
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This simple Flash animation lived on the homepage of the Amex "My Life My Card" website. I had to follow a fairly rigid template, as the SWF was loaded dynamically into their pre-existing Flash application.
But to be honest, the hardest part of any job like this isn't making the animation. It's getting all the necessary information, documentation, and code samples you need from the client and their vendors so you can be sure that you're actually delivering them something that works.
I was responsible for all the animations and actionscript.. and making sure that it worked.
2007
Biogen
- Experience Kiosk
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This interactive Flash movie was published as a SWF and then converted to a Windows executable with MDM Studio, which allowed it to play back full-frame WMV video, as well as run as a full-screen kiosk application.
The interface design lent itself to a very cool-looking layered build. Also, animating the content and giving the navigation system just the right tactile feel was key, and worked out very well.
I was responsible for all the animations and actionscript, as well as building the MDM Studio final executable.
(note: because this movie was only ever intended to be run locally, it has no preloader, and the video has been removed)
2003
- Avonex: Prefilled Syringes
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This Flash movie lived on the homepage of Biogen's Avonex.com and explained the benefits of their new prefilled syringes. Preloading was done in stages to give the user additional navigation options in case of a slow connection speed.
I was responsible for all the animations, actionscript, and audio editing, as well as integrating the flash movie into the client website.
2003
- The Avonex Alliance
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This Flash movie explaining The Avonex Alliance lived on the homepage of Biogen's Avonex.com. Preloading was done in stages to give the user additional navigation options in case of a slow connection speed.
I was responsible for all the animations, actionscript, and audio editing, as well as integrating the flash movie into the client website.
2003
- Avonex.com: Celebrities
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This Flash movie about an upcoming MS seminar lived on Biogen's Avonex.com homepage. Preloading was done in stages to give the user additional navigation options in case of a slow connection speed.
I was responsible for all the animations, actionscript, and audio editing, as well as integrating the flash movie into the client website.
2004
- Avonex.com Fresh New Look
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This Flash movie announced the 2004 design refresh of Biogen's Avonex.com website.
I was responsible for all the animations, actionscript, and audio editing, as well as integrating the flash movie into the client website.
2004
- Avonex Support Kit
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Along with yet another web redesign, this Avonex.com homepage Flash movie explained the contents of the Avonex Support Kit.
I was responsible for all the animations, actionscript, and audio editing, as well as integrating the flash movie into the client website.
2005
- MS Leaders of Hope (v1)
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This Flash movie almost accompanied the 2005 refresh of the MS Leaders of Hope website. While I liked this version, the client ended up approving something a little less visually dynamic. (See version 2)
I was responsible for all the animations, actionscript, and audio editing.
2005
- MS Leaders of Hope (v2)
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This is the final version of the Flash movie that ended up going live with the 2005 refresh of the MS Leaders of Hope website. (I liked version 1 better)
I was responsible for all the animations, actionscript, and audio editing, as well as integrating the flash movie into the client website.
2005
- Seize the Momentum
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This was another "pump up the sales force" Flash movie that accompanied an internal email blast.
The music has just the right amount of testosterone, which is apparently one of the core requirements of a "pump up the sales force" Flash movie. The other requirement is having an intense theme graphic with large block letters.
The change in music halfway through makes this piece especially fun, and there were a few animations that were a challenge.. but ended up looking great. I was responsible for all the animations, actionscript, and audio editing.
2003
- Street Party '03
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This fun Flash movie served as an invitation for a party we threw for Biogen to celebrate the success of the work we had done over the past year.
I was responsible for all the animations, actionscript, and audio editing.
2003
- MS Active Source
Biogen Idec
- Day One
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An internal email was sent out company-wide announcing the merger of two major pharmas, Biogen and Idec.
The Flash piece it linked to needed to be energetic and positive, and accentuate the major products of both companies.
I was responsible for all the animations, actionscript, and audio editing.
2003
- 2004 National Sales Meeting
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This Flash movie accompanied an internal email blast announcing Biogen Idec's 2004 National Sales Meeting in Las Vegas.
Like the "Seize the Momentum" piece, the deceptively calm initial music cut to a more edgy, in-your-face track that gave it a lot of extra energy and punch, and made it really fun to work on.
I was responsible for all the animations, actionscript, and audio editing. Yes, every single flashing light on that crazy Las Vegas sign.
2003
- Tysabri (internal launch)
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This Flash movie accompanied an internal email blast announcing the FDA approval of the newest drug from Biogen Idec and Elan.
I created three different versions of this movie, all with different product names, because they didn't know until the last minute which name they were going to use. And because the names were all VERY different, the logo sequence had to be re-animated each time.
I was responsible for all the animations, actionscript, and audio editing.
2004
- Street Party '05
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This Flash movie served as an invitation for a party we threw for Biogen Idec to celebrate the success of the work we had done over the last few years.
As a throwback to the "Street Party '03" invite, we reused some of that movie's elements, but added a lot more depth.
I was responsible for all the animations, actionscript, and audio editing.. and coming up with that fantastic Jobim track in the beginning.
2005
Bristol-Myers Squibb
- RAD Team Kickoff Meeting
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This was another "pump up the sales force" Flash movie that accompanied an internal email blast.
The music has just the right amount of testosterone, which is apparently one of the core requirements of a "pump up the sales force" Flash movie. The other requirement is having an intense theme graphic with large block letters.
Regardless, this piece looks good, and I enjoyed putting it together. I was responsible for all the animations, actionscript, and audio editing.
2005
Broadstreet
- Holiday Flash '02
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This was the first annual Broadstreet holiday Flash movie.
These pieces were always brainstormed and put into production WAY too late, and then rushed to get done.. but we always managed to finish them on-time.
As usual, I was responsible for all the animations, actionscript, and audio editing.
2002
- Holiday Flash '03: Snowball
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This was the second annual Broadstreet holiday Flash movie. It was a little bit more involved than the first one, but still relatively simple, and fun.
You'll notice that the snowflakes and blue background from the '02 holday Flash returned this year. It became a running joke internally, as every time we needed "winter" in a Flash project, we just reused those elements.
I was responsible for all the animations, actionscript, and audio editing.
2003
- Holiday Flash '04: UNICEF
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Another year, another annual Broadstreet holiday Flash movie. And of course, the snowflakes and blue background return with a vengeance.
I was responsible for all the animations, actionscript, and audio editing.
2004
- Holiday Flash '05
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This was definitely my favorite annual Broadstreet holiday Flash movie to work on. There were a lot of complicated animations that look great.. even if I didn't get to reuse the snowflakes and blue background.
I was responsible for all the animations, actionscript, and audio editing.
2005
- Holiday Flash '06: Snowman Bowling
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The 2006 annual Broadstreet holiday Flash movie was originally conceived as a game, albeit a simple one. In the end, the game ended up being less of a game, and more of a movie, but it's still pretty fun.
And note the return of the "traditional" blue background, which was conspicuously absent from the previous year's movie.
We hired Dave Tilton to do the illustrations, which look great. Once he finished, I had to put it all together, along with the voiceover. I was responsible for all the animations, actionscript, and audio editing.
2006
- Broadstreet.com (flash movie)
- Broadstreet / Cosmic Blender Merger
Business Objects
- 2004 Worldwide Sales Kickoff
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This was another "pump up the sales force" Flash movie that accompanied an internal email blast.
The music has just the right amount of testosterone, which is apparently one of the core requirements of a "pump up the sales force" Flash movie. The other requirement is having an intense theme graphic with large block letters.
It was a fun challenge to try to make the words feel like they were racing each other, but I really think I pulled it off. I was responsible for all the animations, actionscript, and audio editing.
2003
Cisco
- Strategy Translator (left nav)
- Shareholder Value Made Simple: Show
- Shareholder Value Made Simple: Try
Converse
- Shine
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This series of twelve Flash movies and the "Shine" concept were the cornerstone of our 2002 Converse web redesign.
Using the same basic technique I had developed for the Big Ben Hillman site, video was shot and edited for each piece, with an effect placed on the video to maximize contrast. After that, the frames were all exported as image sequences and batch processed to "trace bitmap" in Adobe Streamline.
After I imported all the frames into flash, I aligned the audio and music, added the text, and designed and programmed the preloader. (Twelve times!)
I think this was one of the coolest projects I've ever done, especially considering it was all done on a very tight deadline, in Flash 4!
2002
Cosmic Blender
- À La Carte
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This Flash movie was a fun intro to the Cosmic Blender website, way back when everyone absolutely had to have a flash intro in their site.
The audio was taken right from our demo reel, so it was just a matter of animating all the text and elements to that audio.
This project turned out to be really enjoyable because the audio was really fun, and I was given a lot of creative flexibility.
2002
Gen Re
- Risk & Rewards
Genzyme
- Fabrazyme
Intranets
- Intranets.com
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Back when Intranets.com was actually free (watch the Flash and savor the irony), and before they were bought, we created a Flash demo that explained their system and its benefits.
The client was very challening to work with, but after 8 major revisions, we got the job done, and the Flash went live on their site.
Preloading was done in stages to show additional content up-front in case of a slow connection speed. I did all the animations, actionscript, and audio editing.
2002
Momentum
- Integrated Marketing Intelligence
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This simple Flash movie served as the introduction to a section of the client's website.
I was responsible for all the animations, actionscript, and audio editing.
2003
Pangea Media
- Quibblo.com Flash Widget
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The original plan was for me to rework the existing widget prototype, but once I realized what the widget actually needed to do, it was obvious that I would have to start over from scratch.
After three weeks and countless iterations, I completed the widget. The end result is a self-contained, dynamic flash application whose colors, fonts and content are defined externally and selectable dynamically.
A dynamically written .swf stub allows the widget to change its behavior based on referrer, and to also pass that referrer back to Google Analytics, which is used in the widget to track user interactions.
2008
Pfizer
- EUCAN: Sitemap
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The idea here was to make a functional sitemap that actually looked like a map. The challenge was that the map was huge, and we didn't have a ton of real estate to work with.
So, I came up with this idea: the map should zoom in to show the button you're hovering over, as you navigate the map. The level of zoom is dependant on the size of the button you're zooming into.
The programming wasn't too difficult, once I figured out how to make it work in a way that wasn't totally confusing.. even though it can be a little spastic.
2003
- Change Happens
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This simple Flash movie served as the introduction to an online learning course website.
I was responsible for all the animations, actionscript, and audio editing, as well as integrating the flash movie into the website.
2004
- CCI: Drag & Drop Quiz
Starwood
- SIXSIGMA: Innovation interCHANGE
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This webpage hilighted select Flash pieces from Starwood's SIXSIGMA online training course, so that our client could show it off internally at Starwood.
What you see here is actually just the tip of the iceberg; the project actually consisted of four web modules, each with many pages, JavaScript DHTML quizzes, and at least a half dozen flash pieces.
I was responsible for all the animations, actionscript, and audio editing, including coming up with a system to sync these flash animations to dynamically-loaded audio, so users with slow connection speeds could save bandwidth by disabling the music without adversely affecting the framerate of the movies.
2002
Proposals / Pitches
AOL
- AOL Media Networks
Bayer
- ASPIRE
Celebrity
- What's Next?
Cisco
- SWAT
Intercontinenetal
- Priority Club Rewards
Kimberly-Clark
- Birth
Shire
- HunterPatients.com
Solvay
- Blinded by Science
Starwood
- Takeout
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This simple animation illustrated a concept we had come up with for some RFP over at Starwood. I don't even remember what it was.. but the music is cute.
I was responsible for all the animations, actionscript, and audio editing.
2002
Virgin
- Body iQ STEP Test
Fun & Games
PBS Kids
- Get a Kiss from Clifford
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A very simple color matching game, with amusing illustrations and animation, co-produced with Fablevision.
2001
- Slide on Clifford
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A very simple color matching game, with amusing illustrations and animation, co-produced with Fablevision.
2003
- Help Clifford Stay Warm
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In this very simple drag & drop activity, the user must drag the correct items onto Clifford to win. Co-produced with Fablevision.
2000
Personal
- J-Lo Super Scramble
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I was doing more experiments with actionscript tweening, so I wanted to create a game to showcase it. Someone else might have had rocket ships blowing up aliens, but this is what I came up with.
Trivia: It was originally going to be the "Mariah" Super Scramble but "J-Lo" sounded way cooler.
2003
Reading Rainbow
- Silly Sentence
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The user assembles a silly sentence, which is then read aloud, in this simple game. Co-produced with Fablevision.
2002
Logo Animations
Cosmic Blender
- Company Logo
MarketSoft
- Company Logo
Navic Networks
Starwood
- Operation Innovation
Miscellaneous
Gaming
- Warhammer Online Addons
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Occasionally, I have an idea for an addon that may improve the game's UI.. and even more occasionally, I actually find out that nobody has already created this addon! Then I stop playing, start coding, and the rest is history. This is a link to my profile on Curse.com with my public projects.
2008
- World of Warcraft Addons (Outdated)
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While I was playing World of Warcraft, I often had ideas for improving the game's UI.. and when the idea seemed good enough, I usually just started coding a solution in Lua.
This is a list of the interfaces that I released publicly.
2006-2007
- Katamari Damacy CycloDS Skins
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I bought a CycloDS Evolution ROM cart for my Nintendo DS, and while looking around for extras I realized that there was a distressing lack of quality Katamari Damacy skins.. so I made three of them!
If you're a Katamari Damacy fan and own a CycloDS, you'll love these. If you've never heard of either Katamari Damacy or CycloDS.. well, don't bother looking. It'll just confuse you!
2008
Google Gadgets
- Power Search!
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Search, search, and more search!
Power Search! is a highly customizeable all-in-one search box for your iGoogle homepage. You can use the default searches, or add your own.
Just try it out, and you'll toss all those other single-site search boxes!
2008
Personal
- Simple DHTML Mouse Trails
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This creative little JavaScript experiment actually ended up turning into a Windows Flash screensaver, but as a simple creative DHTML learning experience, it was a lot of fun.
2004
- 3D Flash Engine
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Even though I started this series of Flash experiments out of pure curiosity, it ended up becoming the basis for the main naviagtion in my personal "Cowboy 4.0" site.
2003
- My Applescripts
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This ASP that drives this website is very simple. Each Applescript is read from an index and then displayed inline, with its contents urlencoded and linked via the applescript:// protocol, which allows them to be opened directly in Apple Script Editor.
And of course, I actually wrote all the Applescripts listed here. If you use a Mac, you might find some of these scripts useful, so check them out!
2005-2008
- Safari Start Page
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This webpage is generated by applying a custom XSLT stylesheet to my Macbook's Safari bookmarks XML file, which is then uploaded to the remote server where inline PHP handles the dynamic functionality.
All of my bookmarks are listed hierarchically on the left. On the right, boxes with my favorite search engines and my favorite RSS feeds are listed. Dynamically-loaded CSS themes allow for custom layouts.
On the server, Magpie RSS is utilized to handle RSS caching, and AJAX is used for tooltips and auto-updating the feeds.
2006
- Cowboy's Ride
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I was so excited about getting my first "real" car that I made a website for it. (This was a very long time ago, so please.. be gentle)
2001
- This Portfolio (XSLT Source)
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While benalman.com is based around a customized Movable Type Open Source installation, not all of the content served is managed through MT. The portfolio page of this website was built in PHP, using XML and XSLT. This is the XSLT source that renders the portfolio and its subpages.
2007
RJ3 Productions
- Royal Family Screensaver