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

Top 10 Most Commonly Used Passwords

Banks 4 Comments

PC Magazine’s May issue lists the top 10 most commonly used passwords online:

1. password

2. 123456

3. qwerty

4. abc123

5. letmein

6. monkey

7. myspace1

8. password1

9. blink182

10. (your first name)

Most sites now require both letters and numbers when creating a password, in an attempt to force users to select a secure password. This effectively prevents users from using the list's top 3 most commonly used passwords. I guess "password1" made the list by people who are dead set on using an unsecure password.

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Bobcats the Butt of Joke on Entourage

Banks 0 Comments

It appears the Bobcats are not only the butt of jokes here in Charlotte but on the national scene as well. In the latest episode of HBO’s hit sitcom Entourage, Ari (a Hollywood super-agent played by Jeremy Piven) showed what the rest of the country must think of our hometown NBA franchise.

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Timepost Gets Noticed

Banks 1 Comments

At Studiobanks, we use Basecamp extensively to manage projects. The setback to Basecamp being the application requires us to log project time manually. We previously used DesignSoft's Stopwatch and TimeSheet Manager for its timer feature, but this did not solve said issue.

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Building Trust in a Brand

Banks 0 Comments

Successful marketers know that you must build trust with consumers before you try to sell them anything. Often times when working with our clients we suggest placing customer testimonials on their websites to help build trust, like we did on Meineke’s Franchising website. If a customer can see that others have trusted your company and had a good experience, inherently they will be more likely to trust you as well.

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Design Un-Plugged: A Panel Discussion with Charlotte Studio Owners

Banks 1 Comments

Recently I had the opportunity to represent Studiobanks and speak on a discussion panel of Charlotte based studio owners held by AIGA. All of the selected studios employed between 5 and 10 people. It was an honor to be included in such an esteemed group of local firms. The discussion covered various subjects like running a design studio, working in Charlotte and hiring the right people. Here is a snippet of some of my responses on the various topics:

What do you prefer to spend more time doing, design or business?

While I do enjoy business side of things, I prefer to spend more time on design and the creative direction of our various projects. There was a time about a year ago that the studio had grown to a point where I was doing business about 90% of the time. It was quite draining, so I hired a project manager to help with client relations and the day-to-day business operations of Studiobanks.

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(Press Release) Silver and Gold Befall Charlotte Shop

Banks 0 Comments

Charlotte-based advertising agency STUDIOBANKS cashed in at the 2007 ADDY® Awards on March 8th, winning 4 Awards. The Awards Show and Gala was held at the plush CenterStage@NoDa Convention Center in the artistic district of Charlotte, where over 250 local and regional creative directors, designers and writers gathered for the annual competition. Nearly 50 area agencies submitted work, totaling 400 entries in the competition. STUDIOBANKS walked away with 1 Gold and 3 Silver—an encore to their Best of Show Award last year for website client Urbana.

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(Press Release) Studiobanks Launches New Website for Opera Carolina

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Studiobanks launched a new website for Opera Carolina www.operacarolina.org, the largest professional opera company in the Carolinas with an operating budget of over $2.8 million. Earlier in the year, Studiobanks was chosen by the organization out of a group of area agencies to revamp the Opera Carolina online presence for the 2006-2007 season.

Fitting in alongside the Opera Carolina branding the new website aims to educate visitors about the opera as well as inspire them to attend. With the integration of motion and sound, the new Opera Carolina website is suited to immerse the visitor in the opera experience as well as provide a breath of information in an easy-to-use format without being overwhelming.

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(Press Release) Studiobanks Opens New Southend Office and Expands it's Creative Team

Banks 0 Comments

Studiobanks recently uprooted their operation and moved closer to Uptown Charlotte, opening a new office in Southend’s CITISPACE building. “We felt the need to be closer to the center of the Charlotte design community and closer to our clients. We’re now in a space that better reflects our personality.” — said Studiobanks’ President Banks Wilson.

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(Press Release) Top Honors at ADDY Awards Show

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The Charlotte Ad Club’s 2006 Addy Awards Show held Thursday night at The Big Chill presented hundreds of awards, a few special recognitions, and one great surprise to Charlotte’s advertising industry. Studiobanks, a young business of four designers took home the “Best of Show” award for their Urbana Cityspa & Teabar website www.escape2urbana.com design—the first “new media” project to win the honor in Charlotte’s Addy history.

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(Press Release) Studiobanks Nabs Two ADDY Awards

Banks 0 Comments

On February 18th, 2005, Studiobanks won its first two awards in the company’s three-year history, taking home two Addy’s from the Charlotte Ad Club’s annual Addy Awards Show. The awards ceremony, held in the McGlohon Theatre of Spirit Square in Uptown Charlotte, boldly introduced Studiobanks to the Charlotte advertising and design community.

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