"All of these things look just like the others...." 

I took these pictures while driving around the Seattle area on this past Saturday.  Almost all communities have the A board sign in front and most even step that up a bit by attaching the customary balloons to help attract attention and traffic to the property (if it's permitted by the city ordinances.  Bellevue says this is a no-no on street side signs).  The only problem is that after a while, every "A" board with balloons looked the same as the one down the street and the one from four streets over.  This got me thinking about how effective balloons are in their current use and how can we improve on this idea and traffic generator even more?



Let's start with a quick lesson on color theory to learn what colors work with what!

Basics- Primary and Secondary Colors
Your primary colors are Red, Yellow and Blue.  These are the colors that all other colors are made from.  Red and Blue mix to make Violet, Blue and Yellow mix to meet Green and Red and Yellow make Orange.  Violet, Green and Orange are Secondary colors.  (There are what are called Tertiary colors but that's not really applicable for what we're doing.)

Below is a color wheel.  If you draw lines across the color wheel you will find what colors are the "compliments" to each other.  Violet goes with Yellow, Blue with Orange, Red with Green and so on.  The complimentary color will be the color that encourages the eye to give the most attention.
                                                                                      

Next let's draw a line across the wheel between the yellow green/yellow and the red violet/violet you will have split the color wheel in to what are called cool and warm colors.  Your warm colors are invigorating and even physically energizing - reds, oranges and yellows- while your cool colors - blues, greens and violets - tend to have a calming influence.

Accent colors and Neutral Colors- Your accents can be Silver, Gold  or Copper (mostly metallic tones) and neutrals are White, Black and Bieges.  As any snappy dresser can tell you, they're "neutrals" because, "They go with EVERYTHING!"  Accent colors can work with either warm or cool colors, but for best results, I suggest Gold or Copper colors only with warmer tones.  Silver is more versatile to the eye, and works really well with both warm and cool colors.

For best results, mixing Blue and Orange (your complimentary colors) will attract high levels of attention from the human eye.  This is the same reason that Red and Green clash yet pop and stand out so well in the holiday season.  We are drawn to it visually even though it doesn't Necessarily "match." 

Now that we understand a little theory, let's put it in to practice:



Clashing Colors that you would never want to wear together, like Red and Pink, can look great and compliment each other because pink is a tint of red.  Adding some White balloons to this bunch would make it pop even more because it would complete the color spectrum.



Blue and red work very well together.  The way that these colors could have looked better  would be if there was a darker blue or a lighter blue used.  The mid-intensity blue is  so close to the red's intensity that neither color really "pops" as well as it could.



These colors do NOT seem to do the trick together.  Green would work with the yellow, or Violet would work with the Yellow, but the three of them together do not blend well.  And with the Use of a Yellow balloon, it takes away the need for the gold accent balloon.  The bunch would have been stronger by omitting the Yellow balloon all together.



The color to avoid if you don't know how to make it look really really good - Black.  Black Balloons tell me that either you're hosing a wake or  Lordy Lordy your Property's 40!  Below is a picture of an "A" board for a property that did a great job using black balloons with other excellent colors!  Do not try this unless you're sure it will look great!  This bunch works because it has the rich dark maroon with the high contrast of the gold to offset in the eye.


What can we use from these?



I love the idea of using different shaped balloons.  When I drove by, these immediately caught my eye because they weren't what I was expecting to see.  I don't know if I would have picked these exact balloons, but I know that there are some great options out there for other shapes.

Even though they were attached to the top of a PetSmart for a grand opening, these balloons are a pretty good attention grabber.  I wanted to know what they were attached to!

In front of one of my favorite pizza joints, this archway of balloons was not only well constructed but definely caught my attention!

This is in front of a community here on the eastside of Seattle.  I love the daisy chain idea, rather than the bunching idea!  It danced prettier and was far more attention getting for me.  It's the same reason I took the picture at the Goodyear tires next to it. 


So there are some balloon basics that I hope will lead to a better spring and summer leasing season for you. What balloon tricks have worked with your community in the past?  What tends to deflate sales?  I'd love to hear your tips and tricks!

Remember, if you don't stand out, you don't define in the future resident's mind!