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.

PROJECT MANAGER

We are looking for a skilled and versatile Project Manager 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 travelling brand tours.

The role of the Project Manager (PM) is integral to a project’s success. The PM’s job is to work directly with the client, internal team, partners and vendors to ensure the delivery of outstanding project on time and on budget.

Internally, the PM works directly with our art and programming teams to organize and facilitate workflows by establishing the user experience, articulating major milestones and organizing weekly sprints, status updates, reviews and QA testing. Externally, the PM works with project partners and clients as the main point of contact throughout the life of the project.

We are more than a digital studio. We design digital experiences for physical spaces. Therefore, the PM’s role often includes organizing video productions, working with custom fabrication partners, and procuring hardware to provide turn-key solutions for our clients.

Candidates should possess:

  • 2+ years of experience producing or managing digital and/or experiential projects
  • Comfort working within fast-paced timelines while managing multiple responsibilities
  • Enthusiasm for interactive technologies
  • Excellent strategic thinking skills to identify risks or opportunities during the life of a project
  • Experience working with clients, vendors and internal teams Benefits
  • Competitive salary
  • 401K
  • Great benefits, including commuter benefits
  • Inclusive, collaborative, fun team

 

Interested in joining our team? Please submit resumes to [email protected]

JUNIOR PROJECT MANAGER

The role of the Junior Project Manager (JR PM) is integral to a project’s success. The JR PM’s job is to directly support the PM department and in some cases, work directly with the client, internal team, partners and vendors to ensure the delivery of outstanding project on time and on budget.

Internally, the JR PM works to support the PM department and learn the ins-and-outs of the PM role. The JR PM will help with ordering and shipping, vendor resourcing, setting up demos, organizing user testing, and assisting with other project related tasks. This role also supports the PM department by QA testing, documentation, and where necessary, working directly with our art and programming teams to organize and facilitate workflows. This is an integral support role with high growth opportunity in our expanding PM department.

We are looking for a quick learner, an individual who is excited about emerging technology and an active engager. This role requires curiosity, strong organization, writing and communication skills, a strong desire to learn and grow, and the desire to work in a fast-paced, exciting and rapidly growing agency atmosphere.

We are more than a digital studio. We design digital experiences for physical spaces. Therefore, the PM department often organizes video productions, works with custom fabrication partners, and procures hardware to provides turn-key solutions for our clients. This role would support all of those areas and more!

Candidates should possess:

  • 0-1 year of experience producing or managing digital and/or experiential projects, recent college grads are welcome to apply
  • Comfort working within fast-paced timelines while managing multiple responsibilities
  • Enthusiasm for interactive technologies
  • Creative problem solving skills

Benefits

  • Competitive salary
  • 401K
  • Great benefits, including commuter benefits
  • Inclusive, collaborative, fun team

 

Interested in joining our team? Please submit resumes to [email protected]

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

INTERACTIVE INSTALLATION TECHNICIAN

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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