Recent Additions
04.20.2012|Studio
This is a timeline worth reading.
04.17.2012|Studio
Over the last few months, Sandbox has been working on branding materials and event signage for the Illinois Housing Development Authority‘s 2012 Illinois Governor’s Conference on Affordable Housing. Taking place April 16th and 17th, Sandbox visited the conference at Chicago’s Navy Pier to see how our hard wo… more »
03.02.2012|Studio, Web
Since 2004, Sandbox has collaborated with Fermilab and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory to design and produce the particle physics magazine, symmetry. At the time, symmetry was a 10-times-a-year publication that, with the help of Xeno Media, was also made available online.
Now, after 51 print issues, symmetry is transformi… more »
03.01.2012|Other, Studio
Internet publishing is nothing new, (we haven’t been locked in the basement for a decade) but designing for the web is vastly different from designing for print. By using one of a variety of web publishing software plug-ins, clients, like Elmhurst College, can have the best of both worlds. These pieces are searchable via Googl… more »
01.30.2012|Studio
When you come to work at Sandbox, you meet your new co-workers, adjust your chair, and set up your email account. You also get a dog. A sweet, scraggly-faced terrier-mix whose presence in the studio is not only steady, but one you come to rely on.
Bono, The Big B, or simply, B, who goes home each night with Michael and his wife, Chris, spends… more »
01.05.2012|Studio
Winter brings a lot of hustle, even more bustle. The holidays, frozen sidewalks, losing your left-hand glove… At Sandbox, however, winter brought us Kim Boustead. Kim has been paying her dues as a freelancer for a few months, but just before we all took a few days off to celebrate consumerism, Sandbox decided to hire her on, perm… more »
01.04.2012|Studio
Call it Sandbox’s New Year’s resolution, call it a desire to shake off the mid-afternoon fatigue, or call it work-mandated-sadism. Whatever works best for you. The fact remains that a few weeks ago Jennifer floated the idea of a short, group jog. She got a few takers, so yesterday we all took part in the inaugural run of the… more »
12.15.2011|Whimsy
Every year there’s a different theme, or activity, or gauntlet to conquer. This year, Karaoke lead the charge. With the bar open and our bellies full of pub-fare, holiday cheer welled up from our stomachs and exploded from the back of our throats!
Everyone participated, some more enthusiastically than others, but in the end ev… more »
11.28.2011|Studio
On Tuesday, November 22nd, in the cool mist of Hickory Nut Falls, Erica and Jared exchanged vows in a private ceremony. The event was topped off by hiking 2280 feet up to Chimney Rock, high above beautiful Hickory Nut Gorge on the very edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Needless to say, Erica was left waiting atop the Rock for a lagging and v… more »
11.16.2011|Studio
On Saturday, November 12th, our own Brad married his beautiful, long-time girlfriend Leah. Sandbox celebrated with them at their gorgeous wedding reception, which included some of the best food we’ve ever had at a wedding, plenty of drinks, dancing, and a fun photo booth with props, where we all had a little too much fun.
10.28.2011|Studio
In the wake of the release of symmetry‘s fiftieth issue, we were reminded that today, Friday, October 28th, 2011, marks the seventh anniversary of symmetry‘s official web launch. The occasion was documented in that morning’s edition of Fermilab Today. What crazy, freewheelin’ times those were.
Thanks… more »
09.29.2011|Studio
Certain numbers have a way of making us pause, reflect on the past, and look to what the future may hold. An 18th birthday, a tenth wedding anniversary, and now, a 50th issue. So as the 50th issue of symmetry magazine is sent off to the printer, all of us at Sandbox paused to reflect and consider how we have gotten this far. In short, it has bee… more »
09.27.2011|Studio
Long-time Sandbox client, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, will see its flagship accelerator, the Tevatron, take a bow and smash its final atom this friday, September 30, 2011. The Tevatron has been leading the way in accelerator science since 1983 and is responsible for the discovery of the top quark and five baryons, both o… more »
09.06.2011|Studio
It’s not too often that a small, not-so-exciting project turns out making headlines in major media outlets. But it happens, and it happened when longtime Sandbox client, Elmhurst College, decided to include a very simple, very thoughtful, and very logical question on their 2012–2013 Application for Admission. Elmhurst Co… more »
08.19.2011|Studio
Whenever science makes a significant leap forward, Sandbox is interested. That’s why with the Field Museum announcing the discovery of new species from their latest Rapid Inventory Survey, as well as being the newest Sandbox client, we felt it was all worthy of writing about.
Rapid Inventory Surveys are quick surveys of the… more »
07.27.2011|Studio
East Africa is currently facing its worst drought in more than 60 years. The Untied Nations has declared a famine in the region, the first in a generation, which is expected to affect 11 million people. 800,000 children could die of malnutrition.
Further exacerbating the famine is the slow response from Western governments, local go… more »
07.25.2011|Studio
That’s right folks, Sandbox just picked up one of Chicago’s best print reps and brought her over to work on the design side. Jennifer is capable, communicative, and organized, all of which will be a welcome change to how we typically go about things around here. Long gone are the days of looking up fancy words to use in propo… more »
07.25.2011|Studio
Sandbox Studio, Chicago is proud to introduce our newest member, Jennifer Beil. Jennifer comes to us after a 17 years in the print world and is now Sandbox’s first, fully dedicated account manager.
07.15.2011|Studio
It’s official: Sandbox is a teenager. We’re probably going to start smoking and sneaking out. And maybe, if all goes well, we’ll get busted for shoplifting or hooliganism. Wouldn’t that be something!
Seriously, to celebrate our 13th, we paused the normal work flow and had a celebratory lunch at The Pork Sh… more »
06.17.2011|Studio
Friday afternoons have a way of dragging on. Noticing this, the Sandbosses shooed us into a cab and off we went to the Art Institute’s new Modern Wing. Currently the Art Institute has an exhibition entitled “Avant-Garde Art in Everyday Life” and it’s full of, well, you can read about it here. The ballsy polit… more »
06.03.2011|Whimsy
Two of Sandbox’s more highfalutin clients, the University of Chicago and Fermilab, came together yesterday in an odd, possibly exciting way.
As I’m sure you’ve heard… the University of Chicago opened a time-capsule yesterday that was entombed in the cornerstone of U of C’s Research Institute Building f… more »
06.01.2011|Studio
US Energy Secretary Steven Chu will give a public lecture at Fermilab on Thursday, June 2nd, at 8:00 p.m. Secretary Chu is taking part in Fermilab’s 2011 User’s Meeting, an annual event that features new results from the laboratory’s research program, as well as discussions on future experiments and plans.
Sand… more »
05.24.2011|Studio
After months of work, a cornucopia of Sandbox materials makes its way inside the beltway with the opening of the US Department of Energy’s Energy Frontier Research Center Summit tomorrow.
Sandbox’s creative hands were all over the Summit’s branding, environmental graphics, brochure, folder, posters, postc… more »
04.08.2011|Whimsy
Last night at Chicago’s famed Double Door, our own Aaron Grant, frontman for The Buddyrevelles, played a benefit show for 826CHI, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting students with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. The Buddyrevelles were j… more »
03.09.2011|Studio
1/1000th of the people at DrupalCon Chicago are from Sandbox! Yes, there’s three of us attending this love-fest of all things Drupal, one of the platforms driving what Sandbox is doing on the web. For the record, we’re still accessible via email, but our primary focus for the week is learning better ways to leverage this a… more »
03.04.2011|Studio
Brad wears slippers around the studio, graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago, and is from Detroit. He’s also Sandbox’s newest comrade. Brad has been here for a while though, as the powers-that-be strung him along as a freelancer for months until finally inking a deal earlier this week. Brad signed a five-year, 145… more »
02.18.2011|Studio
After a successful launch of three beautiful exhibits at AAAS in Washington DC, the Sandbox crew is speeding home at 30,000 feet. And since we were lucky enough to be on a WIFI-enabled flight, we were able to okay some final changes to the next symmetry magazine and slap another post on the old website. See you back in Chicago!
02.17.2011|Studio
Starting today, Michael, Andrea, and Aaron will be at the AAAS Conference in Washington D.C. to support scientists and science communicators from Fermilab and SLAC. Sandbox designed the materials and exhibit booths for SLAC and Accelerators For America’s Future and are delighted to be in attendance to support the need for U… more »
02.10.2011|Studio
Sandbox has a long track record of supporting their alma maters and last week was time to get festive with Chicago RISD folks. Roughly thirty alums found their way to Sandbox for a night of craft brew and lying about who they once slept with back in art school. The field of art professionals encompassed glassmakers, architects (there we… more »
02.09.2011|Whimsy
Over this weekend past, Packer’s fans ’round the globe felt the warm embrace of victory awash over them like a tidal wave of cheese whiz. For others, Sunday brought the sour taste of defeat, the soiled stench of failure, and left a certain quarterback with nothing but inevitable sexual assault charges to look forward to!… more »
12.20.2010|Whimsy
When the temperature drops to the point your snot freezes, you know it’s time for the annual Sandbox Holiday Jam. This year we did it up real classy like—starting with a delicious meal of japanese style fish and vegetables and then moving on to a late night of bowling, billiards, and booze. Memories are a bit befuddled, but the pho… more »
12.07.2010|Studio
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an international non-profit organization dedicated to advancing science around the world. Each year AAAS holds its annual meeting, and this year Sandbox has produced event booths for SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory… more »
10.20.2010|Studio
Determining just how many Polar Bears Sandbox has saved with our Sustainable Commuting Program is probably impossible. But it’s also probably a lot. A whole lot. Like a whole dump truck full. Not that we advocate transporting Polar Bears via dump truck. We don’t, for the record. We do, however, fully support shoehornin… more »
07.15.2010|Studio, Whimsy
Twelve years. That’s a long time. It’s three World Cups, the full compliment of public education, and the amount of time you’ll serve in prison if convicted of second degree aggravated assault. So in order to celebrate this momentous thursday, we all* piled into the Sandbus and headed over to Hot Doug’s for… more »
07.04.2010|Whimsy
Amongst all the hot-dogs, seventh-inning renditions of God Bless America, and idiots being burned and maimed by sparklers, the fourth of July holiday produces ample opportunities for all sorts of America-themed birthday fun. No matter where you fall on the patriot spectrum, we here at Sandbox hope you had a freaking ball doing what… more »
06.18.2010|Studio
For the second time in two years, altitude-challenged Sandbox Studio was breached by the backing-up of the local storm drain. According to wild speculation and random assumption, debris clogs up in the storm sewers over the course of the year, and then, in early summer, when the first of Chicago’s huge thunderstorms hit our fa… more »
06.15.2010|Studio
After several years of neglecting our own online presence while tirelessly building up those of a large number of our clients, Sandbox has emerged again with a redesigned site for you to explore. The primary goal of this most recent endeavor is to put as much content as we possibly can up on the web for consumption. So we encourage you to c… more »
04.21.2010|Studio
Here at Sandbox Studio, we’re doing our part to encourage people to behave sustainably. As an office that talks a big game about adopting sustainable practices, Sandbox looks for ways to encourage the Sandbox crew to implement sustainable measures into their work-life.
Two years ago, Sandbox introduced a sustainable commu… more »
12.14.2009|Whimsy
In an effort to celebrate the holiday season, and another successful year, Sandbox spent a lovely evening at Ten Cat Tavern, a local watering hole. Highlights of the night included a spirited Jenga tournament, Farkle Party, and several other games that you probably haven’t heard of. As evidenced by the photos, good times were… more »