Are you the right person for skignz? We are hiring for varying positions.

Are you coming out of University and need that experience? Or are you ready to move on to that next step? Then skignz are pleased to announce that opportunities have opened up within the business for a wide variety of roles. 

skignz welcomes anyone to the company and considers all applicants. 

So if you or anyone you know is looking for a job or is looking for a new job, then don’t hesitate in checking out these roles and get applying as in some cases some positions have an almost immediate start.


Available Roles:


1. Graphic / UX  / Digital Designer

The ideal candidate will be:-

• Proficient in the use of Photoshop/Illustrator
• Knowledge of HTML5, CSS would be a huge advantage
• Experience to show working with websites / Apps
• Knowledge of Responsive design

Number of vacancies: 1

Degree subjects required: Graphic, 3D, industrial, product, UX, web design or other relevant digital design subject.

Location: Stockton-on-Tees.

Type: Permanent

Basis: Full Time

Salary Details: Competitive Salary

Method of application: Email CV and Covering Letter

Include 2 references in your CV. In you covering letter include which role/ company you are applying for, a short paragraph as to why you would be the ideal candidate for the role and why you would like to work for the company. Please ensure the job title is the title of your email.

Contact name for applications: Si Brown

E-mail: uk@skignz.com

Web Site:     http://www.skignz.com

Closing Date: 20th March 2015

2. Programmer/App Developer in Objective C

Skills:
Essential:-
• Proficient in the use of Objective C

Desirable:-
• Ability to build apps for IOS, Android, Windows and Google

Desirable Additional Skills:-
• HTML, PHP, Javascript, CSS, XML, XHTML

Number of vacancies: 1

Degree subjects required: Computing or Similar

Location: Stockton-on-Tees.

Type: Permanent

Basis: Full Time

Salary Details: Competitive Salary

Method of application: Email CV and covering letter

Include 2 references in your CV. In you covering letter include which role / company you are applying for, a short paragraph as to why you would be the ideal candidate for the role and why you would like to work for the company. Please ensure the job title is the title of your email.

Contact name for applications: Si Brown

E-mail: uk@skignz.com

Web Site: http://www.skignz.com

Closing Date: 20th March 2015

3. Programmer/App Developer in Java

Skills:
Essential:-
• Proficient in the use of Java

Desirable:-
• Ability to build apps for IOS, Android, Windows and Google

Desirable Additional Skills:-
• HTML, PHP, Javascript, CSS, XML, XHTML

Number of vacancies: 1

Degree subjects required: Computing or Similar

Location: Stockton-on-Tees

Type: Permanent

Basis: Full Time

Salary Details: Competitive Salary

Method of application: Email CV and covering letter

Include 2 references in your CV. In you covering letter include which role/ company you are applying for, a short paragraph as to why you would be the ideal candidate for the role and why you would like to work for the company. Please ensure the job title is the title of your email.

Contact name for applications: Si Brown

E-mail: uk@skignz.com

Web Site: http://www.skignz.com

Closing Date: 20th March 2015

4. Programmer/App Developer in C/C++

Skills:
Essential:-
• Proficient in the use of C/C++

Desirable:-
• Ability to build apps for IOS, Android, Windows and Google

Desirable Additional Skills:-

• HTML, PHP, Javascript, CSS, XML, XHTML

Number of vacancies: 1

Location: Stockton-on-Tees

Type: Permanent

Basis: Full Time

Salary Details: Competitive salary.

Method of application: Email CV and covering letter

Include 2 references in your CV. In you covering letter include which role/ company you are applying for, a short paragraph as to why you would be the ideal candidate for the role and why you would like to work for the company. Please ensure the job title is the title of your email.

Contact name for applications: Si Brown

E-mail: uk@skignz.com

Web Site: http://www.skignz.com

Closing Date: 20th March 2015

5.  Marketing Executive / Marketing Manager

Essential:

• Marketing or related qualification
• Understanding of PR & Blogging
• Proficient in the use of Social Media
• Customer Service Experience
• Responsible, show initiative, enthusiasm & dedication
• Excellent attention to detail and deliver work of the very highest standard
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously

Desirable:

• Knowledge of of Mobile technology & App development would be a huge advantage
• An eye for good design, understanding & identifying trends is very helpful
• A second language is desired but not essential
• Experience is desired but not essential

Number of vacancies: 1

Degree Subjects required: Marketing, Business, Design Marketing

Location: Stockton-on-Tees

Type: Permanent

Basis: Full Time


Salary Details: Competitive salary

Method of application: Email CV and covering letter

Include 2 references in your CV. In you covering letter include which role/ company you are applying for, a short paragraph as to why you would be the ideal candidate for the role and why you would like to work for the company. Please ensure the job title is the title of your email.

Contact name for applications: Si Brown

E-mail: uk@skignz.com

Web Site: http://www.skignz.com

Closing Date: 20th March 2015

The roles above are also available via Teesside University website on the careers search site. 

If you know of anyone who is looking to start their career or further advance in any of the above roles then please don't hesitate to let them know and share this post. 

If you would like to know more about skignz then please visit our website at http://www.skignz.com and don't forget to check us out on a range of the popular Social Media Channels.

Apple: Post Steve Jobs...

It's now been just 3 short years since the enigmatic Steve Jobs sadly passed away aged 56. With Apple launching a range of new products and their next operating system. We came across a couple of documentaries on Netflix focussing on different parts of his life. 

After watching these it made us think. How is Apple doing post Steve Jobs and will they have the same success without him involved?

The two documentaries - one by BBC - Steve Jobs: The Millionaire Hippy and  Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview (from 1995). 

The latter was especially fascinating and certainly took the skignz founders Gary and Si back to different parts of their lives. 

Gary was involved in software at the same time as the Apple v Microsoft battle was being established and the use of Punch cards.

Si however (being 20 years younger than Gary) remembers the early years for whole different reasons, using personal computers at home, being introduced to them at school then finally beginning or using a Mac at Art College. 

So both have very different memories of this time however back to our focus on Apple.

Both documentaries showcase Jobs's influence on Apple, before he was ousted and when he returned, but now he is no longer with us and without a 'figure head' the public at large can identify with, have Apple become another faceless corporation like IBM, Coca Cola, etc. ? 

We wondered how much influence Jobs had on peoples decision to buy Apple's products, there was a mystery and certain amount of magic around the guy that endeared him to millions across the globe.

Maybe like Pop/Rockstars who have died young, will his legacy and reputation actually increase - probably! But how do the people at Apple who are left post Steve Jobs deal with this?

During his tenure not only was he one of the pioneers of home computing, changing the user interface and the quality of design and product in the computer world. 

They also revolutionised the music industry with iTunes, with iPods, then the communications world with the iPhone even moving partly back into the computer with the introduction of the iPad.

Which now seems to have taken over from Laptops. Now we have the 'Phablet' iPhone 6+ Niche products in niches that didn't exist prior to Apple exploiting them. We are not saying they were first to market with iTunes - remember Napster, or the iPhone, remember Nokia? Or the iPod, remember other brands had MP3 players.

Apple simply took them to another level completely in quality, design & functionality. But as you can see with all of these innovations they realigned different industries and markets through their innovation. 

But and there is a but ... can Apple do this again? And if so in what sector, industry or market place.

They recently purchased Beats, much has already been written about this acquisition and it remains to be seen how this will affect how beats and apple come together for the benefit of the customer. Both awesome brands with quality products but will the Beats brand remain? But this does not obviously show an intent to transform a certain market place or existing industry, nor does it point to creating a new niche or market place.

So where will Apple go from here? Will they simply just keep evolving their existing range of products, tweaking enhance the design, functionality, shape size and form? Will iPads disappear and the phablet become the device of choice or will phablets not catch on due to their size and revert back to Phones & iPads? 

Will iPods continue? If so, in what format? This begs the question how will mobile devices evolve? Wearables, wrist or glasses based or a combination of both? Certainly with the expansion of Augmented Reality this could be a clear indication of where the market is heading in the near future. But how long will this take?

It's been 13 years since Apple launched the iPod, look at what has come since and how that has evolved? But all of that was with Jobs at the helm. What now for Apple, without him? Who is the visionary now at Apple? 

Surely if they just evolve with what they have others WILL come into the marketplace. Some of these companies won't even exist yet their future owners may still be in nappies or not even born. However there will be some still in their college/uni dorm who although are not planning to be bigger and better than apple, could end up that way.

But there begs another question. Would Apple let them get that big? Is it not easier for them just to acquire them at a very early stage and either use the technology themselves or shelve it so others can't. Certainly this is a possibility due to the ever increasing cash balance that Apple has. 

But not only Apple, what about FaceBook, Google, Microsoft etc. All of these big players can buy just about any start up or established business by throwing the right amount of money at it! Make them an offer they can't refuse so they can either use that hardware/software for their own gain or simply to stop one of the other big players mentioned above from having it.

You may think we have digressed quite a bit from the original question, but all the above leads us back to how will Apple proceed in the post Steve Jobs era? Even a big personality who comes in, from either internally or from the outside will ALWAYS be compared to Jobs, they cannot escape from that!

So surely therefore that would mean that Apple become seen more as a huge corporation eventually leading them to becoming the villain at some point in the future, rather than a uber cool 'tech movement or religion' as most of their customers perceive them at the moment.

You may think why we are writing this or how it may relate to skignz? When we started writing this blogpost we were not sure where it would end up? That may sound strange but we wanted it to develop through normal organic thought processes based upon what we know so far. 

We hope that it's actually provided more questions than answers as you will have your own interpretation on this! 

How do you think Apple will progress? Evolve what they have? Or Introduce disruptive innovation?

What we have done during our discussion whilst writing this post is understand how it can be related to skignz and we see the following key areas for where it does:

 - could skignz become the new way to navigate by replacing Apples Maps on their devices?

 - skignz is a tech company with next generation technology that could certainly improve Apples offering especially with potentially 8 patents pending.

 - skignz's technology would also be attractive to the other key players in the market, Facebook, Google, Microsoft etc.

 - due to the nature of the skignz technology, it has the ability to revolutionise a range of different markets, navigation being a massive one but also as a browser, even a whole new marketing channel for brands through to being an extension or new way for people using social networks to communicate.

One further question we have thought of is at what point of skignz development does it become of interest, exciting or even a threat to the above companies, depending on how they see skignz its benefit to themselves or to their competitors surely would vary between them.

I don't suppose we will know until the first of them engages with skignz in some way? This may have already happened but without us knowing, either way we will update you if or when any progress is made on this!

But back to our original question! In summary we believe that the way Apple will progress post Jobs is by aquiring new technology that is disruptive and delivering it through its channels or add to its own tech.

For further information on Apple please visit their website at http://www.apple.com

If you would like to know more about Steve Jobs then a good place to start would the wikipedia entry for him at: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs

If you would like to know more about skignz then please visit our website at http://www.skignz.com and don't forget to check us out on a range of the popular Social Media Channels.

skignz: Most Contagious 2014

We are delighted to announce, that not only will we be attending the awesome Most Contagious Event in Central London on 10th December 2014, but we will also be exhibiting and demonstrating the skignz technology! 

How cool is that!

The guys at Contagious are the gurus, the wordsmiths and THE authority on Advertising, Marketing digital trends, but we cannot compete with how they present what they do, so for those of you who might not of heard of Most Contagious, here's a quick extract of how Contagious themselves describe the Most Contagious event:

"Most Contagious is an annual, uniquely curated innovation event in London staged by Contagious. Most Contagious celebrates the biggest innovations and analyses the most impactful marketing from the year to decipher what influence these will have on the immediate future for brands and advertising.

The event includes a full day conference programme, with Contagious consultants as well as expert guest speakers, a series of interactive workshops, an awards scheme, and an exhibition to showcase disruptive start-ups, innovative new technologies and the makers behind them."

Contagious the company behind Most Contagious is in its tenth year of publishing their incredible magazine and it has grown its offering since its conception, and so we do not do them a disservice again we will let them describe who they are:

"Contagious helps brands and advertising agencies understand and adapt to shifts in marketing, consumer culture and technology. Our dedicated consultancy division, Contagious Insider, delivers hands-on help to effect change in our clients’ companies.

Contagious Magazine, our hard-copy quarterly publication analyses the world’s most innovative brands, and learns from the people behind them. An online intelligence service, Contagious I/O is Contagious’ collaborative and fully customisable research platform. Contagious events attract delegates from the world’s smartest brands, agencies and businesses."

So hopefully from the above two short descriptions about Contagious and its annual Most Contagious event, you can see why we are so excited to be attending but even more so being able to showcase skignz to this very select audience. We hope that some of the most creative thinkers on the planet who will be attending will 'get skignz' but more importantly 'how skignz could work for their clients or their own brand?'

 skignz is already engaged with a number of the big name brands and organisations who are attending, so hopefully we will have a few more brand champions in the room to promote the gospel of skignz.

skignz intends to showcase a few new areas of development, not previously seen outside of the skignz team and in addition we may have not one but a couple of key announcements to make ...

Obviously we will promote this exciting news through the event, but we feel the best way to understand more about skignz is to be present and being present at this event is something you cannot afford NOT to do! You only realise this once you have attended a Most Contagious event.

The Contagious team put an immense amount of work into the event, from Arianna their head of events through to their on stage delivery by members of their editorial team, right through to the hosting by Cofounder & Editorial Director Paul Kemp-Robertson. The quality of the content delivered is second to none and we have not spoken to a single person that has not thoroughly enjoyed and had real benefit from being in attendance.

If you are in the Advertising, Marketing & Digital space then you really should only be in one place on the 10th December 2014. 

We will be there and so should you! If you do please do come and say hello ...

For more information on Contagious, their Magazine and their awesome services, please visit http://www.contagious.com

For more information on Most Contagious and how you can get involved please visit http://mostcontagious.com

For more information on skignz, please visit the skignz website at http://www.skignz.com

Or check us out on our various Social media channels...