Imagine you’ve already been swimming, paddling, and biking. Although as a dedicated athlete, you’re exhausted. Now, the final leg is a trail run. Just when you feel like your heart might actually fly out of your chest to get away from this gruelling situation you willingly put yourself into, you see it: a colourful, inflatable sports arch! You made it, finally!
This is the kind of relief the event organisers of the annual fundraising Grin and Bear It Multi Sport Race wanted to provide to their entrants, as well as a point of pride to show off their accomplishment via pictures and social media. We at Inflatable Anything were thrilled to help support these amateur athletes as well as Bear Foreman’s foundation dedicated to supporting young Aussies’ dreams!
Mapping the Course
The organisers of this quadrathlon type event didn’t want just any old inflatable sports arch. What they had in mind to best support this event and this fundraising effort had to be bright, bold, and interesting. Since most of the events took place in northern Queensland, they also wanted to do their part to give back to the communities that gave them this opportunity as well as show appreciation for other sponsors by attaching and detaching Velcro banners.
This definitely wasn’t our first foray into making an inflatable arch for this kind of event; in fact, it’s one of our most popular units. However, this particular race was a bit more mainstream and hard-core than our partners in the past tended to be. While we do put our very best efforts into every single product we make regardless of how big or small its reach, special attention was required for this inflatable sports arch.
Conjuring Up a Bit More Motivation
To help it really draw attention and hold focus for these amateur athletes, the client simply asked for a standard red inflatable sports arch, which didn’t require much else besides ordering red panels. Easy Peasy! Where the detail really came into play, though, was designing sponsorship and promotional banners fit for our fellow businesses.
The Grin and Bear It Multi Sport Race has taken place in Queensland every year since 2015 in honour of a former athlete who spent a good chunk of his life supporting the next generation of sports enthusiasts. Dedicated to preserving his sense of fellowship, the organisers made it a point to try to tailor sponsorships to the locales of their events, so the banners they attach to the inflatable sports arch change frequently.
To achieve the best quality of print, Inflatable Anything utilises CMYK inks on a digital printer. Primarily, these inks use a method of mixing cyan, magenta, yellow, and black to achieve a broad range of shades and colours. As a result, the finished print is generally much more vibrant than it would be. We find this detail quite important when it comes to promoting institutions, which is why we only offer the best solutions.
The Last Few Training Days
The 2.5 metre high and 3 metre wide inflatable sports arch was meant to have a more geometric shape than our standard 4 corner arches. The organizers opted for the more attractive angled arch, which in itself has a few other benefits, such as better stability. To best achieve both a grand as well as a defined unit, we knew the best option of material just about instantaneously.
Polyester’s winning quality overall is how well the polymer retains its appearance. Because the fibres in the material are very close to each other, there aren’t many things that can actually penetrate it. Therefore, polyester is UV resistant, resistant to most chemicals and corrosion, abrasion resistant, water resistant, and it is resistant to many biological factors such as mildew. On top of all of that, the polymer is well-known for maintaining unique and intricate shapes, so it really was the superior choice for this angular structure.
As far as its functionality as an inflatable, polyester doesn’t quite have the mechanical strength of PVC that allows the latter to hold air in place well enough to keep a unit blown up for hours on end. However, sewn polyester panels are able to regulate compressed air so well that there’s hardly much of a difference between the 2 besides the constant blower, which is absolutely needed anyway to keep an inflatable sports arch of this size afloat.
Competition Day
The project itself was fairly straightforward, so coupled with Inflatable Anything’s experience, this inflatable sports arch flew right past approval, production, quality control, and shipping preparations.
With another successful job in the bag, we look forward to serving you and your communities to the best of our abilities. Contact us for a quote today!
