Issue 2 - Design Philosophy and the Art of Floristry
Myriad of assorted flowers
The finesse of design comes in offering customers a seamless experience, and design philosophy often plays a huge part in creating such an end product. Perhaps of greater import in fields such as architecture, interior design, or product design, design philosophies can guide the overall reaction users can have towards an end-product.
There are a myriad of ways one’s design philosophy can be shaped and how it will come to affect the overall image of a business.
Of course, even within floristry, good design and design philosophy plays its part in arrangements that we produce.
Much like creating a product or a building, floral design pays attention to elements of texture, colour, form, space, line, and much more.
They are designed, analysed and evaluated using a set of theories, or a set of guidelines . This ensures that the created item is fit for purpose, it does what it’s suppose to do - giving value and of commercial quality.
Floral design attends to questions of having to play with contrasts in tones, a mixture of textures, as well as the way in which different floral and foliages create lines. Variations in all these contribute towards changing the aesthetic style exuded by an arrangement.
To aim towards various thematic concepts when considering an arrangement, whether it be minimalistic, romantic, or others, taking into account these elements provides the starting points from which an interesting design can be constructed.
Unlike bouquets, arrangements like table pieces also have to take into consideration the design of the surroundings within which they will be displayed. In such situations, the understanding of design goes beyond having to consider the flowers itself but the environment within which the arrangement itself interacts with.
Personally for us, we pay attention to elements of texture, form, and colours especially. It is with these elements that we begin to start designing arrangements to suit various moods and themes.
Texture
Flowers that gives depth and visual interest; when you have too many flowery petal in an arrangement that could potentially make it visually flat, that's when you introduce a texture flowers to break the clumps of petal.
Colours
A visual and emotional response to the eye, they are one of the strongest elements in floristry. Colour is very subjective, and by combining colours and creating visual harmony with them can be one of the most pleasurable parts of floristry.
Colour wheel has always been the recommended tool for designers but in recent years, there’s a strong trend of using less contrived colours, allowing designers the freedom to create and project the colour palette they want viewers to see and feel.
Form
Flower forms comprises of 2 and 3 dimensional contour - height, width and depth. Placement of flowers are important as that’s what determines the overall arrangement. The range of differing forms work together to complement and create a harmonious design.
A design concept that we would always refer back to in our readings would be eclectic design. We resonate with this design principle and apply them in our floral work.
Eclectic design (mainly a concept used in interior decor) is simply “a style that encompasses a variety of periods and styles brought together through the use of colour texture, shape and finish” which basically means a mix and match kind of style.
It appeals to us because it provides a dynamic canvas for our evolving taste and whims.
Balance composition and flow are important principles of design - they create a sense of structure and are even more so critical to follow when there is so much visual stimulation in one area.
Eclectic moments
In our floral work, we often mix colourful flowers and choose neutral tones to balance up. More often, we always choose one shade as the dominant while the others serves as accents.
But as with all of our projects, there is always a single conceptual thread tying those eclectic moments together.
Some of the design elements in our work are intentional, while we try to keep the flow fluid, sometimes we do appreciate interruptions.
All in all, we always aim our end products to be aesthetically pleasing.