Anything Balloons

Here at Bopgun, we’re always looking to add our own flavour to all the work that we do and the same goes with our ‘thinking out loud’ blog. To continue the mid Summer vibe, buzzing with the Olympics and lush sunny weather, we’ve chosen a creative approach to this week’s best of web, choosing the topic that truly connotes the British Summertime here in Gloucestershire, which has got to be the Hot Air Balloon show known as the Bath Balloon Fiesta Festival. So in honour of this, we thought we’d share a selection of balloon related creations that we love with you.

BALLOONS IN ART

‘Balloon Animals’ by Jeff Koons

Of course you can’t do a blog post about balloons without mentioning the famous artist Jeff Koons. Known as the contemporary ‘master of over the top,’ even if you don’t know the artists full work, you’ll be familiar with his famous ‘Balloon Animals,’ brightly coloured reflective sculptures that resemble balloons, his most famous being the balloon dog. The creations are made from stainless steel with a transparent colour coating that gives them their vibrant luminosity.

His shocking pink balloon dog was showcased in an exhibition inside the Château de Versailles in 2008, a very traditional palace homing a vast collection of master artworks, causing huge controversy as it was paired next to such well respected artworks.

He also created the limited edition Rosé vintage Dom Perignon 2003 “Balloon Venus” (fertility totem) at $20,000 per bottle. The artist details that the sculpture “represents the link between past, present, and future vintages of Dom Pérignon, as well as the continuity of the human experience symbolised by Venus.”

My favourite part to Koons work has got to be his honesty in his interviews, which coincidently imitates his airy fairy themed balloon animals work, simple and honest.

“A lot of them are shiny, you know, so when I look at them I can see me, and then I’m really interested in it..”

“Art happens inside the viewer… and the art is your sense of your own potential as a person. These reflective balloon sculptures just trigger that information in you.”

“I’ve always enjoyed balloon animals because they’re like us. We’re balloons. You take a breath and you inhale, it’s an optimism. You exhale, and it’s kind of a symbol of death.”

Other works that continue his balloon style include his red ‘Balloon monkey,’ yellow ‘Balloon Rabbit,’ blue ‘Balloon Swan’, ‘Tulips’ and ‘Cracked egg.’ The cracked egg is particularly interesting as you get to see the original stainless steel colouring offset by his vibrant colours.

Thoughts
Probably the most evocative aspect of Koons work, is the perfection he makes us aspire to. The uniformity and quality he gets from each piece. His work creates illusion like a house of mirrors effect and was one of the artists that challenges how art is taken in by audiences, where concept is the new art movement, (very much how design derives, around the concept to start with, get that right and the rest will follow) letting the audience dictate their visit and interpret it compared to putting the thought in their minds.

What do we take away
Koons’ ideals of listening to his audience enough to allow them to dictate the purpose of his works inspires the way we design, always thinking about how the user thinks and flipping it on its head. Also remembering to be dare to be different like Koons was in the Chateau de Versailles museum, standing out from the crowd and be a trend setter opposed to a follower.

The Blue Balloon by Mick Inkpen
(Author and Illustrator)

One of my favourite books from my childhood, ‘The Blue Balloon,’ a story about a magical balloon and a little boy’s adventures. Inkpen not only wrote the story but also illustrated it with numerous covers, adopting a simple and timeless style that shows the little boy’s facial expressions in a simplistic and endearing way, using simple marks to create so much expression.

If you don’t know of Inkpen’s work from this book, then you’ll probably be more familiar with his other work ‘Biff and Chip?’ Inkpen was the creator of ‘Kipper the dog’ from the Biff and Chip books, which actually originated from ‘The Blue Balloon.’  He used Kipper as a tester in these books to see how the audience reacted to him. Kipper sparked the idea to create a whole series of books using just one character.

His works are responsive to children on so many levels, from their innocence in design as well as simple voice in his writing. We love his colour palettes and soft applications which again continues this innocence.

Thoughts
Inkpen mentions regularly that when he was younger he was always painting and using whatever he could get his hands on, poster paints etc. The true connotation of any creative, no matter what the medium, your creations will surface, to share it with others and get it out of your system on to a page which is what makes his work so beautiful. The fact that his stories originated from an idea and then progressed into a series of books like ‘Kipper the dog.’

What do we take away
No matter what version of software we have or the cost of the media you use, your craft will surface and in the end, as we see with Koon’s work, the concept is what prevails, it’s what you create with these mediums to what represents you as a creative, not the cost of the medium itself. Something we do a lot of here at Bopgun, you need to be a master of many hats. Like Inkpen, who wrote and illustrated his stories, a greater sense of pride and fluency will surface if we can either do most of the process ourselves or understand and so art direct others to carry out our vision.

Banksy – The girl with the little red balloon

We’ll all be familiar with at least one piece of Banksy’s work, but one of our favourites has got to be the girl with the little red balloon called “There is always hope.” As with all of Banksy’s work, the reasoning to the purpose of the artwork is left to the audience which leaves us with an evocative array of reasons for the piece. 

• On the surface it’s the painting of a charming girl and her balloon, symbol of childhood.
• Looking at the only colour on the artwork, the balloon and its shape, a heart, we could possibly connote that it symbolises feelings, dreams and aspirations. As if she is letting go or sending her feelings somewhere.
• Maybe it’s just a childhood reminder to us all, to never forget our childhood, as balloons are playful, they are things we never get tired of as we grow older.
• Maybe it symbolises something lost, or something found.

Whatever the reason, it is a symbol of hope, like a balloon is as it drifts off into the wind, we watch it and almost feel peaceful, maybe this is what Banksy wanted us to connote from the little girls scene.

What do you think?

What do we take away
Banksy is Banksy, take what you can from art as it’s an interpretation of your personality.

BALLOONS IN ADVERTISING

‘Volkswagen Up’ adverts (loose link to balloons)

A small family city cars range from the mighty Volkswagen showcasing clever typography using honesty and almost tongue in cheek jibes at its audience which has been taken both ways as you’d understand. This was a mixed reaction in the team, some sat on the funny, lighthearted side of the fence and the others, not really getting what its purpose is and why the obvious terminology is used. Personally I’m a sucker for some strong typography and expressions in advertising, a massive fan of the Economist posters, this is right up my street. I do get the uneasy nature of the ads and how some could take them the wrong way and I do think that if VW don’t continue this route and change their ad campaign, not riding the storm, the message’s validation could be lost, showing no confidence in your own campaigns and giving in to public demand. I just like the ‘don’t sugar coat it’ nature of the ads with their really simple colour palette and typography. Good campaign VW.

Durex Concept – Get it on

We all love a bit of conceptual work and this one doesn’t disappoint. A very clever way of getting across the importance of a condom as well as poking fun (no pun intended) at their own brand. As well as looking cool and being eye catching, reminiscent almost of Jeff Koons work, Balloon animals.

Hellmann’s Light Mayonnaise advert

A clever use of balloons to get across a characteristic of a product, which did have mixed reactions in the Bopgun team from the connotations of the mayo’s smoothness through the balloon’s texture. It is a bit of fun however and clever how they even add the elements down to the green curling ribbon for the tops of the carrots.

BALLOON TRIVIA

Lastly, we all love to add to our pub quiz knowledge repetoires and this week’s best of web is no different. We’ve collated a few bits of balloon trivia to get the fiesta mood going.

How many balloons did Pixar’s UP film use to make Carl’s house airborne?
In the film it took 10,297 balloons to lift Carl’s house. However, Pixar did the maths realistically and it would’ve taken, 26.5 million to actually lift his house.

Who invented rubber balloons?
The first rubber balloons were made by Professor Michael Faraday in 1824 for use in his experiments with hydrogen.

Name 3 things any type of balloon can be used for?
In medicine, rockets, hot air balloons of course, military, parties, in sculpture, weather.

What height can a hot air balloon get to?
World record is currently over 21,000 metres! (68,900 feet). It’s tough to breathe up there so oxygen is needed from around 5,000 metres (16,400 feet).

What was the world’s first piece of flight technology?
A hot air balloon of course!

HAPPY BALLOON FIESTA EVERYONE!

Checkout the Bopgun team’s creations from the balloon task.