Bonfire gets a googly eye from the art world!

BlogWe’ve been taking part in a special project, working alongside Bedford Creative Arts and 11 other visual arts organisations from around the East of England, known collectively as the Eastern Pavilions. Last year, each organisation commissioned a piece of artwork to build a portfolio of local prints.

The Eastern Pavilions Print Portfolio was created to promote local up-and-coming artists from around the East of England. All the pieces have now been turned into 144 boxed sets of 12 limited edition artists’ prints and are on sale at £1,000 each, providing buyers with a fantastic investment.

Last year we sponsored a print commission from Bedfordshire artist Andy Holden, www.andyholdenartist.com as part of the collection. His contribution to the portfolio is called ‘Untitled, Screenprint with Googly Eye.’

Andy makes objects, images, films and lectures that explore memory, duration, and our attachment to objects. He trained at Goldsmiths and is based in Bedford. Some of the Bonfire team were privileged enough to visit Andy’s studio to see his work.

On Friday 29th July, we were presented with the artist’s proofs at a special reception at Rock City Art Gallery in Bedford.  Dawn Giles from Bedford Creative Arts introduced short talks from Andy Holden about his work, and a representative from Collectors’ Collective, who shared his views on buying and collecting contemporary art from both the artist’s and the collector’s perspectives.

Other artists in the portfolio include Ryan Gander, Colin Self, Coco Crampton, and 2012 Turner Prize nominee Elizabeth Price. To find out more about the project, or to find out how to buy your own Eastern Pavilions Print Portfolio, visit www.easternpavilions.org.

Bonfire upgraded to Platinum for Payroll Giving

Payroll_Giving_Platinum_12_RGBBonfire is amongst the first 29 companies in the country to receive a new level of quality mark for our contribution to charity. Having held the Gold award for the last 4 years in a row it is a great acknowledgement of the team’s support to making a difference.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Payroll Giving in the UK and the Institute of Fundraising has celebrated the occasion by launching a new ‘Platinum’ level of Quality Mark to the existing Payroll Giving Quality Mark Awards.

The Platinum Quality Mark Award recognises employers that continually strive to increase donations to UK charities through Payroll Giving.  Employers that are recognised through the Platinum Award have committed themselves to promoting Payroll Giving in the workplace and increasing charitable donations.

The Payroll Giving Quality Mark is funded by HM Government, organised in conjunction with the Institute of Fundraising and administered by the Payroll Giving Centre.

Bonfire strikes gold twice in a week

DSC_5196Hot on the heels of the Oracle Retail Week Awards, we managed to pick up our second award in a week for our work with Bush and Argos!

We collected a Gold Award at Communicate Magazine’s Transform Awards, which took place in London on 21st March. This time it was for rebranding the Argos owned electronics brand BUSH, in the ‘Best Rebrand from the Retail Sector’ category.

Our client, Andrew Turner, Brand Manager at Argos said: “The brand marketing team at Argos are delighted to have collected two awards in a week for two different brands. It is so refreshing as a brand owner to be able to work collaboratively with an agency on a brand strategy and execution that always has the consumer at its heart. It just shows what can be achieved in the difficult economic climate. If you do the right things for the consumer, commercial success follows.”

The team enjoyed some winners’ champagne… and we couldn’t be happier!

Argos Chad Valley and Bonfire Win Oracle Retail Week Product Innovation Award!

We had a great night at the Oracle Retail Week Awards. What a fantastic awards ceremony. Oh the glitz, the glamour, the champagne…!  And the icing on the cake was being presented the Product Innovation Award with Argos for Chad Valley.  Jeremy Vine, who presented the award, was extremely tall! He managed to squeeze into the winners’ photograph. Just.