Showing posts with label design boards. Show all posts
Showing posts with label design boards. Show all posts

Thursday, February 21, 2019

How to Design a Window Display From Concept to Creation - With Bonus Tips and Tricks Videos

Each year, I have the privilege to design the window displays for the Qualatex trade stand at Spring Fair, NEC, Birmingham, U.K. It truly is a job that I love doing, although challenging, I find that I can really allow my creative juices to flow!


Baby Boy window display by Sue Bowler - Balloon Art by Sue Bowler
Baby Boy Window Display by Sue Bowler. CBA.


Designing a window display is definitely worth pre-planning. Otherwise, you can end up filling a space without really knowing what you are trying to achieve. My role at Spring Fair is to showcase a range of new Qualatex balloon designs in a way that makes them look exciting and striking. 

Probably one of my favourite displays this year was the "Baby" window. I love the NEW "Baby Stripes" balloons; the beautiful pastels with gold and white are so elegant and completely on-trend!


18" "Baby Boy Blue Stripes"
also available in 9".

18" "Baby Girl Pink Stripes"
also available in 9".

Designing my displays

Sometimes I find the process quite easy, but not always, and so planning is especially essential for me. I start by creating a design board. I want to be sure that the ideas I imagined will be functional as well as pretty. I often use this same technique when I am proposing a design to a client, and have found that it really helps them to get a good understanding of what they will get. Below is the design/mood board that I made when working on this window. It helped me see how the balloon would look with a crescent moon shape and garlands. Although I did not re-create exactly what I had originally designed, I really did not deviate too far - that's pretty unusual! 

The ability to be able to download images directly from the Qualatex website in a png format (clear background) has made designing so much easier. I simply download all the balloons that I want to feature and then play around building shapes. If you are working on Columns, Arches or balloon walls, you can use Chris Adamo's fabulous design tool that will help you to produce good look design images every time! Designing the crescent moon was fairly simple. I import shapes into a Word or Pages document and build the shape that I am looking to make, add circles and fill them with the colours that I want to use. 



Balloon Display Design by Sue Bowler

Making the design

The display was created from two main elements - the crescent moon and the air-filled garlands. Using air-filled balloons in window displays is the key to longevity. The garlands are extremely long lasting and could be easily stored and re-used for a future display. The crescent moon has a limited life but to ensure that it looked its best for the entire show, I double-stuff all the latex balloons or treat with hi-float.



The crescent moon frame was made from a length of 6mm aluminium rod bend into a crescent moon shape. I actually used one of my hoops from another display as a template to ensure that I had a good curve. I secured the frame to a NOT base, which worked perfectly for this design. If you look at the finished design you will note that the base is white. I like to spray my bases with a white, quick-drying floral paint when I am creating pastel and light-coloured designs. 

Colour

To achieve the beautiful pastel blue that has been used for the Baby Boy Blue Stripes balloon, I double-stuffed Caribbean Blue with either White or Pearl White on top. Using both whites and mixing them into the design gave a subtle change in texture, some of the balloons looked a little more shiny whilst others had a subtle softness.

I also added a few under-inflated 11" Chrome Gold and some Gold Confetti-filled balloons too! If you are wondering what the tiny gold balloons are, they are a mix of small gold baubles and the inflated tips of 260Q Gold Chrome balloons! Excepting the 11" Chrome Gold balloons and the 260Q bubbles, all the other balloons are 5" inflated to different sizes.








Air-Filled Garlands

Making the garlands takes a little time, but the effort is truly worth it! My garlands were made from 4" Metallic Gold Stars, 9" & 18" "Baby Boy Blue Stripe" balloons. These were all air-filled and heat sealed as required. Each balloon was connected together using a very fine monofilament line. The finishing touch was to decorate each balloon with a tiny hand-made satin ribbon bow - it's the finishing touches that makes the difference!




The Display

The window space is quite small, so to make the best of the space, I use a layering technique to ensure that each element stands out in its own right. The long garland with the 18" balloon at the base was positioned towards the front of the window. The crescent moon was centred and slightly angled, and the shorter garland was positioned towards the back of the window. This gave the display a visual balance as well as the opportunity to see each of the elements very clearly for every position. The gold glitter balloons added an elegant twist to the design and reflected the confetti that is printed on the balloons.

Tips and Tricks

Here are two very short video clips that will show you how to make the mini 260Q Bubbles and how to make 5" Confetti-Filled balloons using Hi-Float, both of these techniques I used for the crescent moon design. 







Getting both window and in-store displays right are critical for the success of a business. They are the opportunity to show your brand and to promote products or seasonal themes. 


Happy Ballooning!


Sue
www.suebowler.com
#suebowler







Friday, December 19, 2014

Be ready for the BIG job! The Design! Part 3/3

The Design!

So finally the design. Last year the theme for this Christmas event was not Christmas but all the glamour of Hollywood...“A Night at the Oscars”! No helium balloons (what a relief as this would just be added complication especially during set-up) so all the balloons are air-filled! 

I would like to talk about how I started my design process for last years centrepieces.

I always start with ‘Google’ and do an image search. This will give me lot’s of ideas to work with; however, Pinterest is also a really great source of inspiration too!





Thursday, July 19, 2012

How to design themed air-filled balloon centrepiece design - Christmas theme

I love designing centrepieces, I think that I have mentioned before that I prefer designing on a small scale rather than large scale... although, I think that it was Tope Abulude CBA who suggested treating all projects in 'bite sizes pieces' and just keep adding elements to create large scale decor, which I think is great advice!

It is time to for us to get creative and look at all the different ways we can create exciting designs & decor working with air-filled balloons rather than helium filled balloons for our forthcoming events. 

Before we can start to design our centrepiece designs we need to understand our clients needs and wants...

Sue Bowler
Design created by Sue Bowler CBA

THE CLIENT

Be professional and enthusiastic, it will give the client confidence in your ability to create a fantastic atmosphere at their event.

Find out as many details as possible regarding the event including: the venue, what the occasion is, previous decor and themes, anything that may help you in designing your centrepieces.
From the size of the event, the venue and the entertainment, you should be able to estimate approx. the size of budget that they should be prepared to  spend.
Take notes when you meet up with your clients, this will help you when you are putting together your quotation and shows your professionalism.



WORKING WITH A THEME

This is the perfect opportunity for 'thought showers'... let me show you what I mean!

We will use a very common theme CHRISTMAS, 'easy' I hear you say... or is it!

The first thing we need to do is break our theme down into different categories:

Traditional: Xmas trees * Snowmen * Father Christmas * Rudolph * Carol Singers * Holly * Wreaths * Candy Canes * Xmas Pudding * Xmas Stockings.
Traditional Religious: Angels, North Star, Candles
Modern: Boxes, Baubles, Lights, Crackers
Elegant: Stars, Snow, Snowflakes, presents, crackers, candles
I am sure that there are many more ideas and suggestions that you may have to add! 

Great, now we have worked out the different ways that Christmas can be interpreted from traditional through to elegant, we now need to consider the colours that we can associate with each of the categories 
 Traditional: Red, Green, Gold
 Traditional Religious: Gold, Blue, Green
 Modern: Purple, Gold, Silver, Red
 Elegant: Gold, Silver, White, Clear

The final part of this process is to put each element with the ideal colours:

REDFather Christmas/ Santa, Baubles, Christmas Stockings, Holly Berries, Candy Canes
Sue Bowler
This 'mood board' shows a range of 'Red' Qualatex balloons that depicts  'Traditional' Christmas.
GREEN: Christmas Trees, Holly, Wreathes...

Sue Bowler
This 'mood board' shows a range of 'Green' Qualatex balloons that depicts 'Traditional ' Christmas

GOLDStars, Boxes, Candles, Baubles

Sue Bowler
This 'mood board' shows a range of 'Gold' Qualatex balloons that depicts 'Elegant' Christmas.




I repeat this process until I have looked at all the elements and all the colours. I am really only looking for one or two ideas to interpret within my theme, working with the colours will really help with your selection.

Mood boards like the one's I have created above are a great way to show off your ideas to your clients, it truly shows your skills as a designer.

To see the full range of Qualatex Christmas & New Year 2012 balloons download the seasonal catalog now... click HERE to download the right version for your country.

US version



European version

THE DESIGN
Now I have all this information, I am able to present different ideas to my client that I know will excite and fulfil their needs!

Size Matters – The first thing to consider is the size of the table you’re working with. From large dining room tables, to folding banquet tables, to round tables, the size is going to dictate how much or how little space you have to work with, or fill up. Your centerpiece arrangement should be proportional to the size of the table. 

Don’t Be One-Sided – Remember your guests will be sitting all the way around the table so make sure your centrepiece is pretty from all angles. A design should only be front facing if you are positioning it on a front facing buffet table and in this instance this would be more of an arrangement than a centrepiece.
Height rules - remember the 14" centrepiece rule (can the guests see across the table)? You could create the most stunning design, however, if it obstructs the visual line and guests cannot see each other, you can bet that the centrepiece will be removed and sadly placed on the floor... I have seen it happen and often at balloon events!

Is it strong? - is your design strong, well constructed and easy to transport? Does is contain enough weight if you are attaching helium balloons to it?

Have you fulfilled your customers needs? - Have you created a design that excites your client?

Here are 2 air-filled centrepiece designs that could both be used for a Christmas theme party.... both very different!

Sue Bowler
Design 1.
Design 1. Traditional Christmas design
This design is made up of:

  • 17 x 5" Green balloons
  • 15 x 260Q Red balloons
  • 1 x Flower pot
  • small square of floral dry foam 
  • 5 x wood sticks (collected from my garden)
  • 2m Red satin ribbon
  • 30cm Red Wire (optional)
Sue Bowler

Just add up the cost of these materials... not very expensive I think you'll agree!

Sue Bowler
Design 2

Design 2. Modern Elegant
By contrast to Design 1, this design uses the 'new' Snowflakes Sparkles Blue... with a Holographic finish that adds a beautiful sparkle effect! This design would be suitable for an elegant Christmas event that wants something different from the more traditional Christmas decor.

This design was made up of:
9 x 5" Pearl Sapphire Blue balloons
9 x 5" Pearl Azure balloons
18 x 5" White balloons (I have used these to double stuff the Sapphire & Azure 5")
1 x 160Q Pearl Azure
1 x 160Q Pearl White
1 x 350Q White (to cover the black pole)
1 x Snowflakes Sparkles Blue #40089

Base and pole - I have used an IKEA 'Not' base and 2 sections of the pole, you could use Lomey or other alternatives, a long as they are heavy enough to be stable on a table.

Although I have used the theme Christmas for this blog, this same technique can be applied for any theme, and the two designs I have shown here can also be adapted to suit any theme, just by simply changing the balloon colours and the accessories.

Qualatex Christmas Business  Booster

Have you checked out the latest Qualatex Business Booster filled with some truly inspiring ideas for Christmas!
Is it too early to be thinking about Christmas... certainly not! Take this opportunity to be prepared and show your customer your range of exciting design ideas for Christmas... even without helium you can make fantastic decor with great impact!

Happy Ballooning!

Sue
www.suebowler.com