Archive for the ‘Staff and their development’ Category

July/August round-up – Down to the library…

Thursday, August 30th, 2007

Another exciting couple of months for everyone at Bonfire with the formalising of a strategic partnership with a leading interior/environment design company! This alliance was put to the test recently with the winning of the tender for the new way-finding and signage systems for both the public and staff food outlets within the British Library. More on this partnership will follow over the coming months.

July saw the studio joined by Hannah Cherry from Harlington Upper School for her 2 week work experience and August also saw the studio enhanced full time with Andrew Foster having completed his design course. Andrew brings another dimension to the our creative capacity along with exemplary illustrative skills having previously been on a 2 day a week placement  with Bonfire since March.

On the personal front Jason rolled another year closer to 40 in July and Steve (still in his mid thirties) found out it’s a boy!

Until next time.
Bonfire x

June round-up – Exhibiting strategic partnerships

Saturday, June 30th, 2007

Bonfire are pleased to announce they have entered into a strategic alliance with the marketing company Crisp Solutions. Working in complete synergy with the Bonfire management team, Crisp will be the centralised marketing resource for Bonfire bringing a greater focus to this aspect of the business with the addition of bringing Full Mix Management, Marketing Project Management, Marketing Consultancy and Change & Risk Management to the stable.

This, in conjunction with a full rebrand in August, will see Bonfire on track for the next phase of its business growth strategy. The rebrand also incorporates our recent accreditation which was officially unveiled over a double page spread in The Designer magazine this month. Check out the article here or, to get hold of a copy, contact the CSD. We are also in negotiations with another company to extend the offer further by bringing interior/environment design, consultation and installation to the table.

We have also been busy client side developing the concepts for an International Exhibition to be held next year for NEC Electronics amongst many other exciting projects to be revealed next month.

Bonfire would also like to welcome Alison Hardcastle to the team! Alison joins us taking over Lorraine’s reception/administration function. Lorraine will now move into a more client focused role providing a much needed boost to our new business management process.

It the spirit of last months closing good news we can also announce that, 2 babies later, Jason has finally popped the question to his partner Sam while on holiday. The wedding will take place sometime next year, so congratulations to them both!

Until next month.
Bonfire x

May round-up: To Bell and back…

Thursday, May 31st, 2007

This month saw Bonfire with a pitch win for the design of the printed collateral for Bell International. With over 30,000 people a year and 25 teaching centres in 11 different countries, Bell is the worldwide market leader in the provision of high quality English language training services.

This month also saw Steve and Kayte return from Peru after completing the Inca Trail and raising £6,647.81 for Macmillan Cancer Support, so a big thank you to everybody for their support and kind donations. Mind you I can think of easier ways of spending your honeymoon!! The photos from the trek including the stunning views, ruins have now been put online for all to see, browse at you leisure by clicking here.

And just to close this month on another high note Steve and Kayte have just announced that they are expecting, there will be another Judge creating chaos as from a predicted December 11th 2007 – lets hope it isn’t two weeks late else that will be one laden Santa!

Until next month.
Bonfire x

March/April round up?

Tuesday, April 24th, 2007

A lot has been happening in the last 7 weeks and we’ve been very busy as we prepare for the expansion into our second office. It’s been an exciting time since our accreditation and its getting more and more exciting by the day. Being a relatively small company it is always hard to get yourself noticed and prove your standing in a market saturated with branding waffle.

Our clear communication and the results achieved for our clients over the past 6 years now stands testament to our ability with the added reassurance of DA accreditation.

Highlights for March and April so far are:

  • Won a pitch for a joint US/Japan manufacturer product launch in the UK. Depending on its success this could also be rolled out European-wide.
  • Were awarded another project to promote a range of retail IT products across the UK for another joint US/Japan manufacturer venture.
  • Completed the LCAL site and it finally went live with a great response from both the client and also the Director of Marketing at Boeing, who flew over for sign off.
  • Won and delivered a pitch for the identity and website for iVita. iVita is a new business initiative of Bedford Borough Council’s Development Agency to help nurture and build the business of sport in the area.
  • Have been working on a suite of 10 brochures for Cranfield University.
  • And lastly but not least Steve’s been training ready for his Peru trek in May, so if you haven’t sponsored him yet here’s the link.

All we can say is watch this space and if you’d like to be part of this dynamic company, check the opportunities page regularly for updates.

We’ll keep you posted as things develop.

All the best.
Bonfire x

Boo! February round-up!

Friday, March 2nd, 2007

Well hello and as another month passes we’re already flying through 2007.

Firstly we’d like to thank everyone who entered our ‘bon l’amour’ competition the response was very impressive. All comments and feedback will be used in the future development of our site. In fact the response was so good that we decided to extend the prize giving. Additional to the draw winner Lisa (you know who you are) getting the Red iPod Nano, the following four names pulled from the hat got an iPod shuffle! So congratulations to you all and thanks for your support. All in all the competition was a great success and we are looking at making competitions a regular feature of our site.

Aside from this we’ve been very busy indeed; the phase 2 Leith’s site went live earlier this month all programmed in .NET; we’ve been working on our new identity (yes we’ve decided to give it a revamp); we’ve been commissioned to produce a suite of 9 brochures for Cranfield University; we co-ran a design workshop for young people in order to produce the county wide Youth Charter for Bedfordshire; we started work on the LCAL website; oh and Steve climbed a tree for Hearing Dogs for the Deaf!

To top it all off we are about to launch another competition in the next few days called ‘I love Ampthill’. This is a local community project to help raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support. The winner of this will receive a framed large format canvas print of their work and it will go on permanent display for all to see in the entrance foyer to our studios! So pop back in a few days to get the low down.

Last and certainly not least we would like to welcome Andrew Foster on board. Andrew joins us from Bedford College and I’m sure he will make a great addition to the Bonfire team.

That’s about it for this month see you in 4 weeks with some more updates.
Bonfire x

35 for number 6?

Wednesday, August 2nd, 2006

Well yep I was another year older at 35 but I wasn’t prepared for what awaited me at Portmeirion!

What a strange place, you might remember it from the 60’s series ‘The Prisoner’ starring Patrick McGoohan, and a place you wouldn’t want to left alone!

Despite the obvious romanticism surrounding this enchanting part of North Wales, it’s only once you see the tourists leave and find out that no one actually lives there, you then realise its just you and a few other explorers lured in by Clough William Ellis’s dream of creating a habitat influenced by the colourful mediterranean costal towns and one that compliments its natural environment.

It’s a great place and as you explore you soon begin to understand the illusion that reveals itself during your stay (watch those second floor windows very carefully!).

If you get the chance go there, but maybe stay outside ‘the village’ as once the place empties you begin to feel a bit of a prisoner and maybe you could be the next number 6 trying to leave!

P.S. The tucker at Castle Deudraeth is absolutely pucker!!

Welcome to Nick Colyer!

Monday, July 17th, 2006

Nick Colyer is joining us for the summer for a work placement, having just finished his HND at Bedford College and a previous working placement at Connexions, Bedfordshire and Luton.

Nick will be with us until at the end of september to further his academic achievements to date and upgrade his HND to an Honours Degree at Leeds Metropolitan University.

Hopefully he’ll be smiling by the end of the placement!

Welcome to Christopher Valentine!

Monday, July 10th, 2006

Welcome to Christopher who joins us this week for his work experience from Cardinal Newman School in Luton. Chris is following his current interest in becoming a designer. He had found it quite hard to get a placement at an agency and we were only too happy to help.

This follows a similar placement last year and helps build and re-affirm our Corporate Social Responsibility Policy as a growing agency.

Jason clocks another year closer to 40!

Friday, July 7th, 2006

Well well well when it comes the the race to 40 Jason is always a step ahead of the rest of us (bar Danny who has kind of forgotten what it was like).

Happy birthday to the OLDEST of the founding partners! blimey at this rate we’ll have to stop calling ourselves fresh!!

Danny Stijelja joins the Bonfire team

Sunday, November 20th, 2005

Danny Stijelja, having run a successful London agency for the last 15 years has now joined with Bonfire Design to open up new business avenues. With an impressive strategic involvement with the youth sector through his agency Third Planet, Danny brings much excitement and expertise to the company, working previously with clients such as Sony, MTV and Coca Cola.