Substrakt are on the hunt for a creative web developer to join our busy and exciting team.

 

Initially we are looking to fill a part-time or freelance position, but with an ambition to move to full-time position in the future.

 

The successful applicant will need to have two or more year’s active developmental experience with Python (2.x). Experience with the Django framework is ideal but not essential. A good understanding of OOP and modern open source web development techniques and technologies (like Apache and SSH) is a must. If you don’t have any Django experience, any knowledge of Ruby on Rails or other MVC based frameworks would be very useful.

 

Other areas of experience would include:

• HTML5
• CSS
• JavaScript (and AJAX)
• an understanding of accessibility requirements and constraints
• solid experience with databases such as MySQL and PostgreSQL

You will be reporting directly to Substrakt’s Technical Director and part of the wider team containing web design and UX design, graphic design and creative staff.

 

You will be required to work from Substrakt’s lovely Birmingham office at Fazeley Studios.

 

The right person for the job will be able to:

• Demonstrate previous experience of working as part of a team
• Work to deadlines and show examples of how they have managed time-sensitive projects
• Demonstrate an ability to contribute to the production of high-standard specification and written material such as wireframes or technical specification
• Show a good standard of client communication skills
• Have experience of the project management tools and methodologies used by agencies

Please send an email to team@substrakt.co.uk with a covering letter, cv and links to your work.

No agencies thank you.

I think it might be about time to introduce a new addition to the team...

Dave is a Golden Retriever who is now 13 weeks old and growing up super fast.
He comes to work with me and joins the team in the studio everyday, and has (most of the time) been good as gold (excuse the pun).

He has been melting the hearts of Fazeley Studio residents, as well as providing some great entertainment.

Dave has been popular on Twitter and even has his own hash tag #davethedog.

We always welcome visitors here, so feel free to pop in and say hello to Dave.

Over the past few months the design team at Substrakt has built brands for many exciting clients, providing the gamut of art direction, print & packaging design.

Whilst our projects cover many disciplines, we endeavor to showcase our work in equal measure.

We have come to realise that these projects, and their processes, can sometimes get lost behind the Substrakt's strong digital portfolio.

So, what did we do about it?

We created Distrakt. A separate area to exhibit our work in a straight-forward way.
It also serves as an outlet for our inspiration stream; archiving our finds and loves for everyone to share.

http://www.distrakt.net

Yikes! Just noticed it's been over 2 months since we posted. So here's a wee update...

Firstly, we're pleased to welcome a new web designer to the team. Ryan Dean-Corke is a very talented web designer who joined us towards the end of January, and has already been producing some pretty special work (watch this space) . Good to have you on board Ryan!

Secondly, we have been working on some pretty cool projects...

We have just uploaded a website for The Pump, a hub for youth work and activity in Kitts Green, Birmingham. This was a great project to work on, and gave us a chance to get the young people involved and produce something that everyone was happy with.

http://thepump.org.uk

We have also uploaded some other websites in the last couple of months that you may have seen in our portfolio. These include:

http://www.nhsben.com/

http://www.producersforum.org.uk/

http://www.punch-records.co.uk/

Over the next couple of weeks we will be announcing the launch of some current projects, including a new website we've been developing for the NHS, a website for the Light House in Wolverhampton, and a website for Selco Builders Warehouse.

We're also working on some exciting branding projects, and there will be more about this very soon.

*This role has now been filled*

Substrakt are a young and seriously fun new media and design agency who are growing organically at a reassuring pace.

We work on exciting web design and branding client projects and are constantly pushing ourselves to ensure our work is of notable high quality.

Our current team of 7 has room for 1 more, someone who can work closely alongside the managing director to assist in project and account management, as well as general studio management.

This person will need to be highly motivated and have a natural passion for the web and graphic design, as well as a strong acumen for business.

It is essential that this person has, at least, a basic knowledge of web design and development, in order to effectively comprehend and relay knowledge between clients and designers/developers.

Responsibilities will include:
- project management
(we use a very helpful online tool called Basecamp to assist with this)
- account management
(maintaining communication between clients and Substrakt team)
- studio management
(generally helping out with resource management)
- new business
(occasional help with quoting, proposals and pitches)

We are looking for a committed person… in other words, we don’t plan on going anywhere and just want to get bigger and better, so it is hoped that someone joining at this stage will grow with us and enjoy the benefits of doing so.

If it sounds like this is the job for you then please get in touch directly with the managing director, Andy Hartwell, andy@substrakt.co.uk

NB Candidates must have a good sense of humour and taste in music.

No agencies please.

Hello, I'm Mark. I make things on the Internet, and I'm chuffed to little pieces, to join the Substrakt bunch as their shiny new Web developer. (I am shiny.)

Some people might know me through my work with Rhubarb Radio, whose website Substrakt designed and I built. I also gave a talk at this year's Moseley Barcamp about developing stuff from scratch. I run a successful web application for Twitter users, make podcasts and put in occasional appearances on Rhubarb.

A week is a long time in technology, but when it's packed full of interesting things to do, it certainly flies by. I've now been at Substrakt for 7 days, and I've packed a lot in already. After a year working for myself, it's great to be back in an office environment, and especially one as vibrant and friendly, and to cap off an exciting 2009 with a new position at a well-respected and growing firm is a real joy.

I'm hoping to bring my back-end dev skills and front-end know-how to the party, and help develop some of the exciting new projects the team have got in store. And any excuse to play with audio and video tools will add just a little to the already amazing pool of talent we already have here.

So that's me. I'm @moxypark on Twitter, so come and say hi if you fancy a chat. I'll be posting my occasional thoughts - when appropriate for public broadcast - here, and on my personal site when they're not.

Smiles all round here at Substrakt as we are pleased to announce our involvement in some pretty exciting projects that we will be busy with over the next couple of months:

Light House

We were successful in winning the pitch to re develop the Light House website. We were really keen to work with the Light House on this project as it looked like an ideal project for the Substrakt team. The Light House is at the impressive Chubb's Lock Works building in Wolverhampton, definitely worth a visit if you haven't been...

Light House aims to increase the enjoyment and understanding of technologically - based media, in particular film, video, photography and creative media and to emphasise their importance to the cultural, social and economic life of Wolverhampton, the West Midlands and further afield.

We're extremely pleased to be working on this project with the Light House team and aim to have the website launched early next year.

Punch Records

We have been working with Punch Records on a new web presence, the website will be launching early November and aims to effectively communicate Punch's work and allow the team to successfully integrate their growing social media presence.

Punch specialise in a range of music events and touring productions including spoken word, theatre, dance, film and visual arts.  Punch is also an official Arts Award centre.

Producers Forum ¶

We are delighted to be working with Producers Forum after winning the pitch to re develop their website.

The aim of the Producers' Forum is to push the West Midlands forward as a vibrant centre for film production by supporting the region's film professionals, whilst providing them with networking opportunities and high quality training from leading industry experts. Our aim is to put the West Midlands on the map by utilising the region's talent and facilities to create a sustainable film industry.

A main part of the web development is to implement a members section which will enable user to join and build up their own profile pages as well as effectively communicating with other members. We're looking forward to getting stuck into this.

Website due to launch in November.

Selco Builders Warehouse ¶

We've just had confirmation that we've won a great new contract and will be working closely with Selco Builders Warehouse. We're re developing their web presence in order for them to effectively display their vast product range online.

(I'm in the process of doing up my house so am well into the old DIY at the mo... hoping i can sort a cheeky membership)

NHS

We're obviously very pleased to add the NHS to our client list. We are working on some web development with NHS Birmingham East and North. Not too many details to dish at the moment, but we'll update when the 1st stage of the project is complete.

Oh, and finally... ¶

We are super chuffed to have an awesome new web developer, Mark Steadman, who will be introducing himself on the blog shortly.

It's been an exciting month at Substrakt so far, so here's an update:

The 1st bit of big news is Substrakt's recent acquisition of Bristol based CG Media. This came after working closeley and very successfully on a series of projects with director Chris Garrett. This is a really positive move for Substrakt as CG Media has a wide range of regional and national clients including the English Table Tennis Association, the BBC, CNET and Visit Britain. This acquisition also gives a massive boost to the Substrakt team and enables us to continue expanding our service base as well as targeting new markets from our Bristol office at the Tobacco Factory. Chris and his team are already very knowledgeable about the Bristol market and have a great reputation in the area. We saw that we could achieve a great deal by combining our skills and resources.

We have a number of London based clients, such as Cushman and Wakefield, DTZ, The Social Investment Business and CABE. Over the past few months we have been winning more and more work from London so decided we needed a presence there. We have also been collaborating on projects with web company Spring Digital, who are based in Big Studios, at Smithfields Markets. It seemed like a natural step to establish a satellite office there.

Meanwhile, we have welcomed a new team member to Birmingham HQ, Josh Hart. Josh is pretty famous on the web front in Brum for his awesome work on the All Brum family of websites, including livebrum.co.uk, digitalbrum.co.uk and artbrum.co.uk.

Our website will be amended accordingly with the addition of new team members and new studio locations when we can tear ourselves away from some awesome client projects.

We have also just launched a website for Futurebuilders. It was great to work with Futurebuilders on this project, who have a committed team of web editors who were keen to bring the company up to date with social media and web 2.0.

We are also extremely pleased to learn that we will be continuing to work with Futurebuilders on a new website for The Social Investment Fund, due to launch on the 11th September.

We had a bit of a knees up last night which was great fun, so thanks to all who made it.

The main excuse was an office warming party, we have now been in Fazeley Studios for over 5 months so decided is was about time to celebrate the fact.

Other reasons to party included the recent upload of walkit.com, the development of a 2 new personal projects (launches imminent), a new personal photography project from Kate Beatty, and Chris Unitt's recent company formation, Meshed Media.

Party highlights include the awesome food of Sabai Sabai (thai restuarant in Moseley) and the Bright Size Gypsies band.