Web design employment opportunities in my area

• • Experienced & Creative Web Designer / Developer

  About the Job

  We are an established media development firm, in our 10th year of business, seeking an experienced and creative web developer to join our team.​ Must be able to create custom designs from scratch and be familiar with Photoshop, HTML, and CSS.​ Knowledge of jQuery, Javascript, ActionScript, and other programming languages are a plus.​
  
  
  Pay is structured as a salary and is distributed bi-weekly and will depend on the level of experience and ability.​ Employees are still required to clock in and out of projects for billing and tracking purposes.​
  
  
  Employees are eligible for paid time off and paid holidays off, as well as the opportunity to participate in company profit-sharing.​

  Location

  Indianapolis, In 46204

  Industries

  Internet Services

  Advertising and PR Services

  Other/​Not Classified

  Job Type

  Full Time

  Employee

  Education Level

  High School or equivalent

  Career Level

  Experienced (Non-Manager)

  Salary

  $700.​00 - $1,200.​00  bi-weekly
  Paid Time Off, Paid Holidays, & Profit-Sharing

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  • Web Developer and Designer

  About the Job

  
  

  Web Developer & Print Designer – Web to Print

  Corporate Profile:

  
  

  April 4, 2012

  
  

  PRIORITY PRESS, INC. ​ is distinguished as a leading provider of offset printing, direct mailing and inventory fulfillment services to all size companies throughout North America.​  As a full-service marketing solutions company, Priority assists companies in managing all aspects of their brand and customer communications.​ From design to delivery, Priority delivers ROI by assisting companies in consistently, effectively and creatively communicating their brand across multiple marketing vehicles and channels.​

  
  

  Priority Press has developed a world-class, web-enabled print solution that allows users to quickly and easily order their print and branding communication needs, as well as initiate customized multi-touch marketing campaigns.​  Our solution allows users to quickly and cost effectively create personalized marketing materials, receive real-time proofs with noted concerns, and submit their project for print and delivery.​  Additionally, our solution enables real-time proofing and management of variable data print projects thus providing Priority customers the ability to get their project out of the project room and into the hands of the target audience.​ 

  Established in 1980, Priority Press is located in Indianapolis, IN.​  Priority seeks a proven design and web professional to help capitalize on this unique market opportunity.​

  
  

  To find out more about Priority Press visit us on the web at www.​priority-press.​com.​

  
  

  Job Summary:

  
  

  This opportunity is for an entrepreneurial spirit looking to help create and maximize the opportunity itself.​

  The position of Web Developer & Print Designer will serve to advance the graphic design and interactive technology solutions provided by Priority Press.​ The ideal candidate will be responsible for graphically designing marketing materials for use both online and through the print channel, designing customer-centric web solutions, educating and assisting customers on our technology platform, and assisting when necessary with prepress activities required in the print production process.​ This position will work within a cross-functional team framework to create a best-in-class customer experience.​

  
  

  The ideal candidate is self-motivated and able to perform in a fast paced environment with minimal supervision.​  The candidate should be wildly creative and innovative in thought and practice.​  In addition, the candidate should be able to accept constructive feedback, work as part of a team, juggle multiple ongoing projects, be detailed oriented and meet deadlines.​  The successful candidate will be highly detail oriented and always conscious of the end user’s experience.​

  
  

  Responsibilities:

  • Implement web-based applications using the Online Print Solutions (OPS) system.​
  • Conceptualize, develop and design brand identity items (logo, business cards, letterheads)
  • Develop brand standards, style guides and design guideline documentation for newly created brand identities.​
  • Conceptualize and brainstorm innovative cross-media marketing campaigns and tactics that will enable the tracking of metrics to measure ROI.​
  • Maintain marketing and design knowledge by staying informed of current best practices and results.​  Sources of knowledge include reviewing professional publications, attending design workshops and participating in professional societies.​
  • Maintain quality results by editing layouts including spelling, grammar, punctuation, reproduction, clarity, and consistency; adhering to brand standards.​
  • Develop a working knowledge of prepress and printing processes and techniques.​
  • Maintain design portfolio in conjunction with our project cataloging system.​
  • Hold responsibility for our technology platform that enables clients to more effectively and efficiently manage their brand.​
  • Accomplish organization goals by accepting ownership for accomplishing new and different requests; exploring opportunities to add value to the organization and our clients.​
  • Create and modify variable data graphic templates from their native file system.​
  • Additional web Design and Development experience.​

  
  
  Requirements:
  The following criteria must be held by the candidate to be successful in this position:

  • Associate’s Degree is required.​  A Bachelor degree is preferred.​ 
  • Experience in graphic design, web and media development.​  Experience in the print industry and prepress development activities a major plus.​
  • Strong creative abilities and the ability to develop innovative ideas and concepts with stunning visual design.​
  • The ability to listen, understand, and respond to external and internal customers’ needs in a timely manner; customer service experience in a service-related industry preferred.​
  • Strong technical skills with proven expertise in web, media development and print production technologies with the ability to assure appropriate design consistency across all media platforms.​ 
  • Fluency in the Macintosh and Windows environment.​  Other technical requirements include, but are not limited to mastery of Creative Suite 5 and other design and web tools including: HTML, XML, ASP, JAVA, CSS and PHP.​  Experience with Kodak Prinergy and Online Print Solutions (OPS) a major plus.​
  • Strong work ethic, ability and willingness to stay late, come in early, work on the weekends and do whatever it takes to get the job done.​
  • An appreciation and respect for confidentiality of information.​

  
  

  Priority Press offers a competitive salary and a comprehensive benefits package that includes Medical, Dental, Vision, Life and Disability Insurance, a generous Paid Time Off program, 401K and a Health Savings Account.​

  
  

  Other

  
  

  No Third Party or Recruiters.​ To apply, please send Resume, Cover Letter and Salary Requirements to: humanresources@​priority-press.​com .​  Portfolio or links to online samples required.​

  
  

  Your resume and information will be kept strictly confidential.​

  
  

  Do you feel you can fit in to our business portrait and help us grow and advance?​

  If so, we would like to hear from you.​

  
  

  Priority Press, Inc.​

  

   

   

What is SEO?

SEO stands for “search engine optimization.” It is the process of getting traffic from the “free,” “organic,” “editorial” or “natural” listings on search engines. All major search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing have such results, where web pages and other content such as videos or local listings are shown and ranked based on what the search engine considers most relevant to users. Payment isn’t involved, as it is with paid search ads.

http://searchengineland.com/guide/what-is-seo

Design for web vs print/ Design vs Usability

Design on the web is very different from design in print. “Web design is the creation of digital environments that facilitate and encourage human activity; reflect or adapt to individual voices and content; and change gracefully over time while always retaining their identity.” If you know the medium your design is going to be used for your design with in return be enhanced.   Design and usability do not mean the same thing. Design has to do with colors and where things are going to go on your page.  Usability is how your website is going to function.  Do all the links work? Are they easy to follow? Can people with certain disabilities use them as well?  These are all questions you have to ask when your concern is focused towards the usability of your website.

3 Photoshop Tutorials

The first tutorial I chose was "3D Studio Design in Photoshop". I was so excited to read it and learn all I could about it but when I clicked on it, it would not work for whatever reason.  I was very disappointed because this is something I am and have been extremely interested in since I did my very first Photoshop assignment and have yet to really been taught anything up this ally.  So I went on to the next one, “Design a Grungy Website Design in Photoshop”. I initially chose it because I like paint splatter and bright colors. I like this tutorial because while the end result looks chaotic and time consuming it is actually a really easy design to do and only takes a short time.  It gave good detail in its step by step instructions.

http://www.talk-mania.com/web-layouts/37893-3d-studio-layout-portfolio-layout.html

http://www.hv-designs.co.uk/2007/10/10/web-design-layout-2-tutorial/

Next I chose “real estate template design”.  This is a confusing tutorial! It is very time consuming and full of detail and step after step after step!.  I like the way they explain everything and I if were wanting to design a real estate website they offer very valuable information.  It I definitely a tutorial I would not attempt if I were a beginner in Photoshop however.

http://bwebi.com/real-estate-template.html

The third and final tutorial I chose was “Design a cool photography portfolio”.  I liked this tutorial. It gave step by step instructions along with pictures to show you exactly what you should be doing.  Again it is a very time consuming tutorial, but to get to the end result sometimes it takes many little steps unlike the first tutorial where you had to do a few clicks, type a few things and BAM, your cite was created. 

http://dzineblog.com/2008/07/best-photoshop-layout-design-tutorials.html

Brief summary of the website development process

No matter the size of your website or the purpose of it, they all include 7 basic steps:

1.       1. Conceptualize and research

2.       2. Create and organize content

3.       3. Develop the “look and feel”

4.      4.  Produce a working prototype

5.       5. Test it

6.      6.  Launch the site

7.      7.  Maintain

These steps do not have to be done in this order, but in some way they will all be utilized. In the conceptual and research phase you lay the basic idea out on the table. You decide the purpose of the website, like if it will be used for personal as in displaying a family photo album, to sell items, or anything the customer wants.  This is where you write/sketch everything and anything the customer says because you never know what you will end up using in the end.  The more information you get the better!  The next step, create and organize content, you will need to get all the content from the client that they want on the site.  Once you have the content, organize it and put it into an easy to follow yet unique and eye catching design.  After you have gathered the content and organized it is time to develop the “look and feel” of your site.  Sketch it out on paper or however you feel comfortable doing a rough draft of the overall look, just make sure to come up with 2 or 3 different ideas that you will take back to your client. After you have showed the client their choices and you have worked out what design you are going to go with you need to produce a working prototype.  This is my favorite step of the process because you have all the information you need and a basic idea of where the client wants you to take the design.  Now you get to run free with it and put your own signature on it.  Now, after the client has seen the working prototype and approved it is time to test it. Go through a few simple yet effect steps to make sure all the content is there, are there any typos or grammar errors, do all the links work, are all the images showing, is everything functioning properly? Also you should check how it will look on other browsers or even function on other browsers, what happens if you resize the page really large or small, can you use it on a text-only browser or with the graphics turned off?  All of these things need to be checked before your site goes live.  An effect way to check all of these things is to give it user testing.  Have people go through and click on everything little thing make sure it all works and there are no hidden glitches or errors.  Once you have gone and looked over everything and double checked it all works you are ready to launch your site. It is a good idea to do one last test just to make sure nothing got over looked at the end.  If everything is good to go you are “finished” and I use quotation marks because even though everything is complete and you are live there still needs to be site maintenance done to it regularly.  Keep up on any updates, information changes, is the site a limited time only site and needs to be shut down after a certain date such as a promotion site for an event.  The website development process is very interesting and I look forward to putting these basic steps to use in my own development processes.

Brief Summary of the History of the Internet

In 1969 the internet as we know it today, came into existence.  In 1965 however, the first email was being used.  Then in 1971 internet email came into existence, and in 1973 email was the main reason to use the network.  In 1975 mailing lists were created.

In 1798 a program called CBBS was created by Ward Christensen.  It was a type of BBS (Bulletin Board System) and it is said that it took him two weeks to create the program while he was stuck in his home because of a snow storm.

In 1979 Usenet was created and the emoticon entered into the world of messaging.  MUDs (Multiuse Dungeons) were also invented which is what we know today as online gaming such as World of Warcraft.

1982 was the birth of IM.  Minitel was used in the online game of chess and people realized they could talk/flirt with someone they had never met.

In 1992 the World Wide Web (WWW) came about and CERN was the first homepage.  It was an HTML page.  Then in 1995 Geocities and Tripod decided to create personal homepages taking simple HTML pages and spicing them up using CSS.

In 1997 people started using weblogs to help make the internet better.  In 2001 Wikipedia was created and the today many people use the web for things like myspace and facebook.