1999, it made an entire industry stop and draw a breath. One of the first designers to embrace and exploit the potential of ActionScript, Nakamura's interactive environments were very fluid, calming, and natural. Previously a gardener, he quotes an old Japanese saying: “Rather than beautifying one’s own creation, make better the environment that surrounds it” — in other words, better to make a beautiful user experience than a beautiful website. Built in Flash 4. Jonni Nitro - 1999 In 1999, Jonni Nitro created an animated series centred on a female secret agent on a quest against an unnamed terrorist threat, Tubatomic's G-Woman took its visual cues from graphic novels like Frank Miller's Sin City. Using a highly stylised video-to-vector process, the animated series pushed Flash well beyond its apparent capabilities. Built in Flash 4. Barneys - 2000 Founded by Peter Kang and Gene Na in 1999, one of Kioken's early websites was for the R & B singer Brandy, and a string of entertainment clients followed, most notably including Jennifer Lopez, Motown, and Bad Boy Records. Criticized by some for a lack of usability, contrary to popular opinion, Kioken was resolute in its belief that audiences raised in the video game era were practiced in deciphering interfaces — in fact, they took pleasure in the experience. Taking their cue from TV and video games, Kioken's websites had a depth and emotional quality absent from their counterparts. Full-bleed images, parallax movement, and floating palettes were used with great effect, all coming together beautifully on Barneys.com. According to Na, it's simple: “You have to think beyond the limits of a page.” Built in Flash 4. Levi Twisted Denim - 2000 Lateral was founded in 1997 by Jon Bains and Simon Crab. Quickly joined by David Jones and David Hart, they were already digital veterans, having worked at Obsolete since 1994. Their first account was Levi's Europe, an account they retained for a decade. The Levi Twisted Denim site, twists the browser, opening multiple windows and creating a usability nightmare in the process. Bravo to them. Built in HTML 4.01, Director 8.0 (Shockwave), RealPlayer 4.0 PrayStation - 2000 Joshua Davis wanted to write and illustrate children's books. After his first two attempts received two rejection letters, a friend told him, “You don’t need them anymore — there’s this whole internet thing happening. You can self-publish.” Davis went out and bought a book on