USER EXPERIENCE DESIGNER with mobile experience

• Location: Seattle, WA
  
• Report to: Executive Design Director
• Compensation: Salary based on experience level, (For full time benefits include, family medical, health club & commuting subsidy). 401k with Employer Match. Life Insurance, AD&D policy and relocation benefits.

• Job description
• This Seattle-based client is a fast-growing digital product development consultancy located. In this creative and inspiring environment new product ideas come to life. They provide business strategy, research and design consulting services to high profile clients. They design software and technology products and services that address real user needs, allow their clients to harness market opportunities, and deliver next generation user experiences.
• Here is an opportunity for an entry to mid-level interaction or user experience designer with ambition, talent and a desire to work in an energetic environment. You will participate in design programs to define the next generation user experience for a wide range of products, ranging from the product and user experience design of software applications, mobile phones, games and enterprise business software. You will work closely with researchers, customers and client-side product teams to define these new product experiences expressed through different levels of prototyped output. Additionally you will solve complex interaction problems and challenges to make these experiences as usable as possible.
• Experience and interest in software interaction design and solid capabilities in problem solving, visual design, and a passion and drive to make digital experiences as simple and elegant as possible is required.
• You have knowledge of, and proficiency in, various design software tools for prototyping and designing visual elements. You will need to demonstrate a portfolio of work that communicates examples of creative problem solving, ideally in the realm of software user experience design, and/or visual, industrial, or web design (HTML/Flash).

• Main responsibilities
• - Work with user researchers to turn observational and other data into creative solutions.
• - Collaboratively brainstorm and develop conceptual product ideas.
• - Find ways to make complex information and interaction as simple as possible.
• - Produce high quality visual user experiences to communicate a design approach.
• - Build Flash, Director, HTML, or After effects prototypes to demonstrations interactive behavior.
• - Develop user experience guidelines, and UI specification documentation.
• - Develop navigational hierarchies and effectively visualize key concepts of site structure and user pathways.
• - Create storyboards and plan activity scenarios, flow and sequences.
• - Effectively communicate and collaborate with members of management and production staff.
• - Demonstrable commitment to user centered design methods and research.

• Qualifications
• - Required: BA in Interaction Design, Visual Communication, Product Design, Industrial design or equivalent. Masters degree preferred.
• - An online design portfolio showing strong creative skills, ability to generate solid design ideas, and thorough understanding of good design process.
• - Ability to work under deadline pressure.
• - Able to work independently and as part of a team.
• - Able to accomplish objectives and possess proactive and strategic problem-solving skills.
• - All applicants applying for U.S. job openings must be authorized to work in the United States.
• - Demonstrated proficiency with Illustrator, Photoshop, Flash, Director, and HTML/Web authoring, In-design or equivalent.

If you are interested in this full time position, please contact Ariel Fredrickson, ariel@thesmartdept.com

SENIOR DESIGNER/ART DIRECTOR

1.    GENERAL SUMMARY:
Under the direction of the Creative Services Manager - design and develop functional, effective, and aesthetic interactive, video and print communications to support the Company's brand management program. Assume project responsibility and coordinate all phases of the discovery, design and production processes. May serve as consultant to various organizational units or outside designers, providing direction and guidance to accomplish corporate communication and design objectives. Ideal candidate will be able and willing to work on interactive, web, video and print projects as well as take on departmental operational duties.

2.    PRIMARY FUNCTION/MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:
a)    Manage development and implementation of interactive/print programs and projects to meet objectives.
b)    Manage project strategy as wells as graphic look/feel of projects to reinforce and build the Brand.
c)    Provide art direction, guidance and mentorship to outside vendors and/or production staff and serve as a trusted advisor to internal clients
d)    Assist in controlling the quality, cost, and timeliness of projects and services provided by the team (including outsourced vendors) and providing proactive project load balancing.
e)    Hands-on design to prepare master storyboards, layouts, artwork, and final production mechanicals for assigned interactive and traditional print deliverables.
f)    Responsible for developing information architecture schematics, prototypes, useability studies and end deliverables
g)    Provide input to functional requirements and technical specifications documents in areas of expertise.
h)    Act as spokesperson to appropriate vendors for specific projects.
i)    Assist with departmental oversight/project management/systems maintenance.
j)    Perform other related duties as assigned.

3.    JOB COMPLEXITY:
Develop solutions to complex problems which require the regular use of ingenuity and innovation. Determine own operating practices and procedures with minimum supervision while establishing departmental best practices. Must be able to make process improvement recommendations and drive consensus and implementation. Deal with new and varied work situations involving a high degree of complexity and requiring independent judgement and creativity. Errors in judgement may result in delays, substantial loss of funds, and affect Company image. Position requires extensive interaction with MarCom, marketing, and manufacturing personnel in the U.S. and Europe.

4.    SPECIFIC JOB SKILLS REQUIRED:
Demonstrated ability to coordinate various program and service elements and schedules simultaneously. In-depth knowledge of interactive media and tools including, HTML, CSS, DHTML, Actionscripts, scripting languages, audio and video editing, etc. Extensive pre-press knowledge and skills for various forms of printing. Must be fluent in Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, Acrobat and InDesign. Must be able to create functional and technical specification documents consisting of user requirements, site maps and wire frames, etc., to communicate project objectives. Must adhere to graphic design standards used in strategic role of brand expression which includes the use of typography, color, photography, illustration, messaging and other communication elements. Professional experience with desktop video creation/editing is highly desired. Ability to clearly communicate and present new design concepts, future trends, etc. to clients and rationalize the business benefit/impact.Individual should be able to demonstrate solid understanding of social media. Individual must be able to perform daily work on both a PC and a Mac.

5.    EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:
Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design or Visual Communication with a minimum of 6+ years' practical graphic design experience or equivalent combination of related education and experience which shows strong evidence of both print and interactive design. Online portfolio review required. Candidates with agency experience are highly encouraged to apply. Previous Art Direction experience desired.

 

If you are interested in this full time position please contact Ariel Fredrickson at ariel@thesmartdept.com

Calling all web gurus!  Do you have skills?  We are currently looking for some additional talented people to work on web design, web development- or possibly a hybrid of the two.

We'd love to talk to you about your work with:

• CSS
• HTML
• AS3
• Flash
• Silverlight

If you are interested in a freelance or full time position please contact Ariel Fredrickson at ariel@thesmartdept.com

INTERACTIVE WEB DESIGNER/DEVELOPER

A Seattle media studio is seeking a visual and interactive designer to join our fun, creative team and help us build rich interactive media projects. If you’re able to take client requests and turn their ideas into presentations, illustrations, and web sites, we want to talk to you. If you also have development experience using Silverlight or Flash, we really want to talk to you

Required Skills

• Rich media design experience
• Vector illustration skills using Adobe Illustrator
• Strong understanding of web technologies
• Experience with JavaScript, XML, DHTML, CSS
• Attention to detail, including unit testing own work
• Ability and inclination to research current and new technologies related to interactive media
• Ability to manage time, prioritize tasks and work to deadlines
• Good team player able to collaborate on projects and follow our organizational and file sharing standards

Additional Preferred Skills

• Experience with Silverlight
• Experience with eLearning/courseware development

What you’ll be doing

• Working on a team of designers and developers to create interactive courseware and rich media projects
• Designing visual treatments based on provided content from instructional designers and subject matter experts
• Participating in brainstorming sessions and design reviews
• Developing in Silverlight and staying on top of this emerging technology

Great benefits about working here

• Small, fun, creative company
• Collaborative environment
• Opportunity to do “outside the box” work
• Spacious loft studio workspace

This is a full-time, contractor, in-house position. Workdays are Monday through Friday. Only those living in the Seattle area need apply.



  If you are interested in this full time contract position, please contact Ariel Fredrickson, ariel@thesmartdept.com