Floral Design

Floral design involves almost all the senses, certainly the sense of sight and the sense of smell, and while some of these are skills you inherently have or don’t have in many cases, they can also be acquired with the right training and course work.  Depending on the type of arrangement, it can also include the sense of touch; of course if there are bees or other insects flying around the arrangement, the sense of sound could be involved.

There are guidelines for floral design which are important to remember.  Most of these guidelines are learned in a specialty college course, community center course, or other educational facility, or with ‘on-the-job’ training, but for purposes here we are going to discuss some of the main factors to consider when creating an arrangement.

The design process; which strives to create a complete artistic unit; develops a unique style; selecting parts that fulfill the theme; color; shape; placement; the principles of harmony, selecting  the proper flowers, accessories and containers; unifying the design through proximity, repetition and transition.  The principles of color theory must be followed; focusing on the properties of color: hue, value and intensity; it is recommend to use of a color wheel; which will break down the primary, secondary and tertiary colors, creating color schemes with flowers and attempting to utilize the psychological effects of color by contrasting and using complementary color schemes.  Physical balance and visual balance must also be taken into consideration and the four types basic types of balance: symmetrical, asymmetrical, radial and open.  Beyond physical balance, also critical are proportion; scale; achieving proper vase-to-flower and flower-to-flower ratios.

Another very important aspect of floral design is the importance of achieving visual emphasis and focal points; using color, shape, pattern, size, spacing, texture, framing and accessories; rhythm in floral design; repetition and radiating lines; using transition to create visual pathways that will lead the eye through a set of patterns that result pleasing to look at.  To be able to position flowers and create arrangements that make sense and are appealing, a basic understanding of botanically complete flower and leaf structures; names and expected life spans of flowers and plants; ways to extend the freshness are all important to satisfy the customer. No one wants an arrangement that dies after a day or two if possible.

Some of the more sophisticated techniques to prepare a professional floral design is to have a solid understanding of how to construct triangular, circular, crescent, vertical and horizontal arrangements in addition to  cone-shaped, one-sided circular, topiary ball and Hogarth curve designs and how to add mass with foliage and filler flowers; popular shapes for floral arrangements

Also important in designing arrangement is the biology of flowers and how to maintain optimum freshness, both in the store and once in the customer’s home are the concepts of maintaining flowers after harvest, the chain from grower to consumer and once in the store how to condition stems; removing thorns and excess foliage, soaking tropical flowers, the use of preservatives, conditioning and dry-packing, refrigerating fresh flowers and caring for and harvesting home garden flowers.

When it comes to floral design it’s important to remember that forty to sixty percent of a florist’s revenue comes from weddings. It is therefore crucial to learn the business side of what are called nuptial flowers: the sales techniques and marketing, building a referral business, the different kinds of weddings; and types of flowers needed.