244 Principles of Floral Design
introduction
Over the years, fl oral designers have developed and documented various
styles of arrangements that fall in and out of fashion. Some design styles have
stood the test of time, categorized by the types of plant materials used to make
them or by specialized patterns or effects. A versatile fl oral designer is adept at
creating beautiful designs from all classifi cations and styles. See Figure 10-1.
This chapter describes ways to classify fl oral design styles. For example,
fl oral designs can be classifi ed according to their shape or geometry. Floral
designs also refl ect the cultural styles of the civilizations in which they
develop. Because the eastern (oriental) and western (European) cultures
through the centuries have been quite different from one another, their
fl oral design traditions are also different. Within each of these broad cultural
backgrounds, individual countries and cultures have developed their own
variations and design styles, often called design movements.
Geometric Design
One practical way to classify fl oral designs is according to their geometry.
Most fl oral designs have at least some geometric elements, and many have
a defi nite geometric shape. Geometric design refers to arrangements that are
based on geometric forms such as the circle, triangle, and square. Most of
the design styles described in this chapter are geometric. See Appendix for
complete chart of geometric design shapes.
Floral designers often refer to designs according to their geometric
shapes, so it is necessary to understand the basic geometric terms and what
they mean in fl oral design. Some of the geometric shapes that are commonly
used in fl oral design include circles, various triangles, ovals, and crescents.
244 Principles of Floral Design
Blumz by JRDesigns, metro Detroit; Society of American Florists
Figure 10-1. Floral designers may use basic geometric shapes as the basis for their designs,
or expand on those basic shapes to make more elaborate compositions.