Hello, world – this is my first post! I’ve learned a bunch since joining the Studiobanks team three months ago. Lots of that learning has been dedicated to becoming accustomed to a new workplace (workflows, project history etc), but at least one universal pearl of wisdom comes to mind that I think would be helpful to lots of folks – testing Internet Explorer 6, 7, 8, and 9!

Since we’re all Mac here at the office, I’ve become reasonably familiar with the process of setting up multiple virtual machines to provide a rock-solid (and free) testing environment on my local computer. I’ve employed other techniques over the years (IETester, online screenshot services), but nothing comes close to having the actual browsers loaded in their own sandboxed environment. We’ll achieve this by creating four separate virtual machines in VirtualBox.

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Occupy-NorthPole.com is now live and fighting the good fight against cookie inequality! Learn more about the movement on their site and then check ‘em out on Facebook and stay up to date about all the news by following the movement on Twitter:

@ChandlerWobble: Head spokes-elf for the ONP movement.

@Occupy_NP: The official twitter account of the ONP movement.

@Red_NoseRudolph: Santa’s 9th reindeer and proud member of the Reindeer Union for over 72 years.

@Sam_theSnowman: Lead reporter covering the movement for the North Pole News Network.

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When Florida-based Cornerstone Community Bank decided they needed to redesign their website, they started their search where most people do: Google. Search “web design for banks” and it’s not hard to see what happened next. One community bank in search of a company who could help them redesign their website and one guy who happened to be named Banks running his own digital agency. All it took was Google to bring us together.

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When Studiobanks first landed the Bojangles’ account, we knew one element of the digital platform would test our problem-solving skills: the menu. If you’re from the South, you know Bojangles’ is famous for its chicken and biscuits. All told the menu includes over 30 different entrees, 10 types of side items, 12 drink choices and countless meal, dinner, box and combo combinations. It’s a lot to choose from and even more to content manage.

It wasn’t the number of menu items or even organizing them into categories—we’ve done that before—that proved to be challenging. No, it was the nutritional values (of all things) that would become our nemesis. The nutritional values needed to display accurately for all menu items, including all possible meal, dinner, box and combo combinations. To up the ante even further, it’s common for Bojangles’ to tweak its recipes, thereby changing the nutritional values on a fairly regular basis. The digital platform would require a database and content management strategy that would allow for an easy, scalable approach to the way nutritional values are recorded. Challenge accepted!

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Notice something different about us? Yessire, we decided it was about time to give the old URL an update, and update it we did! The new site you’re currently browsing features a brand new design strategy and modern development languages like HTML5 and CSS3. If you’ll scale your browser size for just a moment, you’ll notice that the grid-based layout scales automatically so it can fit monitors of all sizes and even smartphones and tablets. Petty neat, huh?

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Bojangles' boasts a tremendous community of loyal, passionate fans, our team included. So we were thrilled to celebrate the recent launch of its new digital brand platform designed to bring the quick-service restaurant chain's distinctive personality to life online and seamlessly deliver the engaging fan experience Bojangles' customers expect. The platform includes a new consumer website, a microsite for news and a mobile site for smartphone and tablet users.

We partnered with our friends at BooneOakley, Bojangles' advertising agency, to create a cohesive brand experience that matches the award-winning "It's Bo Time!" campaign. The new websites are highly-functional and engaging, allowing visitors to browse an intuitive food and beverage menu, interact with promotions and quickly find nearby restaurants.

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Studiobanks has added two talented designers to their team. Matt Daniels and Andy Mindler will focus on web design, illustration and user interface design for interactive websites and mobile applications.

Daniels earned a B.A. in Fine Arts at UNC Charlotte and has more than six years of design experience, including the illustration of two children's books.

Mindler earned a B.A. in New Media Design at Rochester Institute of Technology and has more than two years of design experience.

"We are fortunate and proud of the growth our agency has experienced," said Banks Wilson, Studiobanks' president and creative director. "Matt and Andy bring great talent and energy to our team, and are already producing impressive work for our clients."

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Our team recently designed a new website for Edgeview Partners, an independent investment bank specializing in mergers and acquisitions. The site better represents the firm's leadership, experience and expertise serving the unique M&A advisory needs of middle-market clients.

"After becoming an independent firm last year, we had the opportunity to revamp our marketing strategy and website," said Grant Hamilton, Edgeview Partners' vice-president. "Studiobanks was our guide and partner through the entire process, which led to a new website that far exceeded our expectations."

The highly competitive nature of Edgeview Partners' business demanded a clean, professional website that communicated trust and credibility. Our team worked hard to ensure the tone of the site directly relates to the business it represents and offers the functionality users need to gather information quickly and easily.

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