Sunday, November 25, 2007

Introducing Pew Charitable Trust

We stumbled upon the great work of Pew Charitable Trusts, an independent nonprofit organisation, established between 1948 and 1979 by two sons and two daughters of Sun Oil Company founder Joseph N. Pew and his wife, Mary Anderson Pew.

The goal is far reaching yet specific: improve public policy, inform the public and improve civil life. What has this to do with Bison you may ask? A part of Pew's commitment to the environment, they have established a new joint effort with the Nature Conservancy to protect large tracts of Australia’s unique terrestrial and marine environment.


The project titled, The Australia Conservation Project is a new initiative that focuses on threats to the world’s unspoiled treasures, requiring new alliances of environmental groups and other players to take decisive actions. We think it's a great project, and headed by Dr, Barry Traill, director of the Wild Australia Program one we'd definitely like to get involved with. Read more about the project here.

Monday, November 19, 2007

The Wilderness Society

With Christmas almost here (again), we thought what better way than to support our favourite organisation The Wilderness Society. By donating a portion of each sale of our Christmas cards to their great work, we're sharing the love this Christmas!

All of the Bison crew agreed they're a great organisation to assist, and when we floated the idea with our clients, they were equally supportive. Greenies at heart, and activists in action, Oliver and Jules decided to do more that sit in the studio and design great cards this year, and have committed to two weeks in Tasmania's old growth forests photographing those at the front line of saving our forests. No doubt they'll come back with some evocative, beautiful shots.

Thanks to our new clients for also supporting The Wilderness Society this year; Patrick - Australia's leading provider of port services, also welcoming Canadian company Duha Group colour specialists and not to forget, a big thank you to our major sponsor Training Power, business and financial services, for their ongoing contribution to make travelling across our great land possible.

Great to see big business supporting the environment!

It's interesting to also note, that of all the Christmas cards we designed this year, our clients have chosen the pristine landscapes and wildlife from Victorian folio's as pics to represent their company.

For more info on how you can support the The Wilderness Society and the great work they do, or to get your custom card designed drop us a line!

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Happy Birthday Bison!


Bison is celebrating it's 3rd birthday today (!) and what better way than officially welcoming two new members to our team. It's hard to believe that 3 years have already passed, and what started as a hobby sending beautiful hand-made koala cards to our friends in Spain, has progressed to doing deals in the boardroom of Rialto Towers.

A big thank you to our wonderful families, friends and clients for they're great support and feedback, we've loved every minute of it (well nearly!).

Oliver's photography has gone from strength to strength, especially with his recent production of a series of landscapes that are truly breathtaking. The only way to describe it is as though you are standing inside the photo, feeling what he must have felt, standing there looking out at our spectacular land. With the bluest skies, stunning ocean views and the rugged beauty of our dried up old land, who really would want to be exploring anywhere else but Australia?

Saturday, September 29, 2007

New eCards!

How beautiful and fun are these new eCards!

The design side of the business is growing rapidly, which is very interesting indeed....

Photography purists 'don't do design' but we really wonder why (??) as this upsell can often see the creative team working with the one product from start to finish. More control over the image from consult to market is better for all concerned wouldn't you agree?

Our clients are jumping on the viral marketing bandwagon, and what better way to get your message and more importantly brand out there, than by putting a smile on someones face? Whether is e-marketing, bluetooth or print it's all happening here at Bison!

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Planes, Trains and Ships...




What a month indeed! From the heights of the Shipping Management Tower in the Port of Melbourne, to the sparkling urinals of the Emirates flight lounge, we've seen it all this August. It couldnt have been more of a mixed bag!

Fortunately for us, Oliver loves a challenge... as he's worn a few hats working with the wonderful wharfies at Patrick Terminals to the high flying corporate set in Collins Street.

It seems that we've well and truly moved into machinery and infrastructure, welcoming our new client Chalmers into the Bison circle. And to be honest, we really think Oliver loves getting his hands dirty with those big boys toys. Just wait until you see some of the new pics on the way... did someone say forklifts weren't sexy?

Friday, July 27, 2007

Port of Melbourne


We love big ships! That's the song we sang when we were awarded to the contract to photograph the operations of Australia's busiest port - Melbourne!

And what a great project it has been... if you thought coordinating one shoot was a challenge, try accessing the highest level of security, finding your way through the labyrinth of terminals, huge machinery, praying for good weather (!) and...

What a challenge, but what a great reward. This is undoubtedly our best folio yet. Thanks to all of those that helped make it happen including Patrick Corp, Chalmers, the team at Chubb and of course everyone at the Port of Melbourne Corporation!

Full folio released online August 10th!

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Conservation Volunteers

We braved the wild, wintery, and wet weather travelling to Point Cook's wetlands last week. Conservation Volunteers Australia in partnership with BHP Billiton are looking after this conservation project and are doing some terrific work in small teams in the area...

For those of you unfamiliar to the area, Point Cook Coastal Park is located 20 km southwest of Melbourne, and is a popular destination for birdwatchers... it features abundant birdlife, a historic bluestone homestead, intertidal sand banks and a Marine Reserve. Parks Victoria have recorded over 250 fauna species which is fairly impressive considering it's proximity to the city.

We first stumbled upon the work CVA perform researching volunteers and groups which are involved in weed control and environmental monitoring including bird surveys in Australia.

Oliver captured these few pictures of the team hard at work... Overall a very rewarding and interesting day.

Definitely worth a day trip and if you have some free time give CVA, and more importantly our environment a hand!



Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Free Ecards!




Introducing a great new addition to the BISON range... our Ecards are sure to delight, provoke thought, and take you somewhere you'd prefer to be (i.e. not in the office). Updated weekly stayed tuned and send for free to your friends!

We're also currenly producing our 2007-8 corporate catalogue which will have an Ecard customisation page for all of you greenies saying no to paper Christmas cards this year!

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Fungus sandwich anyone?

Deep withing Tasmania's virgin forests, where time has slowed, and giant trees reside, grows a variety of fungi that Oliver seems to be quite captured by...


Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Wilderness to wasteland in 40 seconds

Q. How long does it take to cut down a tree in Tasmania's old growth forest? A. 40 seconds.

Oliver witnessed the destruction of one of the most pristine habitats on Earth...

It begs the question, if our Government does not take action soon, we will have gone from wilderness to wasteland in one generation.


Another case of pictures speaking louder than words...

Friday, March 23, 2007

Thursday, March 22, 2007

The Mother Church

St. Patrick's website writes the following, "...the mother church of the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne." With the first Mass celebrated on the site in February 1858 in a former partially completed church, it truly is a gem of Melbourne architecture.

"Designed by William Wardell, St Patrick's is regarded internationally as the finest ecclesiastical building in Australia and a pre-eminent example of the Gothic Revival style. The austere facade gives little hint of the glorious interior with its ethereal golden light of mesmerising beauty..."

With Mass celebrated 7 days a week, and weddings on Saturdays booked months in advance, visitors enjoy this beautiful, reflective environment...

"... is the spiritual fire of prayer and daily worship which gives the building its heart, ensuring that it is more than just an architectural monument."

These pictures speak volumes of the Cathedral being so much more than a place of beauty and peace.

Monday, March 05, 2007

Myspace Marketing


Having jumped on the Myspace (personal) bandwagon sometime ago, we've been considering the advantages of marketing our BISON brand.

Myspace with a social network of over 90 million members (and growing daily) who are all easily contactable and willing to interact should be a MAJOR Marketing opportunity. If you've never used Myspace.com before then we'd advise you sign up, learn the ropes and have some fun...

This begs the question is simply using the social network Myspace as a way too get whatever your selling out there in the faces of any demographic you want feasible?

A direct marketers dream, or more spam and time wasting? What makes Myspace so powerful is how you can decide who to send your advertising too based on a huge amount of criteria. You can sort by age, sex, height, location, hobbies, music taste, disposable income and many more... But do we want it? And how many of those targeted actually buy?

Admittedly, like with any direct marketing campaign, making 100 contacts (friends) who smoke will be 1000% more effective in selling your new "stop-smoking" product then 1'000 who don't smoke. So again the key to networking with Myspace is targeting the correct demographics... so far not much has changed.

We've discovered the following which could work if you're intending to market using Myspace... Goals! You need to have a goal in mind - depending on what you want to achieve will bear greatly on what technique you should use to market.
  • Bands looking to get in contact with local gig goers may want to build up a targeted friend list of people in their city who like their genre of music. This would give them the power to send bulletins about upcoming gigs and CD releases.

  • A webmaster launching a new website may benefit from sending out 50'000 private messages to people who may be interested in the new website - an instant source of quality traffic which will lead to sign-up's, adsense clicks and more.

  • A company launching a new gadget could benefit from making friends with gadget lovers and then leaving a video commercial as a comment for each and every new friend! Publicly viewed comments are seen by everyone meaning your 1000 comments may be seen by 100'000 people!

Hmmm... as for commissioned photography, we'll have to think a little more about that one! In the meantime here are a few new Australian wildlife pics we've recently posted and had great comments about ;)

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Fit for a king

With employees spending more and more time in the office, the role of interior designers is becoming an increasingly essential factor in the updating and design of new work spaces.

This design by the Smith Madden Group of the St. George Bank head office (Melbourne Stock Exchange) is no exception, and a pleasure for us to shoot.

Seemingly, no expense was spared in creating what must be on of the best work places we have seen! The use of colour is bold and bright, quite unlike the subdued tones of other conservative offices in town, such as Macquarie further up Collins St. (brown and tan).

The influence of the two colours, red and gold, have great symbolic appeal, and are very auspicious in China and appear to have been used similarly in this space. Notably, some colours, usually white, have been said should be avoided at all costs! We're just wondering if the designers had a Feng Shui consultant work on the project?!

It certainly is award winning design, and undoubtedly fit for a king!



Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Another major event?

With the Australian Open tennis now a distant memory, football season only moments away, and Formula 1 Grand Prix just around the corner, you would wonder whether Melbourne was in sport overdrive!

Another major event? You bet... the 2007 FINA World Swimming Championships are just over a month away as our famous tennis stadium gets transformed into a "Skypool".

Using the same technology employed in the acclaimed Barcelona pool at the 10th FINA World Championships, the system uses free standing panels of hot galvanized steel. This fantastic technology, developed by the creative Spaniards, enables the pool to sit on the stadium’s floor without having to construct anything or “hammer a single nail”.

We can't wait to see it... Go Aussies!



Friday, January 26, 2007

Our dried up old land.

Traveling over 1500km's in four 40+ degree days, it's not hard to reflect on why Oliver returned with such an astounding folio. Interpretation ranging from depressing to haunting, extraordinary to surreal, we've found this selection to be the most discussed yet.

As our drought stricken earth cracks at the seams, waterfalls flourish and provide a cool respite...

Driving further, Oliver captures the pink salt lakes reflecting the harsh Australian sun. This is Victoria, rather hard to believe it's all one State.

The old twisted gums dance to the symphony of our burnt land... finally the new growth breaks through as some say it's too late.

Reflecting on our climate change we see large-scale and global environmental hazards to human health. More importantly a loss of biodiversity, supply of freshwater, land degradation and stresses on food-producing systems.

2007 should be about adopting a new perspective which focuses on our precious ecosystems, and on recognising that our foundations of long-term good health rely on the continued stability and functioning of these life-supporting systems.

We're doing our little bit to awaken and bring an appreciation of the complexity of the systems upon which we depend.

What are you doing?