Adobe Flash has gotten a bad rap in the past few years. With the all-mighty Apple snubbing it on mobile devices, people have begun to talk about an inevitable end for the multimedia platform. But last month Flash got a much needed revamp. The new Flash player 11 brings nearly console quality 3D to a browser near you. This is a huge change for the platform and will hopefully begin to improve users’ views of the system.

Read Full Post

Augmented reality! It sounds so futuristic and sci-fi! It's getting a lot of buzz lately, especially in the world of digital marketing. But what is it exactly? Reality is reality, right? How do you even augment it and why would you want to? At least that was my reaction when I first heard the term, but I soon realized augmented reality has been integrated in our lives for quite some time.

Augmented reality is simply a live view of some real-world environment that is digitally enhanced with computer-generated elements. Think any major sporting event that has been televised in the past 10 years. In the case of football, that bright yellow line that magically appears at the first-down line is one of the most prevalent forms of augmented reality today. These virtual elements are created by a technology called 1st & Ten, which became a huge hit after the 1998 Super Bowl and has since expanded to most televised sporting events.

Read Full Post

This year's Charlotte ADDY Awards Show & Preview Gallery brought together a record 275 industry professionals to celebrate creative excellence in our community. The Mint Museum Uptown provided a gorgeous setting that matched the evening's award-winning, artistic achievements.

During the Awards Show, Studiobanks was presented with the following awards:

• Gold ADDY: Parker Poe Holiday Microsite
• Gold ADDY: Studiobanks Holiday Microsite
• Silver ADDY: CMA Awards Website
• Silver ADDY: CMA Country Christmas Microsite
• Silver ADDY: Muzak A/V Systems Website
• Silver ADDY: Reel-Scout Marketing Website
• Silver ADDY: Reel-Scout Search Website
• Silver ADDY: SAFER Barrier Website
• Silver ADDY: Varrow Website

Awards are an important part of our industry as they benchmark creative excellence and online success. We happily accepted these awards on behalf of the collabortive efforts and partnerships with our awesome clients.

Read Full Post

Studiobanks is a digital agency specializing in online marketing and web development. We combine big-idea creative, award-winning design and leading-edge technology to consistently deliver exceptional results for our clients. We’ve built a collaborative, open, creative studio environment over the past eight years and are currently seeking an Interactive Developer who possesses the ability to build smart and elegant websites and web apps with exceptional user interfaces quickly and efficiently in a fast-paced environment.

Candidate should have an above average grasp of PHP, MySQL, JavaScript (jQuery) and CSS, as well as a solid understanding of web standards and usability. Candidate should know how to contribute within a team, work from designed screens and strategy documents, test in multiple-browser environments, and produce reliable and maintainable code. Candidate gets the difference between good and great, and is prepared to go beyond to raise the bar.

Read Full Post

New dynamic website will promote NASCAR and IRL SAFER® Barrier soft wall technology to other racing leagues in U.S. and international markets.

Charlotte-based digital agency, Studiobanks recently launched RacingMadeSafer.com, a robust website for Motorsports Safety Technology (MST), an alliance between NASCAR and the Indy Racing League (IRL), to promote the SAFER® Barrier soft wall technology to racing leagues and new construction projects around the world.

The technology, known as the Steel and Foam Energy Reduction (SAFER®) Barrier, is an energy absorbing soft wall system that has been installed on all NASCAR and IRL racetrack walls to help reduce crash severity and decrease driver injuries due to racing. The SAFER® Barrier consists of a high-strength, tubular steel skin that distributes impact load to energy-absorbing foam cartridges in order to reduce crash severity and provide additional protection for drivers.

The user experience of the Flash-based website captures the Barrier’s positive effects on racing safety, which will ultimately support MST’s efforts to market the technology’s license to other racing leagues throughout the U.S. and international markets.

We were impressed by Studiobanks’ abilities to really understand, showcase and promote the benefits of this amazing life saving technology that we call the SAFER® Barrier in such a cutting-edge manner,” said Shawn Rogers, NASCAR’s Managing Director of Business Operations for Competition and an MST Representative.

“We are committed to supporting ongoing research for new uses of the technology, and we mandate it on all of our tracks because safety for our drivers is our top priority. The new website will help educate other race tracks about the Barrier’s tremendous impact on driver safety, as well as other benefits such as increased track marketability for various forms of motorsports."

Read Full Post

You may have read that listening to music while you work can improve productivity and the work you produce. But sometimes you might want to change it up a bit and learn a little something while you're at it. Listening to quality podcasts about the industry you work in can provide tips, techniques or insight that will help you in day-to-day business or when a tricky situation raises its head.

Read Full Post

Charlotte-based digital agency, Studiobanks, was hired by Discovery Place to create a unique, interactive touch screen experience for its new exhibition, Think It Up. The exhibition, which opened to the public on May 1, 2010, includes ”thought studios” that facilitate engagement in the process of innovation.

This digital technology allows participants to experiment with stop motion animation as well as digitally document their innovative creations. Sharing is also a large component of the experience so we created separate viewing stations within the exhibition and a mini-site to showcase the inventive work produced by participants, and to provide inspiration to newcomers.

We wanted to be able to collect and view all the great innovative ideas that will be created in this new exhibition, which is part of the largest renovation in Discovery Place’s history,” said Sarah Macey, director of exhibition design for Discovery Place.

“We selected Studiobanks as our partner for this project because of their expertise in creating great interactive designs and user-friendly interfaces – an essential component for a tool that will have a high volume of use."

Read Full Post

We had the pleasure of partnering with the Stodghill family to create a new website for PMA Architecture, an award-winning firm founded thirty years ago in Virginia. PMA offers urban community design, preservation, interior design and planning with key staff trained and accredited in LEED compliance and Green Design. We created a website that showcases their beautiful work in a unique visual experience - enjoy!

Read Full Post