Jaime Levy Russell
Encyclopedia
Jaime Levy Russell, formerly Jaime Levy, is an interface designer and user experience strategist who is best known for her groundbreaking new media projects in the 1990s. Most notable projects include her creation of the floppy disk distributed with Billy Idol
’s album Cyberpunk
, WORD
an online magazine, and an online cartoon series, CyberSlacker.
and Macromedia Director
and distributed on 800k floppy disk
s. She leveraged her publicity from numerous print publications and tv to increase the sales of these disks in book stores and mail-order.
In 1993, she worked with EMI
Records where she designed, animated, and programmed the first commercially released interactive press kit (IPK) for Billy Idol
’s Cyberpunk
CD digipack. The project featured sequenced samples, digitized video, hypertext, and interactive animation all integrated together as a seamless experience. She followed that up with the animated electronic book, Ambulance, that was written by Monica Moran and included music by Mike Watt
from the band Minutemen
and art by Jaime Hernandez
of Love and Rockets
.
In 1994 while employed by IBM
as an interface design
, she began hosting "CyberSlacker" salons for programmers and animators at her East Village loft. By 1995, she took a creative director position at Icon CMT, where she could focus on the creation of the online magazine WORD
. It received national recognition for its design and cutting-edge non-linear storytelling. She was recognized as Newsweek
’s top 50 people to watch in cyberspace
and on Good Morning America
as one of "The Most Powerful Twentysomethings in America."
As the dot-com
era took off, she went on her own as a consultant. In 1996, she designed a graphical multi-user environment called Malice Palace using The Palace
software. Set in a post-apocalyptic San Francisco, users could engage in real-time chat and interact with robots depicted as homeless people.
In 1997, her Silicon Alley
-based start-up called Electronic Hollywood received an angel investment. For the next 5-years her company focused on web design, interactive advertising, and original content development. The most prestigious production was the CyberSlacker, Flash cartoon series, which won the Flash Animation Award. She appeared in Doug Block
’s 1999 documentary film Home Page and her story was chronicled in the book Gig.
Not long after the dot-com bubble
burst, she shuttered Electronic Hollywood and returned to Los Angeles. From 2002 to the present she has resurfaced as a college professor, writer, and user experience design
strategist. In 2009, she founded her 2nd business JLR Interactive.
Social Media
Billy Idol
William Michael Albert Broad , better known by his stage name Billy Idol, is an English rock musician. A member of the Bromley Contingent of Sex Pistols fans, Idol first achieved fame in the punk rock era as a member of the band Generation X...
’s album Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk (album)
Cyberpunk is a concept album by English rock musician Billy Idol, released in 1993 by Chrysalis Records. Inspired by his personal interest in technology and his first attempts to use computers in the creation of his music, Idol based the album on the cyberdelic subculture of the late 80s and early...
, WORD
Word Magazine
Launched in 1995 by Carey Earle, Tom Livaccari and Dan Pelson, Word Magazine was one of the earliest and most influential e-zines. For over five years, Word created original stories, interviews, games, applications, music, interactive objects and art, and community spaces. Word published new...
an online magazine, and an online cartoon series, CyberSlacker.
Background
Jaime was born March 8, 1966 in Hollywood, California and raised in the San Fernando Valley. In 1988, she graduated with a B.A. from San Francisco State University. In 1990, she earned her Master’s degree from New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Program where she later spent seven years as a part-time professor.Career
Her career began in 1990 with the creation of the electronic magazines Cyber Rag and Electronic Hollywood. They were programmed in HyperCardHyperCard
HyperCard is an application program created by Bill Atkinson for Apple Computer, Inc. that was among the first successful hypermedia systems before the World Wide Web. It combines database capabilities with a graphical, flexible, user-modifiable interface. HyperCard also features HyperTalk, written...
and Macromedia Director
Adobe Director
Adobe Director is a multimedia application authoring platform created by Macromedia—now part of Adobe Systems. It allows users to build applications built on a movie metaphor, with the user as the "director" of the movie...
and distributed on 800k floppy disk
Floppy disk
A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles...
s. She leveraged her publicity from numerous print publications and tv to increase the sales of these disks in book stores and mail-order.
In 1993, she worked with EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
Records where she designed, animated, and programmed the first commercially released interactive press kit (IPK) for Billy Idol
Billy Idol
William Michael Albert Broad , better known by his stage name Billy Idol, is an English rock musician. A member of the Bromley Contingent of Sex Pistols fans, Idol first achieved fame in the punk rock era as a member of the band Generation X...
’s Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk (album)
Cyberpunk is a concept album by English rock musician Billy Idol, released in 1993 by Chrysalis Records. Inspired by his personal interest in technology and his first attempts to use computers in the creation of his music, Idol based the album on the cyberdelic subculture of the late 80s and early...
CD digipack. The project featured sequenced samples, digitized video, hypertext, and interactive animation all integrated together as a seamless experience. She followed that up with the animated electronic book, Ambulance, that was written by Monica Moran and included music by Mike Watt
Mike Watt
Michael David Watt is an American bassist, singer and songwriter.He is best known for co-founding the rock bands Minutemen, dos, and Firehose; , he is also the bassist for the reunited Stooges and a member of the art rock/jazz/punk/improv group Banyan as well as many other post-Minutemen...
from the band Minutemen
Minutemen (band)
Minutemen were an American hardcore punk band formed in San Pedro, California in 1980. Composed of guitarist D. Boon, bassist Mike Watt and drummer George Hurley, Minutemen recorded four albums and eight EPs before Boon's death in an automobile accident in December 1985...
and art by Jaime Hernandez
Jaime Hernandez
Jaime Hernandez is the co-creator of the black & white independent comic book Love and Rockets .-Early life:...
of Love and Rockets
Love and Rockets (comics)
Love and Rockets is a black and white comic book series by Gilbert Hernandez and Jaime Hernandez, sometimes cited jointly as Los Bros Hernandez. Their brother Mario Hernandez is an occasional contributor...
.
In 1994 while employed by IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
as an interface design
Interface design
Interface design deals with the process of developing a method for two modules in a system to connect and communicate. These modules can apply to hardware, software or the interface between a user and a machine...
, she began hosting "CyberSlacker" salons for programmers and animators at her East Village loft. By 1995, she took a creative director position at Icon CMT, where she could focus on the creation of the online magazine WORD
Word Magazine
Launched in 1995 by Carey Earle, Tom Livaccari and Dan Pelson, Word Magazine was one of the earliest and most influential e-zines. For over five years, Word created original stories, interviews, games, applications, music, interactive objects and art, and community spaces. Word published new...
. It received national recognition for its design and cutting-edge non-linear storytelling. She was recognized as Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
’s top 50 people to watch in cyberspace
Cyberspace
Cyberspace is the electronic medium of computer networks, in which online communication takes place.The term "cyberspace" was first used by the cyberpunk science fiction author William Gibson, though the concept was described somewhat earlier, for example in the Vernor Vinge short story "True...
and on Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
as one of "The Most Powerful Twentysomethings in America."
As the dot-com
Dot-com company
A dot-com company, or simply a dot-com , is a company that does most of its business on the Internet, usually through a website that uses the popular top-level domain, ".com" .While the term can refer to present-day companies, it is also used specifically to refer to companies with...
era took off, she went on her own as a consultant. In 1996, she designed a graphical multi-user environment called Malice Palace using The Palace
The Palace (computer program)
The Palace is a software program used to access graphical chat room servers, called palaces, in which users may interact with one another using graphical avatars overlaid on a graphical backdrop...
software. Set in a post-apocalyptic San Francisco, users could engage in real-time chat and interact with robots depicted as homeless people.
In 1997, her Silicon Alley
Silicon Alley
Silicon Alley is a nickname for an area with a concentration of Internet and new media companies in Manhattan, New York City. Originally, the term referred to the cluster of such companies extending from the Flatiron District down to SoHo and TriBeCa along the Broadway corridor, but as the location...
-based start-up called Electronic Hollywood received an angel investment. For the next 5-years her company focused on web design, interactive advertising, and original content development. The most prestigious production was the CyberSlacker, Flash cartoon series, which won the Flash Animation Award. She appeared in Doug Block
Doug Block
Doug Block is an American independent director, cameraman and producer.Doug Block's documentary credits include:*The Kids Grow Up...
’s 1999 documentary film Home Page and her story was chronicled in the book Gig.
Not long after the dot-com bubble
Dot-com bubble
The dot-com bubble was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1995–2000 during which stock markets in industrialized nations saw their equity value rise rapidly from growth in the more...
burst, she shuttered Electronic Hollywood and returned to Los Angeles. From 2002 to the present she has resurfaced as a college professor, writer, and user experience design
User experience design
User experience design is a subset of the field of experience design that pertains to the creation of the architecture and interaction models that affect user experience of a device or system...
strategist. In 2009, she founded her 2nd business JLR Interactive.
External links
Official websitesSocial Media