Half-time shows at rugby games have become an excellent way for companies to grab the attention of spectators for a few minutes and promote their brand or their involvement in a special event. This is what Cancer Council Queensland wanted to do when they were invited to be part of the half-time show for a rugby match at the Suncorp Stadium, a local sporting arena in Queensland, Australia. What better way to promote a fundraising event for Daffodil Day than to bring a giant inflatable sunflower out onto the field to enthuse the crowds and encourage them to pledge money to the Cancer Council cause.
Getting to the Heart of the Matter
As always, before our team at Inflatable Anything starts any work on the design and manufacture process, we spend a good deal of time in consultation with a client to ensure we completely understand their requirements. We believe that custom inflatables have unlimited possibilities. We also believe that every custom inflatable we make should be 100% unique and suit the individual purposes of a client.
These preliminary discussions between a client and the Inflatable Anything team are how we get to the heart of a concept ensuring that the final inflatable will bring together quality in design, material, manufacture, and visual impact.
Moving Mountains
Making over-sized replicas of familiar objects has become one of our specialities. The client in this case added a twist by asking us to build a custom cart for the inflatable sunflower that was powered by batteries and could be wheeled out at half-time. Since most of the inflatables we have created in the past have been static, this was a first-time request for us but one that we felt confident to pull off successfully.
In the end, apart from delivering a 4m high inflatable sunflower to our client, we also delivered a custom cart with integrated car batteries, power inverter and everything else required to turn their bespoke inflatable into a mobile display. This also satisfied the client’s need to reuse the inflatable sunflower as a photo opportunity for people at future fundraising events. It pleases us immensely to offer our client ways to maximize the use of their inflatable without breaking their budget.
Adaptable Artwork
The Cancer Council supplied several concept photos which we used to do the artwork and 3-D modelling. These included an image of a previously created inflatable daffodil on a stem. The client did not want their inflatable flower to stand upright in this way, so the artwork depicted only the flower with its base flat on the ground. We always use detailed artwork together with a 3-D model in cases where creating an inflatable is not based on a standard shape, giving us the option to refine the design.
Problem Solving Under Pressure
Years of experience in an industry gives any company the advantage in terms of delivering reliable and high-quality products. But risk is never completely mitigated – especially when you are involved in creating bespoke and custom inflatables. In this case, the size of the finished inflatable sunflower meant that the individual petals, which measured nearly 4m each, were not able to stand upright on their own accord which had been the client’s original intention. This was only realised once the product had been manufactured and set up for the first time since it is impossible to predict with 100% accuracy what a custom inflatable will do under pressure. This was certainly not a problem that our team had ever encountered before.
However, tackling problems quickly and creatively, and coming up with practical solutions for our clients, is something that we are often called upon to do. Once again, the Inflatable Anything team rose to the challenge and designed a reasonable solution by attaching ropes between the main part of the flower and each petal.
We suggested to the client that they use transparent fishing-line to make the ropes less apparent, but they were satisfied with using plain white rope. So, despite a few unforeseen challenges, the inflatable sunflower finally found its place at the Suncorp Stadium.
Causing a Stir
Supersized inflatable replicas are bound to draw the attention of a crowd and will give any company the opportunity to promote their brand at a special event. We have gained plenty of experience with finding innovative ways to keep large inflatables safe and stable – even under pressure. When you are next looking to promote or raise funds for your good cause, get in touch with us. We guarantee an inflatable replica that will cause a stir.
