Adding value to your balloon designs ... 'The Very Best' way to stand out from our competitors!!

  
In this ever increasing competitive world we need to look for ways to make our business stand out. Like many Independent business's we are surrounded by 'the big boys', who can sell products cheaper than the independent store... so how can we ever compete for business?

BE DIFFERENT! 

If I want a single balloon on a ribbon & weight, I am most likely to buy it from my local supermarket, the same can apply to a bunch of fresh flowers, chocolates or candies, it's easy, it's convenient and in most cases it's cheaper. But if I want a special bouquet of flowers or elegant handmade boxed chocolates then I head off to the professionals!

So as a balloon professional and specialist let us look at what we can do to make our balloons stand out from our competitors.

Image 1

Step 1. Sell balloon's that last!
The Qualatex Bubble range is unique. They are vibrant and fun like the Birthday Brilliant Stars Bubble shown (Image 1). Made from a special stretchy plastic makes them pop resistant and withstand outside pressure changes better than most other types of balloon. They do not oxidize and will float for a number of weeks! All in all a retailers dream!


It would be easy to just simply inflate a Bubble balloon and attach it to a weight, but hey... anyone can do that (with a little know-how).

Image 2.

What is balloon art?

Cove - created by Jason Hackenwerth

What is balloon art?

I have been a balloon artist for over 20 years, but I suppose it is not until now that I have really considered what ‘balloon art’ actually means?

I am a skilled balloon artist who can create decor for events. I have the creativity to design my own work and am always excited when I complete something new, but I question, can I call my work art?

Stone Chang  a balloon artist from Taiwan, recently held an exhibition in Taiwan called ‘The Art of Rapid Expansion’. The exhibition featured work created by him and a team of balloon artists from around Taiwan. As part of the exhibition, Stone also featured 11 International balloon artists using large posters to display examples of their work and their points of view of balloon art, reading each artists words and descriptions as to what balloon art means to them was truly uplifting, and I would like to share a few of their sentiments with you.

 

“As balloon artists we are able to literally breath life into creations that then go into the world spreading beauty, and wonder, and joy, and connecting us all”. Don Caldwell aka Buster Balloon, USA

www.busterballoon.com

“Once inflated, they capture the heart of every young mind, in a child as well as an adult”. Luc Bertrand, Belgium.

www.wawballoons.be

“ If you can see it in your mind, you can make it with balloons. Air is the canvas, balloons are the paint, your hands are the brush that paints the picture”. Marvin Hardy, USA

“Balloons are amazing product for doing art, they have a special power for people, magical, simple, people like it”! Niko Fric, Slovenia

www.nikoballoonfashion.com

Stone himself says: “ Balloon, a piece of childhood memory. Creatively twisted, readily inflated into a delightful splurge. So let’s grab the chance to enjoy this volatile handicraft of peasants, a swiftly ballooned art”.



Recently, I met an artist called Jason Hackenwerth. Jason studied art and was awarded a BFA  at Webster University. St. Louis, MO. USA. Jason works with balloons (only the very best balloons) as his art medium, to create his grand sculptures such as the ‘Megamite’  or ‘Cove’, which he recently installed at Selfridges department store London, as part of a campaign to support an environmental project named Project Ocean.
Jason has been commissioned to create sculptures at numerous exhibitions, features in many publications and has a string of awards to his name.
It is strange how we ‘find’ balloons in our lives, Jason told me that his mother was a clown, and that as a young boy he was very embarrassed by this (funnily enough so were my own children and although not a clown, this is how some of their friends perceived me as I was a mummy who ‘played’ with balloons). Jason overcame his embarrassment and learn't the art of twisting from his Mom and used the tips that he earned to help fund his way through college and now, the rest is history as Jason has proved himself as a highly talented artist, who’s art form is very much in demand Worldwide.

This brings me back to my original question "can I call my work art"? Looking at the definition of the word art, I do not think that I can, my designs are 'arty' and creative, but like a graphic designer, cake decorator and many other artistic trade, maybe not a work of art. There are so many fantastic artists in our industry, the entertainers who use balloons within their acts, the extremely talented artists who can make stunning balloon dresses, with incredible style and precision, the artists who can create sculptures on a grand scale working with 1000's of balloons and the twisters who can turn one balloon into a masterpiece. I am in awe of the art and creativity that can be made from the humble balloon.

Balloon Spiral Column Number design - Step-by-Step recipe

I really love the new Qualatex Number Shape Microfoil balloons! I want to share with you a really fun and easy to make column that I made using the 'candy' spiral technique, topped with a number balloon it makes perfect birthday decor and a great way to display the Number Shapes in your store windows!

What are you waiting for, make one today!

If you would like to know step-by-step how to make this great design simply click on the clip below.

Thinking green Qualatex balloons are Biodegradable!

I found this Qualatex poster on Sky High Balloons, BC, Canada's blog page (thank you guys)  and thought what a great message to promote on our websites, blogs and Facebook pages! When I recently met artist Jason Hackenwerth in London early this year, he told me that it was very important to him as an environmentalist that he only works with Qualatex latex balloons because they are 100% natural & 100% biodegradable! Jason was recently commissioned by Selfridges, London to create amazing balloon sculptures as part of the Project Ocean , it was a huge factor that Jason worked with a product that was 100% natural.

Balloon Events - are they worth the investment to your business?

I suppose I should start by defining what a balloon event is? For me an event is usually more than a one day training course, with several or a number of instructors offering a variety of different classes.

I attended my first event, at that time known as the Qualatex Symposium in Paris in 1996!
This was my first great 'balloon adventure' since I started my balloon business 5 years earlier. I had previously attended several 1 day courses in the UK, but I was always left feeling that I wanted to learn more!
On the 7th March 1996 my business partner Rosemary and I jumped into my little Mini car and drove all the way to Paris (France), full of excitement and anticipation of what the next 4 days would hold for us!
But we did not just go to attend the many different classes (45 in total to choose from) or to see the 12 amazing line-up of instructors, oh no, that would be too easy, we decided that if we were going to go all that way, we would enter all the competitions too! That included a large sculpture, buffet and centrepiece design... were we mad or what!

Images Balloon magazine