Some of the staff at Sandstorm, literally showing upward growth!

2012 is proving to be yet another award-winning year for Sandstorm Design! In March we were named as a Top B2B Interactive Agency by Crain’s BtoB Magazine. And this week, our Principal Sandy Marsico traveled to Boston to attend the awards ceremony for the Top 100 Fastest Growing Inner City Companies in America. We are so honored and humbled to have landed at the #43 spot, with a 33% 5-year annual growth.

With our Chicago marketing firm’s move to a larger space last year and hiring a number of new employees, we’ve been steadily and strategically growing. We couldn’t be more excited about this achievement, and we thank Fortune, Harvard, ICIC and all of our amazing partners who’ve worked with us to create impactful work!

We’re on the hunt for the ideal candidate that will embody UX design and be the user advocate. We believe designers make great IAs since they can think about the user experience as well as interface design while integrating the client’s strategic marketing objectives.

You will be responsible for the creation of wireframes, user flows and sitemaps. (We use Axure for wireframing.) Also, you will design user interfaces that balance the user and business requirements. Projects can include, web site design, video storyboards, and the design and storyboarding of interactive experiences. At times, will be asked to create logos, brand boards, ads, brochures, etc. You can be involved in user research, persona development and usability studies (we have a lab on site).

Our office is extremely collaborative and everyone’s opinion counts. If you are lone wolf, this is not the place for you. You will report to the creative director, but often you will be working closely with the director of technology, dev team and other IAs.

Qualifications for this role include:

• 3-6 years visual user experience design
• Strong Color Theory, Typography, Layout and Grid system design skills
• Proven experience designing customer facing interfaces
• Strong understanding of UX/IA/UI principles and best practices
• Knowledge or familiarity with user research, usability testing a plus
• Excellent visual and oral/written communication skills
• Passion for and demonstrated knowledge of user-centered design
• Excellent Information Design skills
• Attention to every detail
• Understanding timelines and working within established budgets is a must

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, too!

To apply send your cover letter, resume, samples and salary requirements to jobs@sandstormdesign.com. Include “UX Designer” in the subject line. NO phone calls.

Sandstorm Design is a growing interactive agency! We are looking to hire someone to help us grow our existing accounts. This position is absolutely incredible as you will get the opportunity to work on some really innovative interactive work for some great people and high profile brands. Plus, you will continue to grow, mentor and lead our account team. Be prepared to be part of an internal usability study or user research project, and live, breathe and sleep our user-centered methodology.

Now there’s a few things we need to see from you: Significant B2B and B2C agency experience, digital/interactive expertise, strategic thinking, unsurpassed motivation and drive to learn new things, detailed project management skills, and the ability to write really well. To apply, send your cover letter, salary history and resume to jobs@sandstormdesign.com. Please include “Account Director” in the subject line. NO calls please.

Sandstorm Design is on the lookout for an Interactive Project Manager. If you have at least 3 years of experience managing interactive and web development projects in a fast-paced agency environment, this might be the job for you.

To be the successful candidate, you will need in-depth understanding of creative development, interactive development and project management processes with the ability to manage multiple projects at one time. You will need to put in practice and enforce these project processes and standards. All of this requires excellent organization and time management, which are fundamental to project and client management success. Strong leadership abilities in addition to outstanding written and public speaking skills are a must. (You will be presenting complex information to both technical and non-technical audiences). You would need experience managing comprehensive web development projects, creating and managing Statements of Work, status reports, project timelines and resource projections. In addition to the management aspects you will need a strong understanding and experience with web strategies and online technologies, including web site development, SEO, social media plus knowledge of web analytics and how to apply them. Familiarity with Drupal (Sandstorm’s preferred CMS) and BaseCamp are definite pluses.

Our Interactive Project Manager will coordinate and lead design, copywriting and development teams through all stages of project development. This includes building and maintaining relationships with clients and project teams to deliver project objectives, on time, within budget and to the full satisfaction of the clients. Estimating budgets and creating project plans is key. Also, you will effectively communicate project scope and milestones to clients, vendors and agency team members and identifying and explaining the budget and timeline implications of project scope changes.

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, too!

If you think you’d be a great addition to our team, please submit a cover letter, resume, 3 URLs of web sites that you were the lead project manager on and a salary history to jobs@sandstormdesign.com.

We thank all applicants for their interest; however only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.

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

We are so excited to announce that not only is our web design firm one of Brill Street’s Top Chicago Gen-Y Employers for 2011, we’ve also moved up the list of 50 since last year—to the top 20! With freedoms to define our own culture, opportunities to give each other praise and recognition, and traditions around holidays and events, we’ve got a workplace fit for any Gen-Yer.

And it’s not just the fun (although, yes, we know how to have a good time), it’s the collaboration, teamwork and team-building activities that allow us to grow together and work better together so that at the end of the day we can kick our feet up and appreciate every aspect of our jobs—the people, the work, the environment, the culture…oh, and of course the food!

Truth is, Sandstorm is a great place to work no matter who you are. Read more about our Chicago web design company on Brill Street’s Top 50 Chicago Generation Y Employers List.

Who doesn’t love a good tradition? For Sandstorm, one of our favorite traditions is gathering at Café Ba Ba Reeba for the holiday party. Way back in the early days of our Chicago marketing firm, the holiday party was just a table of four out in the dining room. Now we pack 25 people into a private room where we get to laugh as loud as we want. And believe me…we laugh loud.

After passing our favorite tapas plates around the table, we exchanged dirty santa gifts. Among the many gifts there was a vintage fondue pot, a pop culture history book, a mustache cookie tray, fancy salt and pepper shakers and a book of Elvis paper cut-outs. And as if the holiday party itself weren’t amazing enough, we didn’t come into the office until 1:00 PM the next day. AND it was pajama day. Do you see why we love the holidays?

Check out the pictures of the holiday party below, and see more on our Facebook!

View all of Sandstorm’s holiday party photos on Facebook. Learn more about our Chicago web design, interactive and marketing firm.

Someone should have told us our new office had elves. Had we known, maybe we would have moved in a long time ago! As of today, when stepping off the elevator you’re greeted with a colorful, sparkling, blinking display of holiday spirit bursting from the Sandstorm Design office.

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t elves. Maybe a few of the Sandstorm staff came into the office unenviably early to set up the surprise. Either way, our Chicago marketing firm now has quite the magical, merry vibe. There’s a cozy fireplace next to the tree, candy cane poles, a light-up Santa Claus and garland galore. See for yourself in the pictures below:

What can I say, this is our favorite season. From all of us at Sandstorm, Happy Holidays!

See more pictures on Sandstorm’s Facebook page—and don’t forget to like us!

REALTOR^® University and the National Association of REALTORS^® partnered with Sandstorm’s Drupal development team to build their first ever master’s degree program. The web site was developed through a combination of marketing messaging, copywriting, tagline development, user interface design and implementation of the Drupal 7 CMS. Featured on the homepage are rotating graphics emphasizing the core advantages the university offers. We are so excited to announce this launch!