Studioblog (n): a blog by Studiobanks about design, marketing, internet, business, Charlotte and more. 

SpaceKnuckle Illustrations hung at Studiobanks

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I met Josh Vanover, a local Charlotte artist about six months ago after falling in love with three of his digital illustrations that were on display at the North Davidson Niche Market. He came into the studio and we talked about the possibility of him creating some original works to be hung in our conference area. We both got busy and the commission never got completed.

This past month the North Davidson Niche Market closed. Afterwards Josh contacted me to see if I was interested in purchasing the three digital illustrations that had hung there. I was thrilled with the offer and excited to see how they would look in the studio. Well, we just hung them up and they really seem to add some energy to a very blank wall.

Josh goes by the moniker SpaceKnuckle and was just interviewed in the February Issue of Computer Arts. The magazine says it expects big things from Josh, and we couldn't agree more. Check out a scan of the article on our Flickr account.

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ARTM 3103 @ UNCC

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I will be teaching a class called Animation and Interactivity this Fall at my alma mater, UNC Charlotte. Here is how the school's directory describes the course:

ARTM 3103. Animation and Interactivity. Emphasis on the tools, techniques, and software used in the creation of interactive multimedia and animation, especially media creation for video, the Internet, and CD-ROM.

This is the first time I have had the opportunity to teach at the collegiate level and need some help. I'm currently working on a syllabus that will focus on Flash and AS3. I'm planning on having the students do 3 or 4 projects during the course of the semester. Does anyone have any good ideas for projects? I want to have projects that are both challenging and that could be included in a professional portfolio after graduation.

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Jumping in as the new AIGA Communications Director

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Not long after I gave a lecture at our studio to the local Charlotte chapter of AIGA, I was asked by the chapter's president, Chris Bradle, to join the group's board of directors. AIGA is the oldest and largest membership association for professionals engaged in the discipline, practice, and culture of designing. Nationally, the AIGA represents 22,000 designers through 59 national affiliates and 240 student groups.

The role he had in mind for me was Communications Director. I would be responsible for keeping our membership and local media informed about the happenings of the chapter and work with the event coordinators to properly promote upcoming chapter events. I accepted the position late last year. The first thing I wanted to focus on was revamping the chapter's website. Luckily, the board's Internet Director, Taylor Nall, agreed it needed some attention.

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Senior Seminar

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Recently, I was asked by an old professor of mine, Jamie Franki, to come speak to a class of seniors about the transition from the college world to the professional world. The class is entitled Senior Seminar and is intended to help graduating art students with that transition. I remember taking the class myself during my final semester at UNC Charlotte. The course covered topics from interviewing skills, to creating resumes, to the presentation of your portfolio, among others. Over the span of a semester the professor will invite five or so UNCC graduates that have had some success in their field, to come back and offer advice to the students. I was honored and excited about the opportunity.

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Help Us Name This Thing

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For the last few months, we have been waving our hands in the air trying to explain to clients and visitors that we were having something built to go in between our conference area and our front door. Well, it was installed this past weekend and we couldn't be happier! Reaching Quiet, one of our clients, designed and built the piece. As usual, their work speaks for itself—they did an incredible job. It is made of concrete, steel and wood and weighs over 2,400 pounds. What is really great is that it allows us to utilize a large LCD monitor for client meetings. We could really use some help with what to call this thing, though. Any ideas?

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(Pardon the Buzz Word) Branding

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In a recent post entitled "Pardon the Buzz Word," I explained our usage of the term "webcentric". I've decided to turn that into a series of posts where I focus on certain marketing terms, dispel some common myths around the term and then describe our usage.

I just finished reading two great books on branding, The Brand Gap and Zag. The book's author Marty Neumeier is president of San Francisco based Neutron, a brand consulting firm. I highly recommend these two books to anyone involved in marketing or running a company. I have already been able to apply some of their teachings into my work with our client's marketing strategies.

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(Project Update) Bouvier Kelly Website Launched

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We were recently asked by a Greensboro advertising agency to help redesign their corporate website. Bouvier Kelly is a agency built on solid marketing fundamentals and strong creative. They must be doing something right, they have been around since 1974. Without any internal web design capabilities they were looking for someone to create a website that would better represent their current direction and quality of work.

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(Project Update) Bourbon Boards Website Launched

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Bourbon Boards is a new company that is selling authentic Heart Pine wood from an old bourbon mill in Kentucky. Board by board they have reclaimed over one million feet of this beautiful wood.

Longleaf Pine ecosystems were once among the most plentiful during the 1800s. American settlers used the sturdy and decay-resistant heart of these trees to construct homes, factories, breweries, & distilleries. Unfortunately, habitat loss and degradation have made this resource extremely rare.

Our friends at Eye Design Studio did all the branding work for Bourbon Boards and we did the website design and development. We just launched the new site to coincide with the opening of the their showroom on South Blvd. Perhaps we should update the Studiobanks site background with some authentic Heart Pine jpegs.

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Asana Holds a Media Night, Launches New Website

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Last night, Asana Activewear held a Media Night. It was a PR event that catered to local media, in efforts to make them more aware of the new activewear apparel store. Owner Gary Schwake, spoke in front of the media to describe his vision and goals for the store. He explained how Asana is more that a store that sells clothes but is a hub for the active lifestyle community. Partnering with local yoga studios, gyms, and fitness centers Asana is able to offer their customers with more than the latest fashion trends, but with valuable information about the happenings throughout the active community. It was this unique community hub concept that was the inspiration of the Asana logo we designed.

Later in his presentation he announced the launch of AsanaActivewear.com a website we recently designed. The website offers a directory to find local studios and trainers, a community calendar that you can either post events on or search to find other local fitness events. Also, each month Asana picks a “Hero of the Month”, an instructor or trainer that helps to motivate people to live an active lifestyle. We built a section that highlights these Heroes and gives them their due recognition. Of course the website also allows users to learn more about the store and the brands they carry, but it is the community aspect that Gary is most proud of. Check out some photos we took at the event.

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(Pardon the Buzz Word) Webcentric

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Advertising execs are always quick to use fancy lingo and buzzwords. Often times, terms get misused and can get misinterpreted. We position ourselves as a "webcentric" design firm. Perhaps that makes me your typical ad exec—I hope not. In my defense, let me explain exactly what webcentric means.

In short, webcentric is a style of marketing in which the marketer harnesses the power of the internet by centering all their marketing efforts around a well designed website. They bank on their strong online presence to be what the consumer acts on. It is an approach that has been widely adopted because of it's many benefits over other more traditional methods.

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