Are you as comfortable on the web as you are on the phone? Then we should talk.

Sandstorm Design is looking for a personable and tech-savvy pro to run our office. “Why do I need to be tech-savvy to run an office,” you ask? Because a big chunk of the work we do is web-based, and there are A LOT of moving pieces that go into making Sandstorm run smoothly.

Your office admin responsibilities will be your typical administrative tasks: answering phones, managing the office on a day-to-day, ordering supplies and snacks, scheduling events and travel, etc. To do this well, you need to be detail-oriented, and have advanced knowledge of MS Office and excellent communication skills (both written and verbal).

The rest of your time will be split doing various tasks. Do you have project management skills? You can help manage some smaller projects. Don’t worry, you’ll always be able to ask for help! Do you have any knowledge of HTML or CSS, or familiarity with Drupal and/or other content management systems? We can use those skills with basic web responsibilities. You don’t need a degree in computer science or anything, and we will train you on how our systems work. Do you have skills in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign? We often need help cleaning up images or preparing a newsletter for the printer.

In any case, you need to be a fast learner, a fan of computers and the web, and what our interactive designer refers to as an overall “technophile”. Also, our office is an open floor plan, so the ability to play well with others is essential.

Sandstorm Design creates powerful brand experiences with our unique blend of strategic marketing, web design and usability services. Located on Chicago’s north side, we help companies identify, craft, and clearly communicate their marketing messages in a creative, intuitive and strategic way. We’re a creative bunch with a witty sense of humor. Why it’s awesome to work here: paid day off and free lunch for your birthday, you don’t have to dress up, you get all the traditional perks of a big company (401K, healthcare benefits, etc.) without the politics, free snacks (and COFFEE) all day! Lots of growth potential.

If you think you’d be a great addition to our team, please send your cover letter and resume to jobs@sandstormdesign.com. Please include Chicago Admin in the subject line.

No phone calls, please. Local candidates only. No Recruiters.

We recently logged onto Skype from our Chicago office for a conversation with web developer and web design lover, Patrick McNeil. He is the author of the Web Designer’s Idea Book series, and his latest book, The Designer’s Web Handbook, will be coming in the summer of 2012. He has also recently released the Web Designer’s Idea App, which compiles his first two books into an iPad app. We talked design trends, industry standards and more. The following is the first part of our two-part edited conversation, so be sure to check back for the second half of the interview!

SD: You’ve been following design trends for a long time. Which ones do you believe have the strongest staying power?

PM: [The trends with the strongest staying power] are definitely ones that aren’t trends any more, they’re just normal ways of doing anything. I guess at some point in the history of the web putting the logo in the top left was a trend, and then it just sort of became the norm. One that you noticed popped out a couple years ago—I always called it the pitch—on a homepage you have this nice, clear, bold text that basically sums up what a site does. At some point people started doing that and now it’s just what you do so that people know what the heck they’re looking at… This new trend became a norm and now it’s a fundamental part of every site.

SD: Are there any trends that you don’t like, that bother you?

PM: [Laughs] Yeah, every trend kind of goes through that for me. For example in the whole web 2.0 craze everybody was putting badges on their sites—those little starry badges—and it was kind of like, God that’s annoying. At the time it’s just part of what you’re doing but as you look back you’re just like, I’m so glad that’s over.

The irony is now you can still use them; people just use them when it actually makes sense. Most annoying trends eventually fade away and then just resolve to what they should have been in the first place—which is very functional.

SD: Which sites have web designers been able to look to consistently for industry standards?

PM: I actually think there is an overwhelming amount of design work that’s not necessarily mainstream or the big name stuff, it’s just normal designers doing their job everyday. And in a lot of ways that’s what fills my books. I don’t focus on the facebooks or the amazon.com type of stuff because we all see that. I much prefer to focus on small studios or lesser-known resources…That’s been most definitely the source for me over and over—the unknowns.

SD: If you could give web designers one ultimate challenge for the future, what would it be?

PM: Learn to code a little bit. [Laughs] A lot of people disagree with that. I don’t expect designers to be full-on developers and coders but I think that the people who are getting the most fanfare as awesome designers can also code. They just understand both sides of the coin and how to work with the medium the best, essentially.

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We love Patrick’s books, and can’t wait for the Designer’s Web Handbook to be released. At Chicago-based Sandstorm Design, our entire team works closely to create powerful brand experiences supported by user research and a strategic marketing approach. Let us help you stay ahead of the curve with custom web solutions that are one step ahead of your competition.

2011 has been an award-winning year for Sandstorm Design! Earlier this year we were recognized by BtoB Magazine as a Top B2B Interactive Agency. Today, we’ve been recognized again—This time as a top Chicago Web Developer for 2011 by Crain’s Chicago Business. Not only does this mean we’re in the printed newspaper, but we’ll also be included in the Book of Lists for 2011.

Our developers work closely with the design team to create powerful results. And when it comes to content management systems, our Drupal 7 developers build robust and flexible web sites customized to your needs. We love the work we do, and are so honored to be included as a top Chicago Web Development firm!

We may have lost our electricity, but we certainly did not lose power as our web design company’s office is still moving full steam ahead! The power outage that hit Chicago with Monday’s storm left our office on Chicago’s north side dark, muggy and ever so quiet without the hum and buzz of the computers. So we packed up and got to work at Sandy’s house, where sandwiches, pop, chips and a very popular pasta salad awaited us.

The whole situation reminded me of a recent post on brand strategy that discussed how your company’s brand should carry over into every aspect of your business. What a great example this makes! We often talk about the “Sandstorm Way” around the office—which refers to ensuring any aspect of a project is up to our professional standards. Because this is at the core of who we are, it’s a key part of our brand. And isn’t this a perfect manifestation of the Sandstorm brand in the culture of the company? Electricity or not, we are still committed to delivering the strategic and creative results we’re known for.

Our Chicago web design firm is looking for an expert PHP and MySQL web developer with Drupal experience to join our team. As a Web Developer at Sandstorm you’ll work closely with our team of information architects and creatives to build impactful user experiences in Drupal and other frameworks. You’ll also contribute to strategic discussions about websites, mobile deployments and other technology decisions.

You’ll take the lead on Drupal development projects and oversee back-end development for multiple Drupal websites, as well as develop and maintain internal Drupal processes and best practices. Working closely with our Front-end Developer, you will build and deploy high quality Drupal sites, while maintaining knowledge of Drupal-contributed modules and developing custom modules when needed. You’ll also assist in monitoring and troubleshooting deployed websites, and help with other web development projects not built in Drupal.

Required skills include 5+ years programming experience, as well as experience building, deploying and maintaining Drupal websites and building custom Drupal modules. You should have expert understanding of XHTML/PHP/MySQL, and familiarity with Javascript and jQuery. The right candidate will have excellent organization, time management and communication skills, and the ability to write programming specifications and documentation. Must be a collaborative team player, but also self-directed when required. You should have an understanding of web services/APIs, familiarity with version control systems (SVN, GIT, etc), and working knowledge of Apache / LAMP stacks. Education requirement is a BS in Computer Science or relevant experience. Understanding of OOP and MVC, and Action Script 3.0 / Flash skills are a plus.

Sandstorm Design creates powerful brand experiences with our unique blend of strategic marketing, web design and usability services. Located on Chicago’s north side, we help companies identify, craft, and clearly communicate their marketing messages in a creative, intuitive and strategic way. We’re a creative bunch with a witty sense of humor. Why it’s awesome to work here: paid day off and free lunch for your birthday, you don’t have to dress up, you get all the traditional perks of a big company (401K, healthcare benefits, etc.) without the politics, free snacks (and COFFEE) all day! Lots of growth potential.

If you think you’d be a great addition to our team, please send your cover letter, resume and salary requirements to jobs@sandstormdesign.com. Please include “Chicago PHP/MySQL Developer” in the subject line.

Local candidates only. No phone calls please. No recruiters.

Google has been rolling out changes one after another, with a new (but not that different) homepage design, the +1 button, and a social network in the trial phase. Here’s a quick, easy-to-digest breakdown of what these search engine and social media updates are all about:

+1 Button

This little button is yet another factor in search engine optimization, bringing more recommended sites higher in the search results. If someone you are connected to in your Google account recommends a site with the +1 button, you’ll see that they did. This is simply a tool to tally recommendations, and that’s it. The social aspect is just that you can see which of your friends have recommended a site. You should definitely be leveraging the +1 button in your search engine optimization and online marketing strategy.

Google+

In plain English, Google+ is Google’s new social network (although they’re not saying that). It’s in a trial phase right now, and isn’t open to everyone just yet. Here are its key features:

• Circles: Similar to Facebook Groups, Circles let you put different people in different circles, allowing you to interact and share with each circle separately.
• Sparks: This is a feed of content based on specific interests you have selected. From Sparks, it’s easy to share with Circles, and create a thread of conversation around a piece of content.
• Hangouts: Video chat with multiple friends at a time.
• Mobile: There are a couple features that will be available for what Google calls a “pocket computer,” or mobile. Instant uploads let you instantly upload photos from your phone, and Huddles creates a chat-room style text conversation with friends.

What people are saying

They’re saying a lot…Facebook already meets these needs…If Buzz didn’t have great success, why would Google+?…And while it’s nice to have our world tailored to our interests, don’t we need something to balance us? Something to remind us that there are alternative viewpoints we should consider, and our world isn’t the only world that matters? Eli Pariser raised some of these concerns this past February in a talk about The Filter Bubble.

The gates through which we enter the Internet are changing. It will be exciting to see what happens in the not so far off future. And of course, we’ll keep you up-to-date on how it will effect your search engine optimization and social media strategy.