Fi would like to announce that we are back on the search for Interactive Developers to join our offices in New York and Stockholm! Below is an outline detailing what we are looking for in our new team members:

Overview

As an Interactive Developer at Fi, you will get the opportunity to create unique, world-class interactive experiences for marquee brands.

The Interactive Developer defines and implements graphical user interfaces. Projects at Fi range from small promotional sites and game interfaces, to full web portals and large web-based software applications. This role requires skills to ensure outstanding quality in the execution of animation and motion as well as the underlying technologies used. The Interactive Developer is well-versed within the field, spearheading front-end implementation and ensuring that the look and feel of the final product is polished to the Fi-Quality level.

Intermediate and Senior Interactive Developers take an active role in mentoring and training of other Interactive Developers and are vital to all phases of the projects they work on. Tasks may range from defining project time lines and technical planning, to establishing and maintaining high standards within Fi as well as participating in the recruitment process and maintenance of client relationships. Shaping the company is a natural and important responsibility of Fi Intermediate and Senior Interactive Developers.

Knowledge and Qualifications:                                                                     

• Passionate about creating innovative interactive solutions for a wide range of clients and technologies
• Web-savvy and thoroughly on top of the latest developments, events and standards within the web industry
• Strong animation skills using Flash, After Effects and/or other tools
• Extensive knowledge of Flash and Actionscript or HTML, CSS and Javascript
• Understands interaction as a holistic field, including traditional web sites, rich internet applications, mobile applications, and gaming interfaces
• Ability to capture and define interaction via wireframes, specification documents, interactive prototypes or other methods as required by the project (*Senior Level)
• Can quickly create solutions based on experience and talent, as well as research and process
• Background in web development with a strong focus and passion for usability and information architecture
• Experience working in a fast-paced environment
• Ability to work on multiple projects in parallel if required
• Enjoys being involved in work ranging from short-term to long-term client engagements
• Driven to lead an interactive team and propel Fi forward

Fi is a company that prides itself in professionalism and maintaining high standards. Excellent communication skills and a strong focus on innovation and quality are key.

We are looking for our applicants to impress; how you present your history, portfolio and skill set is as important as the content. We have some exciting projects in the works, and are looking forward to bringing on some passionate new team members. Interested in joining the ranks of our interactive developers?  

Apply for the position by sending your portfolio to work@f-i.com or visit us here. Mark your application

“Interactive Developer NYC or STO” (depending on the office location). 

Our systems engineer Matteo Ridolfi celebrates 2 years at Fi this week. To mark the occasion, we thought we’d pay tribute to the hairy little Italian maestro…

Congratulations Matteo!

Fi would like to announce that we are on the search for junior designers and interns to join our offices in New York and Stockholm.

We simply are focusing on finding designers driven by passion for design and quality. Many of our very own veterans have entered  these doors as juniors and interns with a hunger and thirst for knowledge and developed into key seniors on all fronts propelling Fi forward. At Fi your Designer role is what you make of it.

As a Designer  you will have the opportunity to be completely integrated with the production team and work alongside fellow Senior Designers on a wide range of unique interactive projects, which include mostly portals and application sites, and sometimes campaign sites, such as EA, Porsche, Wacom, Nintendo and National Geographic, and of course, working right next to the Kontain team.

If you feel you have the passion and skills and eagerness to learn to be a part of our team write us an e-mail at portfolio@f-i.com explaining what it is you are looking for and a portfolio attached . Please indicate which position you are applying for “Junior Designer” or “Design Intern”.

For a more up close and personal insight into our design work at Fi please watch us here or visit our site. 

In 2008, Australian long time Fi fan Michael Stratton took a small detour on his way to Spain for a holiday - just to come visit Stockholm and his favorite interactive firm. He spent a full day with the team, just hanging out and getting a better understanding of how Fi works.

“I was planning to spend a month in Spain”, Michael says, “and checked out how far Stockholm was from Spain. I mean, if you are going to spend thirty hours on a plane then what's another three? I'd been following Fi and their super-high-quality products since late 2004 when I experienced the Roadrunner portal website. For me it changed what the web could be and inspired me to have a new goal: To one day work with the team at Fi. So, I sent them an e-mail asking if I could drop by and say hello and a few weeks later my trip to Stockholm was booked!”

Hakim remembers Michael’s visit: “This guy was genuinely interested in our work and also brought a lot of knowledge to the table.”

After leaving Stockholm and returning to Australia, Michael kept tabs on what Fi was doing whilst working as the interactive specialist at Austereo, Australia’s largest broadcasting company. Michael joined the company directly after completing his studies in web design and development.

"The business recognized the emergence of new technologies and the diversification of how media was being distributed but didn’t have a strategy or team to do it. Starting with a team of only three people, I became the key point of contact for web development, design, specification documentation and the deployment for all interactive applications for the business. (ie: I was in at the deep end) and had to learn how to do everything – fast."

Lucky for Michael he used to be a professional swimmer so he didn't sink with this enormous challenge!

During his 4 years at Austereo Michael led the scope, I.A, creative direction and design and development for all interactive products and applications. He became a true all-rounder, developing skills in all areas of the business and a detailed, holistic understanding of digital interaction.

In the spring of 2009, Michael and his wife Chelsea decided to quit their jobs and move to Spain for a new adventure. Their intention was to learn the language, travel the country and absorb the culture. They balanced this with getting to know every bar in Barcelona and taking photos of random things like the crazy Spanish power line system. Naturally, Michael kept following the adventures of Fi and when he saw that we were hiring he saw it as a sign.

"I'm only three hours away now, instead of thirty hours" he thought and sent in an application.

As Michael had so much knowledge and experience in many of Fi’s services, we were of course interested in meeting with him again. After the first interview, we realized we had a quite delightful problem: he had so much experience we did not know which role to put him in!

We put him through several of the tests we run on our applicants and he passed all of them with flying colors. In October of 2009, Michael and his wife packed their bags again, this time to move to Stockholm.

"I love to make, fix and play with things. I love a challenge and working with the Fi team. They share the same passion for quality control and live for creating sites and products that make you think, feel and escape – no matter what age you are."  

Michael, called “Stratto” by his friends and co-workers, is now adding strength to Fi in a multi-position role where he makes use of all of his knowledge of programming, design, usability, user experience and producing.

Give a HUGE Fi Welcome to Stratto!
 
Do you have skills within development, design and production? Then you might be Fi’s next Interactive Guru!

Fi is always on the look out for great talent. And after searching the applicant pool for several months to find a User Experience Designer, from all across the globe, we have finally met our match; Irene Pereyra. Irene, joins us as the first and only in her class of roles here at Fi. Irene, gladly accepted the task to be the first official IA/UX designer here at Fi and we would like to officially welcome her to the team.

Irene was born in Lima, Peru moved to Amsterdam at age 6, after high school went to art school in Atlanta, got a masters degree in communications design from Pratt Institute in New York and worked with clients such as discovercard.com, att.com, dailycandy.com and hbo.com. She bikes to and from work from Red Hook unless it snows, and when she’s not working she tries to spend as much time as possible traveling to faraway places.

How did you end up working with information architecture?

I started off as a visual designer, and realized I started to care less and less about the finished look, and more and more about how things were structured. The move into UX design was a very organic transition, and I haven't looked back since.

Where do you find your inspiration?

Sad to say, but when I keep working and tweaking and redoing and revising. Things can suddenly become incredibly clear after working on something for a couple of hours. I am not the "find inspiration in the park" type of a designer. It's hard work for me, but when it all does come together, it's incredibly rewarding.

What programs do you use?

Xmind for sitemaps, site audits and user flows, Visio or Omnigraffle for wireframing, and Excel for features and functionality matrices. Though I wish there was one powerful software that could do all. If only Adobe would kick its ass into gear, I'd be as happy as a clam.

What does it take to be a good UX Designer?

As a UX Designer you are kind of in a unique situation within the creative team. You don't have to worry about design too much, and you don't have to worry about implementation too much. You have to be able to see a project from a bird's eye view, in its entirety, and you have to be able to think conceptually, and find ways to innovate. Since we are at the start of the production cycle a lot of stuff is still undefined when it gets to us, so you have to be comfortable with that. All decisions you make have to be based on logic and reason, and you have to be able to advocate for the end user both internally and to the client. UX Designers are also the key-holders of all the client's business requirements during production, so you really have to be very detail oriented and have a pretty good memory.

Why did you choose Fi?

 Fi does it right. Small teams, no unnecessary levels of hierarchy or middle-management, and full responsibility for your own part of the project, and it shows in the high quality of the work. There's a work hard, play hard mentality at Fi which is incredibly inspiring.

Which of your past projects are you most proud of?

I did a personal project in 2007 in collaboration with Tom Klinkowstein, which was a giant diagram/poster about a day in the life of a designer in the year 2030. The project took about 6 months to write, research and create. The fact that we were doing something on that large of a scale for ourselves, and not for clients, was incredibly rewarding, and something most professional designers don't get to do too much. When it was completed, it was highlighted in Wired and BoingBoing among other places, and displayed in places as varied as Belgium, Singapore, New York and Honduras.

Name a website that is so bad it’s good ?

Craigslist. It's so hideous, and yet it does everything you need it to do and more. I really hope they will never ever try to make it look pretty.

Where would you live if you retired tomorrow?

I've just come back from Vietnam and I completely fell in love with the food, culture, and people. So that wouldn't be so bad at all :-) But in a perfect world, I would love to keep a home base in New York and Amsterdam during the summer months, and travel to wherever I feel like for the rest of the year.

If you could have dinner with anyone who would it be (dead or alive)?

I'd like to be invited to a dinner where they are serving all my favorite Peruvian food, and spend the night eating and drinking with Anthony Bourdain, Stephen Colbert, David Byrne, Youp van 't Hek, Orhan Pamuk and David Sedaris.

If you were on a stranded island and could only have 3 music albums with you, which would they be?
1. Somethin' Else by Cannonball Adderley and Miles Davis
2. Getz/Gilberto by Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto
3. Moon Safari by Air

If you had to choose between marrying a fellow designer, a producer, an account person, a developer or a client, which would it be and why?

Definitely a producer. They are organized, calm, have foresight, are tough as hell, and they would listen to all my crazy ideas and try to find ways to make them happen while keeping me in line and on track. Producers rock. 

Amsterdam or NY?

Tough call... New York is kind of like Amsterdam's younger, brasher brother. I love them both. There are times when I am biking around my neighborhood (Red Hook) and almost feel like I could actually be in Amsterdam.

To learn more about Fi's growing list of career opportunities - including Designer roles at both the Fi New York and European offices - please visit our site.