Eternal Helium Balloons By Clémentine Henrion Immortalize Childhood.

As a child, ever wanted your helium balloon to last forever? Never to be accidentally whisked away by the wind or to deflate sadly over time?

Well, 30 year old Paris-based stylist, illustrator and set designer Clémentine Henrion did and that's why she designed the Eternal Helium Balloon, a sculpture that looks just like a helium balloon, but will last forever.



As Clémentine describes them:

"Helium Eternal balloons are proposed as interior design furniture, but also as set design collections for photo shootings, stores windows, showrooms, etc. 
This “illusion” of an helium balloon is entirely made of precious or fancy fabric.

The balloon is stuffed with kapok, like a soft pillow. 
A tiny flap fixed at the top of the balloon helps hanging it to your interior’s ceiling, hook it to a curtain rod, the top of a wall etc.


The key thing is to hang it up as high as possible, in order to recreate the magic illusion of a real flying helium balloon!
The most beautiful effect is obtained in setting a bunch of several balloons together, forming a “balloons bouquet”.


All these pieces are delicately handmade in my own workshop in Paris, in limited edition. Special custom shapes can also be created on request."

Shark:

Icebergs:

Candy:

Cloud:

Rainbow:

Hearts:



If you want a special request, you can contact her here

Otherwise, you can find these charming Eternal Helium Balloons at the following places:
•Her Etsy store
•CITE nyc (New York)
•Lilooka (France)
•Madame LaMarchande (France)
•Mercredi (Belgium)
•Third Drawer Down (Australia)
•KolKid (Canada)

Shanghai Tang Holiday Catalog's Balloon Art Will Leave You Breathless

... and that's without your having to blow up the thousands of balloons used in the catalog.




Every year retail companies scramble together around mid-june to start concepting and designing catalogs for the holiday season. It's hard to keep them fresh, original and memorable. But Shanghai Tang, the chinese lifetyle brand, has done it yet again.

Teaming up with Chandelier Creative, the cutting edge design firm (who has produced other fabulous holiday catalogs for them in the past) they've produce a 2009 holiday catalogue inspired by the whimsical world of balloon art. It's amazing what they've done in terms of styling stunning backgrounds and unusual product shots, photographed by talented product photographer Kanji Ishii, with simple colored balloons.

These are not all the images from the actual catalog, nor are they in order, but these are my favorites and I think you'll find them inspiring:
















In addition to a beautiful catalog, Shanghai Tang's gifts are equally as fabulous, shop for them here.

To see other impressive balloon art and design, check these out:

A Photographer Who Is Full Of Hot Air: Paul Graves' Balloon Sculpture Series
Paul Graves' Newest Work - Balloon Expletives & More

A Photographer Who Is Full Of Hot Air: Paul Graves' Balloon Sculpture Series

above: Paul Graves, phenomenon 3, from The balloon sculpture series, 2008


This month Italian magazine Domus' cover features photographer Paul Graves' photo of a balloon constructed person and his innards. Below are more shots from his 2008 Balloon Sculpture Series.




The image as it appears on Domus' January cover:


A photographer who has worked with balloons before, Paul has created a balloon Garden of Eden for a previous editorial:



See the fabulous details:







Prior to that, he created this fun series of celebrities as balloons, using simply their trademark hair (or lack thereof) to immediately give the balloon the recognizable persona.

Don King:

Andy Warhol:

Pippi Longstocking:

Kojak (Telly Savalas):

Liza Minelli:

David Bowie:


Paul shoots many styles a has a large range to see his complete portfolio click here.

In light of balloon 'fun', and the off chance that you are one of the 3 people left in the world who has not seen the fabulous durex condom ad with balloon animals, here it is for you:





Catch a newer post on the Balloon sculptures of photographer Paul Graves, that include his balloon expletives here.