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Just for fun, let's go way back...
It's the 1990s, Netscape Navigator is the dominant web browser; the phrase "You've Got Mail" is preceded by tones of dial-up internet; eBay is still an idea called "Auction Web", Google is not yet even a research project for 3 guys at Stanford University and Amazon arrives at the dot com party as simply a bookseller. It's not quite the beginning, but it's awfully close.
The Internet Archive's Wayback Machine
has been archiving the web since 1996 and has preserved billions of webpages from millions of websites. One day after geeking out to a six-part National Geographic special on the dot-com boom (aptly named "Valley of the Boom") I decided to climb aboard the wayback machine myself to see what, if anything, still existed from the websites that essentially launched my design career: FnMail, Mailroom, Faxroom, FnUSA, AdvanceSports and more.
All of these sites were developed on the cusp of the Internet Age. FnMail and Mailroom.com offered web based email when the only other providers were AOL and Hotmail (purchased by Microsoft in 1997 and eventually replaced with Outlook in 2012). AdvanceSports, AdvanceHockey, Basball, Basketball, Golf, etc. - all born before Molson Breweries fantasy hockey site, Commissioner.com, Sportsline or CBSSports.com. I vividly remember updating March Madness brackets via FTP each night of the competition and working out advertising trade deals with Titleist for fantasy golf tournament prizes.
So poke around at some of the links below to my much, much earlier works. Not all images are available; in fact, not all sites are available, but it's a fun journey back to the days when "Email to Pager" was a service that was "Coming Soon!" (Oh, and necessary disclaimer: back in the mid-90s, animated GIFs were new and exciting, banner ads were an effective (and up-and-coming) way to advertise, and file size was king because no one would wait more than 15 seconds for a page to load! Time was money, especially when you paid for dial-up Internet.).
Xcel Communications was one of the first creators of web-based communications tools such as email, fax, customized web tools, online gaming and more.
Xcel Communications was one of the first creators of web-based communications tools such as email, fax, customized web tools, online gaming and more.
Xcel Communications was one of the first creators of web-based communications tools such as email, fax, customized web tools, online gaming and more.
Xcel Communications was one of the first creators of web-based communications tools such as email, fax, customized web tools, online gaming and more.
and some very early print/design samples from the vault...
