Design Elements and Principles

Welcome to the Flowerschool.com video library. I'm Leanne Kessler, director of the Floral Design Institute, and today I want to share with you a video on a linear style of design. As we're all getting ready for back-to-school, we're thinking about the elements and principles and how we're going to teach them and share them. These are the rules you need to know to become a professional floral designer and have your designs look fabulous. Today, let's look at them in video. For the container, I'm going to use one of my favorite ceramic pots. It's wonderful to work with because it locks the foam in securely, plus because of its rounded shape, it has a huge water reservoir. So when I work with this, I pre-soak the foam, mix it with flower food, then I add water, then I add in the last piece of foam. That way, even though I can't add water later, there's so much water in here, the flowers will last really well. In school, we'll teach you about the eleven elements and principles. In this design, I'm going to start with line, one of the most important. I'm going to use my Gerber daisies to establish the line. They have such straight stems. Scale is another element and principle. So you think about size. You can use the rough measurement of two to three times. One, two, three. But often, it's just better to look at it. Hold it against the edge of the table and go, ooh, where do I want it to be? Then give it a cut and place it down into the foam to keep it straight. Keep your eyes on the top of the flower and insert it in, and that way when you're done, it will stay straight and look great for the camera. Then you can go ahead and add more blooms, bringing them in, carrying the eye downward in the vase, finishing your line. With line and scale set, now I can establish the accent area, coming back with larger blossoms, a little more important blooms, and then placing them down low, anchoring the design, building a focal area or an accent area right at the base. With my foliages, I can add supporting lines to fill in the form, maybe some lily grass, giving it a cut, letting it come out to the side, creating almost a triangular feel, draping outward, and then with the Xanadu foliage, giving it a cut and bringing it up and outward, finishing the triangle on this side. In your basic studies, we focus on the elements and principles, and then when we move to your advanced studies, we look at advanced elements and principles. In this design, everything I've done is a static line. It creates the form. In advanced, you want to add dynamic line because that makes it more interesting. So for my dynamic line, we're going to use some medallino, cut it down a bit, and then wind it through, sheltering the accent area. Whoops, broke that piece. Not going to happen. There we go. Just wind it in, sheltering, and repeat those lines to create interest. To finish the design, you want to cover your mechanics and enhance all of the lines and accent and spacing and scale that you've already established. So maybe adding a scabiosa pod to create interest and texture down in the front, and then repeating that in a few more spots. Maybe it's a Gaelic sleeve. It helps to break the line of the container and hide your mechanics, concealing the foam, maybe terracing them a bit, so it adds interest. When you're done, the design should have all 11 elements and principles beautifully done. If you love learning all about the elements and principles, the mechanics, the theories, the techniques, and all the concepts of floral design, join me in the Learning Center or online for your studies. If you have questions, want to know more about becoming a certified floral designer, you can reach me through the website, Flowerschool.com, or if it's easier, pick up the telephone and give me a call, 503-223-8089. And since we're all over the world, different time zones, don't hesitate to use email. Then you can catch me on your convenient time, leanne.at floraldesigninstitute.com. So now it's your turn. How are you going to create today and do something you love?