The Principles & Elements of Design w/ Sharon McGukin

Learn the Principles & Elements of Design  with Sharon McGukin AIFD, AAF, PFCI

Pablo Picasso said it best, “Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” 

While it may seem simple enough to drop flowers in a vase and call it an arrangement, even more pleasure can be derived once you’ve learned the  fundamentals of design. 

These guidelines, the  Principles and Elements of Design, are the technically correct manner of placing materials in a design. Learning the proper principles, elements, mechanics and techniques to achieve floral design mastery will help you expand your skills and truly enjoy the artform. This podcast is a great place to start learning the basics.

How we Bloom podcast is an oasis of flower ideas. Hosts Sharon McGukin and Smithers-Oasis North America interview floral guests who dare to do things differently. We listen, learn, explore new opportunities and that's how we bloom!

Transcript

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We've all heard the old adage, you must learn the rules to break the rules. But I think Pablo Picasso had the best idea. He said, learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist. Welcome to How We Bloom, an oasis of flower ideas. I'm your host, Sharon McGukin, AIFD, AAF, PFCI, and I believe that every great success story starts with one simple idea. That's why we interview those who dare to do things differently, inspiring people who plant seeds, grow ideas, and bloom. to their full potential. In this podcast, we listen, learn, explore new opportunities, and that's How we Bloom. I appreciate subscribers who make podcast requests for specific topics or guests. Recently, an avid listener asked if I could share a podcast explaining the Principles and Elements of Design. I've taught this class across the country many times, so I am happy to honor her while it may seem simple enough to drop flowers in a vase and call it an arrangement, even more pleasure can be derived once you've learned the fundamentals of design. To acquire a professional level of skill, you can start with the basics. The principles and elements of design are the technically correct manner of placing materials in an arrangement. Learning the proper principles, elements, mechanics, and techniques to achieve floral design mastery will help you to expand your skills and truly enjoy the art form. We've all heard the old adage, you must learn the rules to break the rules, but I think Pablo Picasso had the best idea. He said, learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist. The stability and beauty of a flower design begins with its foundation and radiates up and out. That foundation is established by adhering to the principles and elements of design. Focused learning leads to producing quality work. Artistry inspires expression. And professionally made designs inspire repeat sales. It may seem okay to create something that looks beautiful, but isn't well made, as long as it holds up for the duration of a video or presentation. But what are the long term effects for those learning these shortcuts? For a floral retailer, arrangements must be structurally sound enough to survive delivery and being moved about in the home. Poorly made designs have the potential to discourage consumers from making future flower purchases. Flowers are often given to wedding guests to take home. If the flowers haven't been arranged in a water source, their life span is cut. short by dehydration. The disappointed recipient doesn't say"your flowers don't last very long." They say"flowers don't last very long." Frequent'flower failures' like these are damaging to future sales industry wide. When one learns to design by shortcuts, they short circuit their potential. Learning to design professionally is rewarding, but it does require an investment of time and talent. Malcolm Gladwell suggests that the key to achieving true expertise is a matter of practicing a skill correctly for at least 10, 000 hours. Even Gladwell admits that specific number is actually just a metaphor for the fact that you must invest a lot of time in learning to master your craft. There are many ways to accomplish a professional design. One must first learn the rules in order to choose how best to apply them when designing. I was taught the principles and elements of design in my early years in a flower shop. Today, some designers reverse the words and refer to the guidelines as Elements and Principles of Design, possibly because elements are the characteristics we physically see. I and many other floral designers subscribe to the traditionally taught concept that the strength and stability of an arrangement is most important. That solidity begins with the principles such as balance, The artistic elements of personal taste, such as color, form, and texture, come next. Neither set of natural rules are limited to floral design. They can be found universally in all forms of design. I like to compare the principles to the alphabet. The letters of the alphabet represent the many options available for you to choose from when forming words. The elements represent the letters you choose, to write your own name, for example. There are 26 alphabet letters, but I choose to use only 6 to spell my name. Similarly, these two guidelines, principles and elements, influence each other in the construction of a single design. In essence, we say, there are a lot of design options, I choose these. Let's explore how that works. We'll start with the building blocks, the principles of design. The principles of design are fundamental guidelines to aesthetic design that govern the reorganization of elements, and materials in accordance with the laws of nature. Let's first consider the primary principles. Harmony, proportion, balance, dominance and emphasis, rhythm, contrast, unity. Harmony, the selection of materials that form a unified composition where all parts are consistently related. Proportion, the size relationship of one part of a floral design to another, or of one portion of the whole. The size and relationship of the flowers to each other. The size of the flowers in comparison to the container that holds them. A traditional rule of proportion for tall arrangements is that the flowers are one and a half times the height of the container. A ratio of 1. 5:1 in a low arrangement such as a mound or a cube design. For a vase arrangement, the suggested vase measurement is one third to one half the height of the design. Inverse proportion is achieved when the container is the one and a half times measure and the flowers are the lesser measurement on top. Sometimes botanical materials are draped over the side of the container to increase the visual size of the flower arrangement. Balance, a state of equilibrium. Actual or Visual. A feeling of three dimensional stability. Actual balance means your design is stable and well balanced. Visual balance means that it looks balanced, although it isn't from a physical perspective. Sometimes an arrangement can look stable, but an off kilter placement of materials makes the design physically or visually unbalanced. Continuing with options for achieving balance, let's look at asymmetrical. A scalene triangle that features three unequal sides and angles. An unequal volume of material on either side of the vertical axis. Or symmetrical. Design materials placed equally on either side of the central axis for visual and physical weight distribution. The elements are placed in the same position on each side of this mirror image. This is sometimes called bilateral symmetry or referred to as formal balance. Dominance and emphasis is the placement of sharply contrasting materials of size, color, or texture, guiding the eye to a specific floral area in the design. Rhythm. Visual movement through a composition is usually achieved through repetition, gradation, or pattern. Contrast. Placing two visually different opposing elements in a design to emphasize or accentuate their differences and allow a feature of the design to stand out. Unity. Oneness of purpose, thought, style, and spirit. A cohesive relationship of all parts. A sense of connectedness. The feeling of a single unit. Now let's look at the secondary principles. Scale, focal area and focal point. Repetition, accent, depth, transition, variation, opposition, tension, simplicity. Scale, the relative ratio of size or the relationship of the size of a composition to its surrounding area or environment. For example, a small arrangement might be in proportion in its container and look great on your work table, but when it's installed in a large cathedral, its small size is dwarfed by the expansive environment. It looks out of scale and inexpensive. A large wedding party in an elaborate setting would look out of scale if the bridesmaids carried a single flower. It's important to help your clients understand that the wedding budget must be consistent in all areas to achieve harmony. If the setting is grand, the wedding party and the guests numerous, the food and alcohol plentiful, the volume of flowers must be in scale as well to achieve visual balance. Focal area or focal point. The area of greatest visual impact or weight. The center of interest to which the eye is most naturally drawn. In a parallel style design, the focal area becomes more of a focal plane than a focal point. Forms, colors, and textures are concentrated at the base plane or platform of growth of the arrangement. Lending a sense of gravity and stability to the foundation from which the other materials extend. Repetition. Repeated or recurring elements grouped together to create rhythm within a composition. A sense of unity, organization, cohesiveness in a design by repeated color, texture, form, or pattern. I often think of repetition when I see a row of large flower filled planters lined up marking a public space or at the entrance of a building. Accent, a distinctive, regularly occurring, but subordinate pattern, motif, or color, often recognized in the dominant or focal area of a design. Depth. The placement of materials at different levels in and around an arrangement to create a three dimensional visual depth effect. Adding depth to a design gives it a more natural look, like a microcosm of the garden. Transition. A smooth, rhythmic visual movement creating gradual degrees of change between one or more of the elements, connecting one part of a design to another. Opposition. The contrast between elements which are counterpoint in relation to each other. This contradiction adds vitality to a design. It creates tension. Variation. The use of different, dissimilar, or contrasting elements in a design. A change or slight level of difference in the attributes or characteristics of elements in a design. Tension. The dynamic, aesthetic quality achieved by opposing materials that implies energy in a design. Simplicity. The elimination of unnecessary detail. Now let's focus on the artistic tools, the elements of design. The Elements of Design are defined as the directly observable components, ingredients, and physical characteristics of design. These artistic tools personalize an arrangement to express the message of the designer. The Elements of Design include form, line, space, texture, size, color, pattern, and fragrance. Creative use of these elements helps to establish a unique look for your design. Learning why and how to apply these characteristics increases your skill and helps you to develop your own signature style. We'll start with Form, the shape or configuration of an individual component of the composition, the overall three dimensional geometric shape. In other words, a specific 3D area defined by outline or contrast. Geometric Form is the basis of Western design. Think triangle, circle, square, rectangle. Floral forms exist in three dimensions, Height, Width and Depth. Line, the visual path that directs the eye movement through a composition. The basic outline or strength of the design. These lines may be(straight), Static,(curved), Dynamic, or a combination. They may be Actual,(physically there), or Implied,(created in the mind's eye by visually linking two similar elements). You can look at a design and visualize an imaginary line connecting. A strong, straight, static line creates visual stability in a design, while a dramatic, dynamic line creates visual energy. If you're unsure of the strength of your line in an arrangement, a good way to check it is to place the design on the floor, look down at the line from above. Sometimes viewing it from another perspective lets you see the strength, or lack of it, of the line in your design. Space the area in, around and between the components of the design, defined by the three dimensional area occupied by the composition. In this 3D form, there can be Physical Space, the area filled in by botanical materials, Negative Space, the area where there are no materials, or a Void, the empty space that visually separates areas of positive space. Materials such as curly willow, branches, or grasses can be used to expand the size of a design by connecting more empty space to the physical space that's filled with flowers. The design now fills a larger space from tip to tip of the radiating materials. Because this technique often expands the sellable size of an arrangement, some florists like to joke that they're selling empty space for more money. Texture. The surface quality of a material as perceived by sight or touch. Texture is the richness of design. The eye is drawn by the contrast of tactile qualities. Just as you might mix the look and feel of different fabrics or accessories to complement an outfit, you'll want to use texture to add physical and visual quality to your designs. Size. The physical dimensions of line, form, or space. As we discussed earlier, it's important that the size of your floral materials be in proportion to the container, and the whole composition be in scale with the environment where it will be placed. When retailing an arrangement, size may be dictated by price. The size of the design is somewhat relative to the amount of materials the consumer is willing to pay for. Color, the visual response of the eye to reflected rays of light, described as hue, value, or shade. Hue denotes the origin of color that we see, the dominant color family. Tint, a hue or mixture of colors to which white is added. For example, pastels. Value, the overall intensity of how light or dark a color is. Shade, a color or mixture of colors to which black has been added, deepening the color. Tone, the lightness or darkness of a hue to which gray, which is equal amounts of black and white, has been added. Color is the most eye catching element. The color harmony of design is often the personal choice of either the designer or the customer. Pattern. Repetition of line, space, texture, or color combinations. Through repetition, anything can be turned into a pattern. For example, the silhouette of a flower against a background creates a delicate pattern when it's repeated. This visual element comes in two types of pattern. Natural, patterns that occur in nature. Man-made, pattern created by a human, and used in art for structural or decorative purposes. Fragrance, a sweet or pleasing odor or scent, perceived by the sense of smell. Nature uses flower fragrance to attract pollinators. Floral fragrances attract flower buyers as well. Designers must consider possible allergies, food aromas and personal preference when determining a fragrance to use. Smell is the element that triggers memory. Bring pleasure to clients by identifying memorable smells and incorporating them at the customer's direction, such as fragrant lilies for a wedding or cinnamon scents for holiday decor. I know this is a lot of information at one time, but the written document is also available in the transcript of this podcast and in our blog. You can download a copy for your future review of these terms. If you're looking for a resource of professional floral knowledge, I recommend the AIFD Guide to Floral Design Terms, Techniques, and Traditions. Invest in yourself. Purchase this book and read it from cover to cover. You'll be surprised at all the valuable information you learn. The price is$129. 99. Go to www. aifd. org, the American Institute of Floral Designers website, and you can also get a great amount of information from Texas State website. Please share this Floral Hub blog for readers, or How We Bloom podcast for listeners with other designers. The podcast is available on Buzzsprout, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and similar apps. Both are available at oasisfloralproducts. com, along with lots of other great information. To our audience, Smithers Oasis North America and I want to thank you for joining us today. If you've enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend and be sure to hit subscribe. You don't want to miss the inspired solutions our upcoming guests will share with you for your personal or business growth. Just as a subscriber asked for this segment of the principles and elements of design, please message me if you have topics or guests you want to hear. We'd love to hear your suggestions. Until next time, I'm Sharon McGukin reminding you that like the unfurling petals of a flower, we grow by changing form. Soaking inspiration in like raindrops. Absorbing energy from others like warmth from the sun. This growth opens us up to new ideas and that's How we Bloom.