Growing up in small coastal town, Simon wishes he had stories of being a precocious child whose need to know how things worked had him forever pulling things apart or whose brimming creativity saw him build ingenious furniture out of scraps. But alas, his formative years were really pretty average.

When it came time to knuckle down and embark on a career, Simon first tried his hand at computer science at Newcastle Uni. But, 18 months later, he was bored and uninspired. Switching to Industrial Design, Simon found his niche.

“I like the creativity of Industrial Design and that it’s quite a practical profession,” Simon said. “You have to make stuff that not only looks good but works as well.”

One day, not long out of Uni, Simon sat down with a directory of creative companies and sent out a “shitload” of CVs. That night, he got a call from Will Colhoun, Managing Director of Big Kahuna Imagineering, to see if he could work on a project. Although that first assignment never went ahead, Simon (still in Newcastle at the time) worked with Big Kahuna remotely for the next 6-7 months before making the move to Sydney and becoming BKI’s go-to designer.

Originally setting his sights on design consultant companies, Simon fell into the imagineering industry.

“It’s certainly not what I thought I’d get into,” Simon said. “It’s not really on the list of industries at a career fair. Generally, people don’t think about how things are made, but it’s fun and interesting. I’ve done a lot of shitty jobs but working for Big Kahuna I never wake up and go, ‘Ugh! I’ve got to go to work.’”

As Big Kahuna’s resident Designer, Simon helps our clients turn their imaginations into something that can be imagineered. From initial rendering and material selection to 3D fly-arounds and build implementation and revision, Simon’s role is a crucial one and, as he says, quite different from project to project.

“Imagineering is certainly suited to those with dynamic, focused attention cycles,” Simon said explaining that he enjoys being able to finish a giant shoe one day and then move onto a motorbike custom-laden with bespoke-mounted computers the next.

The typical path for an industrial designer is 9-10 months on a single product and a maze of red tape bureaucracy before finally seeing your design on the shelves. Big Kahuna’s industry provides almost instant creative gratification with quick turnarounds between a vast range of projects.

Simon’s favourite projects that come into the workshop are those that require a bit of design work and a little bit of creative freedom. Where his passion truly lies, however, is furniture design. The Eames Chair tattoo on his forearm serves as a constant reminder of his goal to one day exhibit his work in Milan.

One of the great things about Big Kahuna Imagineering is that it lends its facilities to staff to enhance their personal development and to accomplish their own personal challenges (artistically). Recently, Simon exhibited his work at WORKSHOPPED 2011, an event aimed at identifying great Australian design and bringing it to local and international attention, which is exactly what it’s doing for Simon. His Infinite Clock design was featured a few months after the exhibit in InsideOut Magazine’s What’s New section. Simon also showcased his Infinite Lamp at Melbourne Fringe Festival’s “Fringe Furniture” exhibit.

Likes: Sport, His Fiancée, and Furniture (chairs especially float his boat).

Dislikes: Getting up in the morning, polyurethane because it makes him itchy, and the way Jim says “cinema”.

Comments from the Peanut Gallery:

Will: Astoundingly perceptive in design, Simon seems to effortlessly gather modern, “in the Vogue-moment” references… and incorporate them to his graphical interpretations of a brief. The most annoying thing about working with Simon is, as a die-hard micro-manager, seeing that he has gone beyond the brief – then giving-off for the inefficiency represented – only to then realise that what he’s done is utterly on-ethos with the Big Kahuna way! We demand originality and inspiration of ourselves and are building our brand on this – applied to suggested requests, and Simon gets this. No matter where he came from, he defines “niche” here!

Steve: Simon! Simon! He’s our boy if he can’t do it, no one ….

Jim: Sinn-uh-muh!!!!

Too funny not to share — Enjoy!

The X-Factor Award is awarded to a company that demonstrates extraordinary levels of innovative, entrepreneurial and creative flair. The winner of this particularly subjective award is assessed against the vision, strategy and execution of its exceptionally cool business product and/or service.

Congratulations to the winner, Starlettos, and our fellow finalists Nanotek, Doin Time and LX Design House as well as the other Cool Companies.

Here’s what the lovely people at Anthill had to say about Big Kahuna Imagineering…

“You would think that a company that models and fabricates giant shoes, soda bottles and coffee cups would be slam-dunk cool. End of discussion, right?

Ah, but Will Colhoun, the founder and principal wizard of Big Kahuna Imagineering, has no intention of stopping there. “We are a full-service provider often involved in projects from conception to installation/delivery and beyond,” he says. Clients get what they need, not what we feel comfortable supplying. We’re rarely in a comfort zone. Therefore, our clients are rewarded with powerfully original marketing tools.”

Colhoun, who worked as a model maker and prop designer on several big-budget films for Fox Studios, created Big Kahuna in 2000. Out of its shop in Rozelle, NSW, Calhoun and his small-but-flexible team create three-dimensional displays, signs, animatronic TV/video characters, puppets, device prototypes and art installations.

Some familiar client campaigns are the Sensodyne Chill Test and Bankwest’s sunshiney “Happy Banking” characters. Visit the company’s website to see images of some uber-cool projects: a Land-of-Oz-like robot costume for a Korean music video, an acrylic “ice army” for State Opera of South Australia’s presentation of the Ring Cycle, a Titanic-size propeller for Cascade brewery.

In a world where protection of intellectual property is a nearly manic pursuit, BKI doesn’t shield its ideas, aside from watermarks on drawings and designs. Why? Colhoun would rather focus on making the next thing more awesome than the last. And though he’s a businessman, he has the soul of an artist. “An artist looks to create bigger and better things and has to live comfortably with that being their collateral,” he says.

“We don’t emulate anyone,” Colhoun says. “We shoot from the hip. We never have to re-hash and re-do old projects. Our staff love coming to work and we’re a family sensitive business. We respect experience, skill and enthusiasm without prejudice.”

Big Kahuna employs social media to spread the word about their work, but the majority of their projects come from the reputation they’ve built over a decade. And when a major project has been put to bed, BKI enjoys treating staff and partners to a slap-up meal.

“I’m not only operating commercially. We have artistic passion that runs through the veins of our business,” Colhoun says. “Often I ask someone to do a thing we don’t need to do because it will make for a better product. Looking at us as individuals, would any one of us say we’re cool? No, we’re actually quite nerdy. But, we know cool sh#t and we have the courage to do what many of our competitors are afraid to.”

Cheers Anthill!

With help from our friends at JibJab, the crew at Big Kahuna Imagineering wishes you a very Happy Christmas!

First-Class Technician

Steve’s vast and varied background in engineering, film and art makes him perfectly suited for the multi-talented Big Kahuna workshop.

A fitter and turner by trade, this Tassie-born imagineer got a bit restless (as imagineers do) and looking for a change, he found himself at the University of Tasmania studying furniture design.

In 1996, Steve won The City of Hobart Art Prize for Furniture for a pine side table and soon after he won a student prize for another, more sculptural piece that was acquired by the prestigious Tasmanian Wood Design Collection and traveled extensively, featuring at The International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York.

Steve has always been hands on and he attributes his “artsy side” to his mother who is a reasonably well-known artist in Tasmania. Once finished with his furniture design degree, Steve’s wandering spirit started to pull him across the Bass Strait to try his hand in another city.

Originally setting his sights on Melbourne, Steve made a trip to Sydney in the middle of Winter and sitting in middle of Bondi in a pair of shorts — he was sold.

After making the move to the Harbour City, Steve landed a job prototyping for Box & Dice before moving to industrial design consultancy KWA Design Group. With the jump, Steve found himself in the deep end moving from hand-built models into more complicated, industrial models which he says was “a huge learning curve”.

After a few years with KWA, Steve got wind that they were crewing up for Mission Impossible II and he jumped at the opportunity to work on props and special effects. Since that first film, Steve has worked on the Matrix sequels, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Superman Returns and Wolverine, to name a few. From being responsible for keeping Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine-style hair coiffed just so to rigging a Volvo to crush when Superman places the weight of the world down upon it, Steve’s experience in films has been kaleidoscopic. One of his favourite projects was the assassin droid in the opening sequence of Episode II because he made it and “it looked sexy”.

It was on the set of his first film job, M:I-2, that Steve first met Will Colhoun, then soon-to-be managing director of Big Kahuna Imagineering.

Steve worked on a few projects for Big Kahuna in the early days, but has really been part of the core BKI crew for the last three years. Rarely are two projects ever the same at Big Kahuna which suits Steve’s love for new challenges — as well as his affinity for resins and lack of complete loathing of fibreglassing.

Steve likes the arts-based projects and architectural pieces even more so. He admires minimalistic and detailed design that are in keeping with his own style. Although as the father of three, Steve doesn’t get much time to do his own work any more one day he hopes to have a space of his own to tinker in. In the meantime, Big Kahuna Imagineering provides a niche perfect for this highly-talented Tassie to stretch his creative muscles.

Likes: Strong coffee, looking up stuff on his iPhone and the Chicken Cashew Nut from Bangkok Spice.

Dislikes: Making hundreds and hundreds of the same thing, footy talk and riding his bike to work in the rain.

Comments from the Peanut Gallery:

Jim: Steve is a highly-experienced professional within the wide and varied world of this industry. With a vast level of technical and engineering knowledge, keen eye for detail and precise tooling skills he never fails to produce excellent results. He also makes a nice strong coffee!

Simon: When I first met Steve, I thought he was a bit of a grump and I didn’t want to ask him anything. Now that I know him, he’s still a bit of a grump but I don’t mind asking him things. He’s very old, so he’s very experienced.

Will: It’s hard sometimes with Steve, having to be ‘the boss‘ — but someone has to do it! It’s a pain in the arse but often he’s right and I’m wrr…wrr…wrrooo…. wrooooooonnn….. This interview is over!

Big Kahuna Imagineering has been named one of Australia’s ‘Coolest’ businesses in Anthill Magazine’s Sixth Annual Cool Company Awards

Big Kahuna Imagineering has scored a place among Anthill’s Top 50 in its 2011 Annual Cool Company Awards, a national program developed in 2006 to recognise Australian companies that are doing things differently to bring about positive change.

We find ourselves in the “X-Factor” category — businesses that have something that no one can describe but almost everyone can sense. Ironic when there’s a “Big Kahuna” award, but alas this category is strictly for companies 100 or more employees strong.

“Big Kahuna is by definition, a small company,” says BKI Founder and Managing Director Will Colhoun. “But we do BIG things for some of the most recognisable brands in the world. Through our imagineering and creative realisation, we do our part to make those brands current, innovative and memorable. So, we think that’s pretty cool.”

Big Kahuna Imagineering is a full-service provider that works to bring the imaginations of creatives across the arts, advertising and entertainment industries to fruition. Often involved in projects from conception to installation/delivery and beyond, Big Kahuna sets itself apart by not being afraid to take on never-been-done-before projects.

“What we’re trying to do here is not specialise,” Colhoun explains. “To specialise is highly business-minded. The coolest thing about this company is that we’re not here for profit’s sake alone. I’m not only operating commercially. We have artistic passion that runs through the veins of our business. Often I ask someone to do a thing that we don’t need to do because it will make for a better product. We have pride in what we manufacture. Looking at us as individuals, would any one of us say we’re “cool”? No, we’re actually quite nerdy. But, we know cool stuff and we have the courage to do what many of our competitors are afraid to.”

Over 700 aspiring ‘cool companies’ were nominated for the 2011 awards, making ‘The Cools’ one of Australia’s largest business awards programs. The winners will be announced at an award’s function on Thursday 24 November 2011 and published on AnthillOnline.com.

“The Cool Company Awards are extremely egalitarian,” said James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine. “Previous winners have included two-person start-ups, not-for-profit social enterprises, large private companies and publicly-listed corporations.”

“Judging takes into account far more than mere business variables, such as revenue and wealth. The criteria is geared to consider other qualities, from the disruptive nature of the product or service to the culture of the organisation.”

“Applicants either nominated themselves or were nominated by peers, work colleagues, family, friends and other ‘admirers’. A field of hundreds was examined (and cross-examined) before our judges were able to isolate three Finalists for each of our seven categories.”

“We’re very proud to be recognised for our work”, Colhoun says. “Big Kahuna Imagineering has been here for 10 years. Through all of the ups and downs, we still have faith that what we do is of distinction. And to have others agree is a great honour.”

 _______________________________________________________________________________

What are Cool Company Awards?

The Cool Company Awards was launched in 2006 as a way for Anthill Magazine to publicly acknowledge and celebrate Australian organisations that are doing things differently to bring about positive change. In its sixth year, the awards attracted nominations from over 700 organisations, making it among the largest business award programs in Australia.

What is Anthill Magazine?

AnthillOnline.com is a digital business magazine that celebrates creativity, inspiration and commercial ingenuity, providing a fresh, exciting and practical perspective on Australian business in a global world. It is among the Top 50 Business & Finance websites in Australia, as ranked by Nielsen Online Ratings, and is home to the Cool Company Awards, the 30under30 and the Smart 100. It’s where ideas and business meet.

]]> http://bkisbigblog.wordpress.com/2011/11/11/were-cool-ahh-the-validation/feed/ 0 Big-Kahuna-Imagineering-TOP50BADGE-620 bkisbigblog Big-Kahuna-Imagineering-TOP50BADGE http://bkisbigblog.wordpress.com/2011/11/07/imagineering-our-clients-imaginations-%e2%80%94-a-peek-into-the-big-kahuna-imagineering-workshop/ http://bkisbigblog.wordpress.com/2011/11/07/imagineering-our-clients-imaginations-%e2%80%94-a-peek-into-the-big-kahuna-imagineering-workshop/#comments Mon, 07 Nov 2011 00:22:33 +0000 BKI's BIG BLOG http://bkisbigblog.wordpress.com/?p=698 Read more]]>

www.bki.com.au – Big Kahuna Imagineering makes cool shi… stuff. Models, Scale Replicas, Custom Builds, Props, Special Effects, TVCs, Character Suits, Creatures, Animatronics, Puppets, Experiential Marketing Tools… you imagine it, Big Kahuna imagineers it. Here’s a quick look at a few past projects that have come to fruition in our Sydney workshop and gone on to marketing stardom.

A few you may recognise like the Sensodyne Chill Test and Bankwest “Happy Banking” Characters but some you may have to stretch your memory to recall others like the pirate ships featured in a Mirinda TVC, interactive Toyota display and man-sized robot suit for Korean music video “Egg”.

Enjoy!

A few months ago, Big Kahuna crafted the suped-up motorbike of PLAY Communication and Lenovo’s dreams for “The Dream Realisation Project”— a new marketing campaign built around the idea of DO-ing what you’ve always dreamt of, in conjunction with Lenovo’s global brand re-launch “Lenovo, For Those Who Do”.

Debuting in Melbourne Airport, the Lenovo DO Machines are set for Brisbane, Sydney and Auckland domestic Virgin terminals. We’ve recently received some fantastic pictures of the Sydney activation that we wanted to share!

The motorbikes built by Big Kahuna provided an attention-demanding stage for Lenovo’s cache of new display models.

The Lenovo DO Machines are touring airports in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney (seen here) and Auckland domestic Virgin terminals.

Big Kahuna's workshop served as both work site for the bikes and backdrop of the campaign.

This is just a few, for more click here…

Read about the making of the bikes…

Agency:  oOh!media

Brief: Centrepiece of Garnier Shopping Centre Activation

The fish seem happy with the purity of the product...

For Garnier’s recent promotional spend, oOh!media asked Big Kahuna to create four jumbo-sized Garnier shampoo bottles to serve as the centerpiece of the beauty brand’s shopping centre activation currently winding its way through Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

Working with Melbourne-based aquarium manufacturer Aquatic Creations, Big Kahuna convinced oOh!media that, whilst cheaper, vac-forming the bottles would present an inferior product not worthy of the client’s delicately-powerful product.

To vac-form the bottles would have created a seamy, bubble-magnetic, hollow bottle  requiring a coat of translucent spray paint, whereas moulding the bottles allowed us to achieve a much smoother, more realistic end result. Although this method of pouring resin for such a large object is fraught with danger due to extremely high exotherms and distortion risks, Big Kahuna devised and tested a unique formulation of premium, water-clear polyurethane resin specifically for this application.

And when we say “devised and tested”, we did exactly that. Our initial expectation that the very mould-friendly, lozenge-shaped object would be relatively easy to de-mould from a fibreglass hard mould turned out to not be the best course of action. This method would have been fine if the temperature of the high volume of resin curing hadn’t exceeded the fibreglass’ heat deflection causing the two to fuse in parts. For a one-off mould, we could have simply sanded out any imperfections but with four, perfect reproductions required, we reverted to the safety of platinum-cured silicone.

Researching techniques on-the-fly is a mainstay of Big Kahuna’s high-demand, time-critical supply ability. First-class technician Steve Reid again led the Big Kahuna team to a very successful result as Will had promised.

Bringing the whole activation together, the bottles were mounted into a custom-built fish tank by Aquatic Creations for a spectacular effect.

So, what did the client think of the job? 

“The bottles are fantastic. They exceed our expectations and we couldn’t be happier with the finish. Thanks for your hard work and professionalism. Your attention to detail is evident in the final product.”

—  Hannah Murphy, Campaign Manager oOh!media, Melbourne

More pictures…

Agency: Kastner and Partners

Brief: X-Fighters Trophies

The Big Kahuna Brand struck gold (silver and bronze) again at last weekend’s Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour.  For the first time, Australia played host to the Grande Finale of the biggest and most respected freestyle motocross tour on the planet and the riders did not disappoint.  The death-defying double backflips mixed with Can Cans, Nac Nacs, and heelclickers were awe-inspiring.

To reward the riders with the top scores (and the biggest cojones), Big Kahuna crafted three trophies inspired by antiquated, wooden stocks to match the rest of the day’s colonial theme in honour of the historic location — Cockatoo Island.

We bruised and battered some Cedar to give it that heritage look, routed the back side, cut it in to keep it chunky but still lightweight, before adding the locks and hinges, laser-cutting the lettering and giving each a lick of the appropriate paint.  For that little-something-extra, we took a mould of a spare sprocket and cast new “gold, silver and bronze” versions using all our alchemy skills to sit behind the X-Fighter’s Logo.

Loved seeing the champions embrace the fun of the stocks by wearing them in the winner’s circle.

More than 230,000 fans attended the 2011 Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour which consisted of six events on four continents.  Sydney was a sell-out crowd with 11,000 attendees. Dany Torres (ESP) was crowned the overall champion of the 2011 Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour and received 3rd place in the Sydney event. Australia’s own Josh Sheehan won 1st Prize in the Sydney event while Levi Sherwood took home 2nd.

More Red Bull X-Fighter’s pictures…