A place to make amazing happen.

Hi. Let’s get started.

A Quick Introduction:

NEXT/NOW is an independent creative agency that creates next-generation digital experiences for world-class brands and ideas. We use graphic design, interactivity, industrial design, technology, and architecture to create unforgettable moments of connection between people and organizations.
Our team has a varied background, from brand and museum management to video game development, and pretty much everything in between. Our focus on creating new approaches to existing challenges ensures a vibe of innovation runs through our studio. We work as a team, but have solid workflow practices that ensure projects are delivered with the right outcome.

The Benefits:
• Competitive Compensation
• Health and Dental Insurance
• Transit Benefits Program
• Medical and Dependent Flexible Savings Accounts
• Paid Vacation
• 401K
• A great team and client base to work with daily
• A dynamic and vibrant office environment
• Hang out with Tanner, the office dog

You’ll be working in our amazing loft space in Chicago’s West Loop and working on projects for some of the world’s best brands, creating portfolio quality projects and images.

PRODUCER

We are looking for a skilled and versatile Producer to become a part of our dynamic team.

At Next/Now, our specialty is crafting engaging interactive experiences for physical spaces. Our installations are typically designed for museums, tradeshows, retail spaces, sports venues, events and traveling brand tours. The Producer role reports to the Director or Project Management/Production.

The role of the Producer is integral to a project’s success. The perfect candidate will be a general creative problem solver and critical thinker, a natural leader, confident and solutions-oriented, adaptable, flexible, positive and enthusiastic.

At a high level, the Producer is Captain of the Project’s Ship. The Producer at NEXT/NOW is a hybrid role of Production Manager, Account Manager and Project Manager.

The Producer’s role includes, but is not limited to:

  • Leads internal cross-functional teams from start of project to end
  • Owns project from top-to-bottom, start-to-finish, including onsite installations
  • Day-to-day point person for clients, vendors/fabricators and internal team, and owns all daily correspondence; Runs and facilitates client meetings
  • Liaises between client and internal teams
  • Makes critical decisions and is empowered to proactively and creatively create solutions
  • Confidently commands all onsite installations, including managing client expectations, overall install ROS, internal team schedule and workflow, and assistance with setting up hardware and testing
  • Confidently provides critical feedback to internal teams
  • Thoroughly understands scope of project and identifies project growth opportunities
  • Manages timelines, milestones, sprint planning for their projects
  • Manages project quality
  • Ability to be proactive in production needs, can accurately assess all project needs and can guide client through internal process
  • Manages user testing
  • Manages budget of project
  • UI/UX and end-user-minded
  • Manages and plans all travel and logistics including shipping

 

Role requirements:

  • Up to 25% travel for meetings and installations
  • 4+ years experience as Account Manager, Project Manager or Production Manager/Producer in client-facing role
  • Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communications or other Business
  • Enthusiasm for emerging technology and desire to learn
  • Comfort working in a fast-paced environment
  • Excellent strategic thinking and communication kills
  • Physical ability to talk or hear, use hands and fingers, and occasionally be able to lift up to 25 pounds.

Next/Now is pleased to offer a full benefits package, including:

  • Competitive salary
  • Health/Dental/Life Insurance
  • Short and Long Term Disability Insurance
  • Medical and Dependent Flexible Savings Accounts
  • 401K
  • Commuter benefits
  • Paid Time Off
  • Inclusive, collaborative, fun team

This position is full time, based out of our West Loop Chicago office.

 Next/now does not discriminate based on candidate’s race, color, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, marital status, parental status, military/veteran status, or any other characteristic.

    WEB DEVELOPER

    Working with the team, the web developer executes the strategic and creative vision of responsive websites, web applications, content management systems, and shareable content.

    We are looking for someone who is skilled in the triad of web technologies: HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript. We’re especially excited about meeting someone who has strong interest and skill in CSS to balance our team composition. This means you have an eye for design and specialize in layout and composition on the web.

    At the same time we need someone who’s proficient in building backend services. Our digital experiences often have a strong social tie-in so we need someone to manage how content gets stored and then shared by users across Facebook and Twitter.

    RESPONSIBILITIES

    • Collaborating with fellow developers on projects
    • Building content management systems
    • Implementation of security and data protection
    • User authentication and authorization between multiple systems
    • Creating database schemas that represent and support business processes
    • Developing methods to share content on social media
    • Building stand-alone websites and web applications
    • Contributing toward streamlining internal processes
    • Addressing bugs
    • Helping implement new technologies

    QUALIFICATIONS (must have some of the following)

    • Proficient with design and coding of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
    • Strong understanding of DOM structure and layout architecture
    • A portfolio of work that demonstrates application of responsive design
    • Node.js experience
    • Experience with SQL and NoSQL
    • Experience with Email delivery systems (Sendgrid or Mailchimp)
    • Proficient with JSON
    • Experience with analytics, e.g. Google Analytics / Tag Manager
    • Experience with AWS
    • Proficient with Git and SVN

    EXPERIENTIAL EXHIBIT DESIGNER

    At Next/Now, our specialty is crafting engaging interactive experiences for physical spaces. Our installations are typically designed for museums, tradeshows, retail spaces, sports venues, events and brand tours. Our work combines physical exhibits and designed spaces with next level digital interaction.
    The role of the Experiential Exhibit Designer is integral to our complete business process. The initial phase is the conceptualization, rendering, and formatting of immersive environments for proposals and pitches. After projects are initiated, the Exhibit Designer will work hand in hand with our creative team to conceptualize and finalize design and build documents, creating client-facing renderings, drawings, and sketches throughout the creative cycle.
    Responsibilities:

    • Work closely with Creative Leadership to realize amazing concepts and visualizations
    • Format and layout proposals and pitches
    • Have strong communication and organizational skills. 
    • Have demonstrably strong 3D skills (3ds Max or Cinema 4D)
    • Flexible creative skills
    • Baseline of graphic design and typography knowledge
    • Passion for integrating digital surfaces with physical architecture
    Qualifications:

    • Bachelor’s degree in a directly related field (Interior design, Environment design, Stage Set Design Exhibit Design.). 
    • 3+ years of experience as a 3D designer. 
    • Proficiency in 3D Studio Max or C4D
    • Proficient in Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign CS5. 
    • Working knowledge PowerPoint and Keynote
    The Benefits:
    • Competitive Compensation
    • Health and Dental Insurance
    • Transit Benefits Program
    • Medical and Dependent Flexible Savings Accounts
    • 3 Weeks Paid Vacation
    • 401K
    • A great team and client base to work with daily
    • A dynamic and vibrant office environment in Chicago’s West Loop
    • Hang out with Tanner, the office dog
    You’ll be working in our amazing loft space in Chicago’s West Loop and working on projects for some of the world’s best brands, creating portfolio quality projects and images.

    GAME DESIGNER

    Are you looking for a game design opportunity that gives you endless opportunities to grow, learn and do amazing work?

    Who we are
    We use natural user interfaces, gesture and motion interactivity, innovative display concepts, and breakthrough technology to create unforgettable moments of connection between people and organizations. We have an amazing team of computer programmers, designers and producers. Our office culture is fun and collaborative!

     What we do
    We craft real world interactive installations using both touch and touchless HIDs. We create augmented reality applications, virtual reality experiences, touchscreen games, motion reactive particle walls, projection mapping installations, programmable LED installations, digital art galleries and much more. We work primarily in Unity3D but often use Chrome applications, Node.js, Touch Designer, and anything else to get the job done.

    Who we are looking for
    We are always on the lookout for skilled and versatile software engineers and game developers who bring technical and creative skills. Developers at Next/Now are part of collaborative teams comprised of digital artists and project managers. We’re looking for candidates who are critical & creative thinkers, interested in research and design, and passionate about next-generation interactive experiences.

    Responsibilities
    Work with augmented reality platforms (ARKit, ARCore, Vuforia, etc.)
    Work with virtual reality platforms (Vive, Rift, Go, etc.)
    Work on standalone PC applications ranging from games to touchscreen applications
    Collaborate with a team to develop applications on potentially short timelines

    Requirements
    2+ years of experience using Unity with C# (Internship/classroom experience is ok)
    Familiarity with JavaScript, Node.js, and RESTful API endpoints
    Experience with mobile application development including deployment of apps to iOS and Android devices
    Experience with version control (SVN, git)
    Familiarity with computer and networking hardware

    Preferred, but not required:
    Experience with one or more of the following: Touch Designer, three.js, HTML/CSS Experience working with depth cameras (Microsoft Kinect, Intel RealSense)

     The Benefits:
    Competitive salary
    Great work-life balance (we aim for 9-5 workdays)
    10 vacation days to start (plus an extra week between Christmas and New Year’s)
    Health and Dental benefits, commuter benefits.
    401K

    DIGITAL SOLUTIONS SPECIALIST

    We are looking for a tech-savvy candidate with stellar people skills and problem-solving experience to join our team. Our projects are installed at sports stadiums, travelling tours, music festivals and more. We typically have a few live projects in the field at the same time. Our company is growing, so we are seeking to add an Interactive Installation Technician to our team to help field incoming calls from clients and provide guidance based on existing set-up manuals, create manuals for new projects, configure hardware and offer real-time tech support. 

    Our new Interactive Installation Technician will spend one day a week in our studio supporting quality assurance (QA) testing on our projects in development. The rest of the time can be remote work, fielding calls from clients needing support and on occasion traveling to our installations for initial set-up. On-call hours may fluctuate based on project needs. While weekend on-call hours are a must, we will not necessarily have a project live every weekend. We would aim to establish your schedule a minimum of one month in advance.

    We hope to see this role grow as we grow!

    Responsibilities

    • Answer incoming calls and emails from clients
    • Assess issues and seek immediate resolution
    • Document calls, issues and resolutions
    • Support the team in QA of projects in development
    • Create detailed user manuals in support of our clients in the field
    • Travel to installation sites when needed for setup and onsite support

    Requirements

    • 2+ years of experience in the tech-support or audio-visual field
    • Great communication skills
    • Stellar troubleshooting! Must have a comfort level to diagnose and resolve issues
    • Knowledge of Windows, iOS, Android operating systems
    • Experience diagnosing and resolving common issues with PCs and other hardware such as VIve and Rift
    • General understanding of cabling schemes and displays such as touch screens and monitors (LED walls and projectors a big plus!)
    • Familiarity with networking (wifi, routers, ethernet)
    • Familiarity with remoting into PCs
    • Experience with live events

    The Benefits:

    Competitive contract
    Flexible schedule
    Room to grow!

    ART DIRECTOR with MOGRAPH BACKGROUND

     

     

    NEXT/NOW is a digital creative agency that creates world-famous digital/physical installations, augmented reality activations, and Immersive VR experiences. We are moving our agency in a design-focused direction and looking to bolster our team with a design-focused leadership role.

     

    We are currently seeking an Art Director with the skills to create world-class style-frames for motion graphics, digital environments,  and user interfaces. This position will also lead and review art direction throughout project life cycles, and direct and critique all art staff visuals. Art Director will work collaboratively with our Studio Manager and Project Managers to ensure quality and production approach aligns with client requirements and scope.

     

    Ability to create killer style-frames and visual looks is the base requirement. Vicious After Effects skills and polished Cinema 4D capabilities required. Proven experience with agency timelines and client feedback is necessary.

     

    The ideal candidate will have an outstanding reel, examples of pitch style frames, and examples of solo work. Show us examples of sophisticated typography, Cinema 4D elements, and did we mention hot hot hot style frames.

     

    Work in our sun-drenched, music-filled, happy office in the West Loop! Our agency culture is built upon the principles of transparency, openness, and the mantra of amazing ourselves to amaze our clients. We strive for life/work balance and our work schedule proves that. We are a diverse 24 person agency with clients that include Intel, Under Armour, The NBA, Mazda, Pandora Music, and more. Join us and grow as we grow.

     

    Forward portfolio and resume to [email protected]

    Freelance Touch Designer Developer

     

     

    NEXT/NOW is on the lookout for a skilled and versatile Touch Designer developer who knows how to straddle the line between the technical and the creative realms. We are seeking a dynamic candidate to join our team as we create world-class digital/physical installations.

    You can read more about us on our website: https://nextnowagency.com

    Developers at Next/Now are part of collaborative teams comprised of experience designers, digital artists, and producers. We’re looking for candidates who are critical & creative thinkers, interested in research and design, and passionate about next-generation interactive experiences.

    Must haves:

    • TouchDesigner
    • Python
    • Multi-touch application experience
    • Projection mapping experience
    • Experience working with real-time video processing and effects

    Nice to haves:

    • Familiarity with Arduino
    • Experience with LEDs (DMX)
    • Experience working with depth cameras (Microsoft Kinect, Intel RealSense)
    • Experience working with VR platforms (Oculus Rift and/or Vive)
    • OpenGL Shader programming
    • OpenCV Experience

    The Benefits:

    • Competitive Compensation
    • A great team and client base to work with daily
    • An inclusive process that invites input during project ideation and execution
    • A dynamic and vibrant office environment
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