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!

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.

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.

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.

Kyle Lamble is the latest addition to Sandstorm Design, adding to our stellar Drupal developers. He’ll be supporting our Drupal development team with both front-end and back-end database development. He’s experienced in javascript, PHP, MySQL, ASP.NET, C++ and has even done video game programming. Kyle uses his professional skills in his personal life too, and in his spare time built and maintains the website for the Loosey Goosey Art Zine that he and his friends created. In addition to loving life in front of the computer screen, Kyle is also quite comfortable on the big screen and has acted in several films.

Welcome, Kyle. We’re excited to be working with you!

As with all things, the first step you probably took was a Google search to learn the basics of Drupal. But that quick search may bring up some overwhelming results as a lot of the information out there is actually for the thousands and thousands of Drupal developers who have made this content management system what it is today.

But you’re not a developer, and no one expects you to be! (That’s what we’re here for.) You’re what we call a content administrator. And we’ve put together some of the Drupal basics you’ll need, without all that developer mumbo jumbo.

CONTENT TYPES

There are three main types of content on a Drupal site – Basic Pages, Articles, and Webforms. Each type has its own set of fields and purposes:

• Basic page – Just what it sounds like, a basic page. This content type will usually have fields like a main header, sub header and body content and is used for most of the pages on your site (like About Us, Products, or Services).
• Articles – These can be used for blog entries or news items. They have fewer fields than a basic page and include special fields like author and date.
• Webforms – This content type is for the forms on your site, like Contact Us.

MENUS

Every site needs some form of navigation. The menus let you take the different pieces of content on your web site and organize them in an outline. The main menu, for example could be made up of a few basic pages like About Us, Products, and Services, and a webform for your Contact Us page.

BLOCKS

Blocks are smaller chunks of content that might show on a page but wouldn’t be part of the content type. For example, you might have a callout on all the pages of your site. If this callout is a block, you can edit it once and the changes will show on every page.

CONTENT + MENUS + BLOCKS = YOUR WEB SITE!

When you take these different pieces and add them together, they make up your web site! Look at the example Drupal web site below and see if you can identify the different elements:

BASIC PAGE CONTENT

Although we call it a basic page, not everything on the page is part of the basic page content. Notice in the image below that the basic page content only takes up the center of the page…

MENUS

That’s because the rest of the information on the page is either a menu or a block. There are three menus on this page—the main menu on the top left, the secondary menu below that and a utility menu in the upper right corner.

BLOCKS

Finally, the callout on the right is a block. It would be edited separately from the basic page content in the center, and the changes would be carried over to any other pages on the site that include the block.

There you have it, now you understand content types, menus and blocks! The basics of Drupal are easy to grasp, and once you log in and start updating, you’ll love the ease and flexibility of it. Of course, if you ever need more than content updates, our Drupal developers would love to work on your web site!

Like us on Facebook to get more updates on the basics of Drupal!

Required skills include 2+ years programming experience with HTML/CSS, JavaScript, and JQuery (XML and AJAX a plus), as well as experience developing web pages and front-end solutions from provided wireframes and designs. You should also have a strong understanding of web standards and web browser peculiarities and the ability to create cross-browser and cross-platform compliant pages. Proficiency in the Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop and Illustrator) is important, and having advanced knowledge of content management systems such as Drupal, WordPress, Joomla, etc. will be key.  Sandstorm is a collaborative environment. So, in addition to doing great work independently, you will a member of a team for most projects. Overall, the ideal candidate should have a strong commitment to excellence, usability, and coding standards, all with an intense attention to detail.

The successful candidate will need to be flexible in day-to-day activities and embrace change as required, working both independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced environment with many projects, priorities and opportunities.

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 send your cover letter and resume to jobs@sandstormdesign.com. Please include “Experienced Web Developer” in the subject line.

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.

Meet Nick Henderson, Sandstorm’s new Relationship Manager. A friendly guy in person and on the phone, Nick is building relationships with new clients in addition to strengthening our connection with current clients. Nick comes from a long experience working one-on-one with many organizations and associations, and we’re glad to add his skills and personality to our Chicago marketing firm. You can often find him hitting the links (golfing, that is, although at Sandstorm, he can help you to create some links on your user-oriented web site). Being a proud Texan, Nick is a fan of the Dallas Cowboys and The Texas Rangers. (We promise to not hold that against him).

We’re glad to have you working alongside us. Welcome, Nick!

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it

When styling practices started moving away from tables-based layouts (way back when) there was a rush to convert anything and everything to tableless layouts with CSS. While many sites really did need to overcome some huge inefficiencies, others that were working perfectly fine in tables underwent redesigns just to be able to say they were now up-to-date. In reality, they could have waited until the need to change arose.

While mobile is growing and eventually we’ll all want to have our sites accessible from any device, that doesn’t mean we all need it immediately.

Analytics

Check your analytics. If you don’t have a very large mobile audience yet, and you’re already using Flash effectively—then keep it! There’s no reason to get rid of a perfectly wonderful experience built in Flash if your audience is accessing it just fine.

HTML5 for Mobile

If after checking your analytics you find that you do have a growing mobile audience, then HTML5 is the way to go. Along with Adobe’s Flash statement, they also said they would be contributing to HTML5 for mobile. It’s universally compatible with mobile devices (iPhone, Android and beyond). The downside is that it isn’t completely functional in all desktop browsers yet.

Beyond the web site

Let’s not forget, Flash isn’t just for web sites. It’s been used to create some amazing applications for use at tradeshows and conferences. And the great news is that these applications aren’t affected by the mobile barrier, so Flash is still a great option for creating them.

At Sandstorm, we love the beautiful interactive work that has come from Flash. The Johnny Cash Project is one of our favorites. Within our portfolio, we’re so proud of the AskBlue Medicare application for Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. And while we’ll always have a soft spot for Flash, we’re also extremely excited about the opportunities HTML5 creates. Regardless of the technology, we’re just happy to be building powerful interactive experiences.

Our work creating Ask Blue Medicare received a coveted Silver Award for the Web Based Resource Category. This interactive web application helps users understand Medicare health care coverage options from Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.  With closed captioning as well as the ability to increase the type size, this application was designed to educate people around 65 years old on the benefits available through Medicare.

We launched this highly interactive and accessible application in August 2010.  To offer this helpful tool to an even broader audience, the application was also launched in Spanish in April 2011.

We’re really excited about this accomplishment and look forward to developing more award-winning web applications, Drupal websites, and interactive user experiences in 2012.

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.

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!

We are excited to welcome Will Biby to Sandstorm Design as our Production Manager! He is the new face of Sandstorm Design, literally. Will’s desk is the reception area, the first thing you see when entering our new office. He comes from a varied and creative administrative background. Will is supporting every facet of our marketing firm, from usability testing to assisting our Drupal development team. His can-do attitude comes from his experience in education and improvisation (He’s currently studying at iO Chicago and The Second City).

We’re so excited to work with you. Welcome, Will!

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!

With this relocation, we have expanded space for collaboration and day-to-day activity. This includes an on-site usability lab, ideal for conducting formal and informal usability studies. Our “zen room” is the ideal place to find inner peace.  The new office is distinctly Sandstorm with our giant swirl logo painted at the entrance (It’s 8-foot by 11-foot!), and 4700 feet of exposed ceiling pipe was hand-painted Sandstorm blue to give some added color to this former warehouse space. To see more about this exciting development, check out the Sandstorm Photostream. We even tallied all the numbers from the move, and put together this infographic.

Be sure to update your records, CRM system, and iPhones. Our marketing firm is now located at 4619 N. Ravenswood Suite 300, Chicago, Illinois 60640. Our phone number is the same, 773-348-4200, but all extensions have shifted with an upgrade to a new Shoretel phone system.

Not too long ago we explained why your logo is not your brand. However, sometimes there is a brand so strong the only thing missing is a logo.

Consider human rights. It is a cause that touches every part of the world yet lacks a single symbol to represent it. Until now, of course. The human rights logo design competition has come to a close and the winning logo is beautiful. It brilliantly blends two universal symbols for humanity and peace: a hand and a dove.

The new identity is reminiscent of the peace symbol, which does not belong to any company or organization, but rather stands as the symbol for all things peaceful. Only time will tell if the world adopts the human rights logo with the same enthusiasm.

Learn more about the Human Rights Logo Design Competition and download the logo.

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Sandstorm Design is a Chicago user experience agency that builds intuitive web sites, interactive web applications and creative marketing campaigns leveraging a user-centered design methodology.

We are thrilled to welcome Andy Cullen, Senior Web Developer, to Sandstorm Design! The newest addition to our technology and usability team, this Chicagoland native specializes in backend development. Andy speaks a number of languages including PHP, SQL, and ActionScript. And much to our delight, he is also an experienced Drupal 7 developer. Andy is a fan of all things Apple, but his hobbies are far from any computer screen. He mixes up his seasons with outdoorsy activities and sports. Spring brings baseball and football takes over in fall. He’s gone fly fishing in Wyoming, and snowboarding and whitewater rafting in Colorado.

Welcome, Andy. We’re so excited to work with you!

“It’s a really exciting time for Sandstorm,” said Sandy Marsico, our marketing firm’s Principal, as I snapped a photo of her with the package Inc. Magazine sent us. “I am so proud of our team’s relentless dedication to our clients and the exceptional work they produce.”

Inc. Magazine releases the 500|5000 list each year to celebrate the companies who are thriving in their industries. The Inc. 500|5000 site has the full list, along with features, graphics and multimedia. Be sure to check out the Sandstorm Design Inc. 500|5000 profile.

“We’re honored to be a part of such an inspiring and aspiring group of companies,” said Marsico. Everyone at Sandstorm is enthusiastically looking forward to continued growth.

Learn more about Sandstorm Design and our unique blend of marketing strategy, web design and usability services.