Showing posts with label how to make balloon walls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label how to make balloon walls. Show all posts

Thursday, August 3, 2023

Creative QuickLink Balloon Walls - with Step-by-Step Guide

Balloon Walls are perfect for all occasions and create the perfect theme backdrop. 

QuickLinks are the quickest way to make a Balloon Wall! Creating a QuickLink Balloon Wall is a fun and colourful way to decorate for parties, events, or special occasions. QuickLinks are available in both 12” and 6” sizes.

QuickLink balloons have specially placed tail ends that allow you to easily link/tie them together. Below is a step-by-step guide on how to make a QuickLink Balloon Wall:

Materials you'll need:

  1. QuickLink balloons in desired colours
  2. Balloon pump (electric pump for speed and efficiency)
  3. Poles and bases or Command hooks or other hooks (for hanging the balloon wall)
  4. Scissors

Step-by-step instructions:

  1. Plan the design: Decide on the size and shape of your balloon wall. You could create a wall covering an entire backdrop, a small section of a wall, or even a free-standing balloon wall.


    To plan your design, you could use the Balloon Pro Design Tool. This is a great way to experiment, and design your balloon wall and share a concept design with your clients.




    Choose your balloon colours:

  2. Select various colours to create a visually appealing and vibrant balloon wall. Consider the theme of your event or party to pick the appropriate colours.


    Here are a few different examples of QuickLink Balloon Walls. You can easily identify the type of event each wall was for by simply looking at the colours.


    Design by Sue Bowler


    Probably one of my favourite X-Grid Wall designs is by the incredible duo, Avital & Nir Shechter. The fabulous colours and the different sizing of the fillers makes this design fun, exciting and oh so vibrant! 

    Inflate the balloons:

  3. Use a balloon pump to inflate the QuickLink balloons. Make sure to inflate them to the same size for a consistent look.


  4. Create balloon chains: Make multiple balloon chains of varying lengths, depending on your design plan. To create a chain, inflate your balloons to the desired size and tie the balloons end to end, ensuring that the tying connections are tight and cannot stretch.


    QuickLink Vertical/Horizontal Grids This is one of my favourite techniques, and I have used it many times when creating balloon walls at corporate events. The last wall I made before we headed into lockdown was for an event in London where the theme for the party was Great Gatsby! 
  5. Here is an example of a Grid Method QuickLink Balloon Wall. I have colour-coded it to make it a little easier to understand the construction technique.


    Step 1.
    This is the first step to constructing a wall. For this wall I will need to inflate:
    Make 6 chains using 9 balloons in each chain (this is shown in red)
    Make 10 chains using 5 balloons in each chain (this is shown in blue)
     

    Step 2.
    Once you have inflated your chains, lay them down in the correct sequence. To connect the chains together you will need Duplets, in the example shown above you would need 60 Duplets.

    Step 3.
    To fill in the wall, you will need 'plugs'. A plug is a Duplet that will fit in each of the holes within the wall. I would recommend to inflate the Duplets approximately 1" smaller than the size used to create the actual wall or if you are using smaller QuickLinks approx ½" smaller.


  6. Add support for larger walls: If you're creating a large balloon wall, you need to add support to ensure the balloons stay in place.


  7. Optional: Add embellishments: If desired, add other decorations like foil balloons, paper flowers, banners, or LED lights to enhance the balloon wall further.



I also want to share with you this fabulous wall. Luc Bertrand, CBA of WaW Balloons in Vichte, Belgium created the original design he created this wall as part of the décor for the 100-year celebration of Pioneer Balloon Company on the Qualatex stand at the Nuremberg International Toy Fair in Germany. Luc's design uses the AeröPole System® to create the circular frame, and then Luc used 6" QuickLink balloons to create the central grid system filled with multi-coloured 5" latex balloons. 

100 Year Celebration Balloon Wall by Luc Bertrand
100 Years Celebration Balloon Wall by Luc Bertrand of WaW Balloons, Vichte, Belgium


I re-created Luc's design for the Pioneer Balloon Company's 100th Birthday Celebration Party in Wichita in 2017. The party theme was Black & White, and it was a great opportunity to use a fantastic selection of black & white printed balloons. This wall made the perfect photo backdrop!


QuickLink X Pattern Grids

This is another great technique using QuickLinks to create fabulous wall designs. 

Here are two grids that I have designed on the Balloon Tool to show you examples of how the frame looks with and without the balloon fillers.






Here are some examples of wall designs using the X-Pattern Grid


QuickLInk 'Love' Balloon Wall by Sue Bowler
'Love' X-Grid Wall designed and created by Sue Bowler

It's a Boy! QuickLink Balloon Wall by Sue Bowler
'Welcome Baby' X-Grid Wall Designed and created by Sue Bowler

Nir and Avital Shechter, CBA's of Baloney Nir in Katzrin, Israel
Nir and Avital Shechter, CBA's of Baloney Nir in Katzrin, Israel are all about design especially when they create their fabulous balloon walls! 

Back to School Balloon Wall by Nir and Avital Shechter, CBA's of Baloney Nir in Katzrin, Israel
'Back to School' X-Grid Wall Designed by Avital and Nir  

If you have never tried making a balloon wall, then start with QuickLinks! If you want to practice, you can use 6" QuickLinks wmeaning that your design will be much smaller than if you use 12". You can still make a great backdrop design using 6" QuickLink balloons, so make sure that whatever you make, you use it for a photo opportunity! 

A huge thank you to Nir & Avital Shechter, Alberto Falcone, and Luc Bertrand for sharing their beautiful balloon wall designs with the Very Best Balloon Blog! 

Happy Ballooning! 


Sue
Follow me @suebowler



Tuesday, October 6, 2020

Part 1 Fabulous Balloon Walls - Created with Latex Round Balloons

There are many different ways to create walls with balloons. We can use latex rounds, QuickLinks, non-rounds and foil balloons such as Qualatex Starpoints, and others too! So, we need to determine which type of wall we want to create, or more importantly, which wall best suits our or our customers needs?

Elegant Balloon Wall and Sculptured Column by Sue Bowler

So why are we proposing a balloon wall to our clients - a client would generally never ask you for a balloon wall unless they have seen something specific on Instagram or Pinterest! It is your job to sell what a wall can do for them - sell the emotion and not the product! To give you an idea of what I mean by selling the emotion here are a few examples.

  • Suction power doesn’t sell vacuum cleaners; seeing the dirt it gathers does.
  • Ingredients don’t sell expensive face creams; the confidence they give you does.
  • And carbon footprint stats don’t sell electric cars; pride in eco-friendliness does.

Here are a few reasons why you might suggest a balloon wall to a client:

  • To create their corporate logo
  • To create a theme background
  • To create a theme entrance
  • To create a photo or stage back-drop
  • To enhance a trade show or exhibition stand

I love designing and making balloon walls, and will always propose them to a client whenever possible. I have a client that now always insists that they have a balloon wall photo backdrop at all of their events! 

There are a number of different techniques that we can use to make balloon walls using latex round balloons:

  • Duplet Square Pack
  • Alternate Size Square Garland Pack
  • Traditional 4-Balloon Garland Pack
  • Organic

Duplet Square Pack
This is one of my favourite techniques. I really like that balloon walls made with this technique have a flat, smooth surface (not bumpy like balloons), straight sides, and really good definition on straight and diagonal lines. This type of wall can be made with a double-sided pattern or with a plain back; however keep in mind it is not as robust as other wall techniques.


Here are a few examples of décor using the Duplet Square-Pack Technique.


https://vimeo.com/ondemand/bspsettingthescene1and2
Elegant Tropical Balloon Wall and Organic Garland design by Sue Bowler, CBA

Its Birthday Balloon Wall and Decor by Sue Bowler
Baby 1st Birthday Balloon Wall Backdrop
Design by Sue Bowler


Zoe Adam-Jones of Jazzer's Trading designed and made this fabulous backdrop  Duplet Square Pack Balloon Wall at the 2019 Qualatex Event in Brazil.
Zoe Adam-Jones, CBA of Jaz Trading, designed and made this
fabulous backdrop using the Duplet Square Pack Balloon technique
at the 2019 Qualatex Event in Brazil.

Watch as Chris Adamo, CBA, demonstrates the duplet square pack wall method for his mountain scene design. For more information and tips check out the great article in Balloon Images Issue 2


Alternate Size Square Pack Garland
When making balloon walls using this technique, you can guarantee that it will be robust and will always looks good! It is probably the most widely used method of precision wall. It is made by alternating clusters of four balloons in two different sizes packed on to 50lb Dacron line. This produces a square shape garland.

Alternate Clusters of four balloons in two different sizes


The garlands when built are laid side by side and interlocked, then joined together 

The difference in size between the two sets is relative to the size of balloon used.

2" - 4½" = use a ½" differential
4½" - 7½" = use a 1" differential
7½" - 11" = use a 2" differential

5cm - 11.5cm = use a 1.5cm differential
11.5cm - 19cm = 2.5cm differential
19cm - 28cm = 5cm differential

Practice to see which sizes work best for you. The garlands once built are placed side -by-side and interlocked, then connected together.

This method produces quite a smooth design with a flat surface, it allows for good diagonal lines and triangles. However, not all balloon wall types work with different patterns!

Here are some examples of balloon walls using the Alternate Size Square Garland method:

Alternate Size Balloon Wall by Sue Bowler
Chrome Silver & Gold with Black - Alternate Size Square Pack Balloon Wall
Design by Sue Bowler


Check out Chris Adamo's demonstration where he shows the alternate square pack method to create an ice cream truck photo op.


Ice-Cream Truck by Chris Adamo
Ice-Cream Truck Photo Op by Chris Adamo, CBA,
of The Balloon Crew, Sydney, Australia

Ice-Cream Truck Decor by Chris Adamo
Ice-Cream Truck by Chris Adamo


Consistent sizing of balloons is paramount with balloon walls! Some methods are not very forgiving of badly sized balloons or inconsistent  'dupleting'  of balloons. To form the duplets, we must make sure that the balloons are tied as tightly together as possible, leaving no slack latex between the knot and the inflated part of the balloon.

Everyone will pack clusters on to line at a particular tension. It is usual to have only one person pack the garlands while others inflate and tie. This is not possible on large jobs, so you will need to practice consistent sizing and packing with your crew. 


Organic Balloon Walls
It would appear that there are many different techniques used to create Organic Style Balloon Walls. I suppose this is not surprising, as there are equally many different techniques to create Organic Garlands. I personally have used two different methods, and I will share one of the techniques that I used. We will look at other methods in Part 2.



I was contacted by a brand development agency who asked me to create a balloon and flower wall for a press event in London. 

When building a wall like this, it is important to consider how stable it needs to be. The balloon themselves are not heavy, but when you load it with lots of faux flowers, the weight increases considerably. So my first consideration was how was I going to support my balloon wall?

Thinking about what would work best, I came up with the idea of using a wire grid frame. My next task was to find a grid frame that would be suitable. After a little research, I found the perfect solution!

One of the client's criteria was that the balloons needed to be pastel tones to suit the faux flowers that they were supplying for the wall. 


Organic Balloon & Flower Wall by Sue Bowler
Organic Balloon & Flower Wall by Sue Bowler

I loved making this wall and learned a great deal whilst building it. I was really happy with the end result, as was the client. This wall took around eight hours to build, including the construction time to build the panels. 

A huge thank you to Chris Adamo and Zoe Adam-Jones for sharing their knowledge and inspiration! 

In Part 2 of this Balloon Wall blog post, we will look at a fabulous collection of Balloon Walls made from QuickLinks™️.

Happy Ballooning! 

Sue
Follow me @suebowler





 

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

A Balloon Wall backdrop perfect for Christmas!

Balloon Walls make the perfect backdrop! Great for entrance decor, window displays and as a photo opportunity at events! The great thing about balloon walls is that they can be made to any size subject to the size of balloons and inflation size that you decide to work with!


Sue Bowler
You may have already secured your Christmas decor designs with your clients, but maybe you are still looking for inspiration?










Earlier this year I attended JBAN, and taught a Christmas decor class, where I showed a number of different designs including how to create balloons walls featuring a 'Santa Face'.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Balloon Walls Part 2

Alternate Size Square Pack Walls



I love this wall type, it is robust, always looks good and is probably the most widely used method of precision wall. It is made by alternating clusters of four balloons in two different sizes packed on to 50lb Dacron line. This produces a square garland (see example below).
The first and last garland in your wall start and finish with one size of balloon cluster, the next garland starts and finishes with the alternate size of balloon cluster. The example below shows the green balloon being the bigger of the 2 sizes.
Sue Bowler
Square Garlands
The difference in size between the two sets is relative to the size of balloon used.
 2" - 4½" = use a ½"differential
4½" - 7½" = use a 1" differential
7½" - 11" = use a 2" differential

5cm - 11.5cm = use a 1.5cm differential
11.5cm - 19cm = 2.5cm differential
19cm - 28cm = 5cm differential

Practice to see  which size  works best for you. The garlands when built are laid side by side and interlocked, then joined together using the elastic band method (See Balloon Walls Part 1).

Sue Bowler
Square Garlands locked together

Consistent sizing of balloons is paramount with balloon walls, some methods are not very forgiving of badly sized balloons or inconsistent  'dupleting'  of balloons. To form the duplets we must make sure that the  balloons are tied as tightly together as possible, leaving no slack latex between the knot and the inflated part of the balloon.

Everyone will pack clusters on to line at a particular tension. It is usual to have only one person pack the garlands while others inflate and tie. This is not possible on large jobs, so you will need to practice consistent sizing and packing with your crew. 

This method produces quite a smooth design with a flat surface, it allows for good diagonal lines and triangles. Not all balloon wall types work with different patterns!

Here are some examples of balloon wall using the Alternate Size Square Garland method:

I designed and made this wall with a group of delegates at The Qualatex Event Slovenia 2009.

Sue Bowler

Below is the same wall design but using a different colour combination, I also added a border around the edge of the design. This is a great example of a monocromatic colour harmony.
Sue Bowler balloon walls
This is a great design to work on. It takes a total of 684 balloons. I have added all the details below.

Sue Bowler Balloon Wall
2012... a year of celebrations!

2012 will see many celebrations with both the Olympics and the Queens 60th Jubilee. Some years ago I created a balloon wall replica of the Union Jack using the Alternate Size Square pack method, so here it is, I hope that you get the opportunity to try it out!

The Union jack is made up of 9 columns, each column has 33 clusters a total of 1188 balloons!

Sue Bowler

Sue Bowler
And finally, here is one of the balloon walls that I created for WBC 2012. The US Flag! Sadly, I never got a photograph of the wall, so if anyone has one please send it to me and I'll add it to this blog!
Sue Bowler

Last year I made a very large wall to frame my "Island' Sculpture at BACI, It allowed people to walk between the wall and the sculpture and made it look like they were on the Island... great for photographs!
Sue Bowler



Let me know how you get on with this type of wall, I think that you should find it a little easier than the Duplet Square pack method!
If you have any examples of balloon walls that you would like to share on my blog page please send them to me at Sue@suebowler.com 

Good Luck!

Sue... hope to see you soon at the World Balloon Convention!