Hi Balloonatics!!!!

I am brand new to the world of balloons i'm currently doing a short course and need some advice on currents trends at the moment, what's the in thing??? any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks  

That is a hard question and I think there are no quick answers.  A lot depends on if you are into décor or twisting.  With a shortage of helium I would think that the "in thing" would be air filled balloons in the field of décor.  The way I see if for twisting seems to be the bigger the better.  Hope that helps a little but I sure hope that other members of the forum can give you some ideas as well.

I think fun and having fun with balloons is in, not sure if it ever went out of fashion. So keep smiling and having fun would be a number one priority.

For me wearables and playable. Things that the kids can engage with.

Thanks everyone, keep them coming

I find with boys, and this is just a generalisation, the important thing isn't artistic value, its play value.  You can make something fancy and they say "but I wanted a sword and shield" or "lazor gun" or "plane".

Generally with girls its a little more artistic.   Princesses, ponies butterflies. and .... well its endless what they ask for.  I would say the most popular is princesses.  Once I do one I am besieged with requests for more.  

I do think that we as adults sometimes tend to do some models we empathise with that the children don't . Take Disney characters for example.  The children still love Mickey and Minnie of course but a lot of the other characters they don't remember.  If you did Road Runner the mums would love it but it would the children?

Its much the same with face painting too.  You get fads.  Loads of requests for a while for a particular "in" character and then they are gone.  But there are some that the kids never tire of.  

So its actually a great question.  As a balloon twister for more years I like to admit, I just go with the flow.  If I get asked for something I don't know I get someone to google the image for me or if I am pushed for time I check it out when I get home. Then design one so I can do it next time.   I don't spend hours watching kids tv as mine are grown up and have flown the nest.   I ask the children what they would like and also make suggestions so its easy to be doing the popular thing as the children tell you.  If you work by just making what you want to make and don't ask the children then I suppose its not so easy to keep abreast of what is in fashion.

I tend to control the trends when I work, for example last week I spent a few days ballooning at a Portsmouth tourist attraction, at the start of the day a made a few balloons and dotted them around the room, then from that moment on the kids generally asked for those things. It was a pirate themed event so parrots were popular for both boys and girls.

So agree, kids want the wearables and playables something to engage the imagination.

xx