Designing for a contemporary venue

I have planned and created a contemporary design to feature in the window of a high-end restaurant in my local town of Louth. To make this commercially viable I needed to keep costs low, whilst still creating an impact piece for the venue. After consulting with the client I was clear on their sense of style and had a vision of how the design should look. I began researching using a number of floristry books and magazines for inspiration. I also took into account some of the methods and materials that I had previously used in other arrangements.

  

My chosen venue: 14 Upgate, Louth 

The front window of the restaurant is in a prime location and in perfect view of passers by. This is where my design shall be placed. 

Inspiration:

Fusion Flowers April 2016

This really stands out to me, the use of all yellow flowers is so striking. I felt that my design needed to have a similar impact therefore, I decided to use all yellow flowers for my arrangement.

Fusion Flowers 

This image was also taken from Fusion Flowers magazine, again using all yellow flowers but incorporating twigs into the design. The base of this also appealed to me and I decided to incorporate it into my design. To lower the costs I used recycled cardboard as opposed to the felt used in the above design. I then added strips of yellow wool to some of the cardboard squares to give added impact.

Sketch of my planned design in-situ 

To envisage what my design would look like I drew a sketch of it placed in the venue. As the window was a large area I decided to add some height to the design using long twigs.  

Cardboard squares complete with wool embellishments

Frame complete with twigs before the flowers were added 

 

To increase the longevity of these flowers I fixed test tubes to the twigs on the frame using bullion wire, this gave them a source of water.

Image of final design

Here is an image of my final design, I was really pleased with the result and felt that it fit the brief that I had been given by my client: to create a simple but statement design. Using yellow really stood out against the dark wooden twigs.  

Here is an image of my design in the window of the restaurant. I am pleased with the final result however I feel that the size could have been slightly longer in length. I love the colour scheme and feel that the frame could be adapted to all occasions by using seasonal flowers to compliment. 

Me with owner of 14 Upgate, Andrew Leonard

Modern Tropical Design

 

This design uses beargrass that I weaved in and out of copper wire covering the oasis and the dish. Then I added more unusual blooms including anthurium, gloriosa and craspedia. The contrasting shapes, colours and textures create a really aesthetically pleasing design. 

  

Anthurium is an interesting book that contains images of various styles of arrangements in a range of styles and colours. All of the designs in the book include the flower anthurium, below are some images of the different designs. 

Pim Van Den Akker (2011). Anthurium:Uitgeverij Terra Lannoo B.V.

Pim Van Den Akker (2011). Anthurium: Uitgeverij Terra Lannoo B.V.

Planning the design: 

Sketch of final design

As the materials used for this design were real statement flowers, it was essential that the placement of them was correct, to ensure maximum impact. I tried to create a staggered line with the Anthurium adding height to the design, then added the gloriosa creating a second line through the design. Finally using the craspedia to dot through the arrangement. 

The final design came together well and there was enough negative space to truly appreciate the different blooms. I feel that more bear grass could have been added to completely cover the tray, also adding more of an impact where it flares out of the bottom of the flowers. 

Summer fan design

This design has been arranged using oasis in a container covered in brown paper. The idea of this design is that it creates the shape of a fan. The flowers used for this design need long, straight stems with all of the foliage removed so that the shape is clearly defined. 

Flowers used in this design include: stocks, alstroemeria, phlox, iris, trachelium and hypericum berry 

The design has a real summery feel and would be suited to a country tea room or hotel.  

Contrasting interpretation of a fan design:

Image taken from website

A different take on this style of arrangement, here the fan shape is created using sticks as opposed to the stems of the flowers. The floral material is then arranged at the top of the design. I like this unusual way of creating the shape, it is very clean cut and less fussy than my arrangement.  

Planning the design:

Here is the final sketch of my design, as you can see I used the 1/3 2/3 proportion rule for this design to keep the balance.  

 

The colours used in this design look really affective and give the design a real country garden feel. However, if I were to make this design again I would go about it in a different way. I would keep the material more linear and simple as i felt that my design became over crowded and the fan shape became lost with all the floral material. 

Natural Twig Design

This design has been made with foraged twigs from a nearby woodland, the design is an oblong shape and is designed to be a table decoration. The twigs were carefully selected, taking ones that are interesting to the eye, whether that be because of their shape or colour.

Inspiration: 

Many floral designs incorporate twigs to add interest and give different textures to arrangements. Personally I think they are a great material to use, here are some examples of different designs that I found in both Fleur Crèatif and Fusion Flowers magazines.

Fleur Créatif & Fusion Flowers Magazine 

Planning the design:  

Different shape ideas  

Before planning the final design I sketched a number of different ideas for shapes including a tall arrangement and also a nest however, I decided to make an oblong shaped table design.  

Sketch of final design

Calla Lily: For this design the only flowers that I incorporated where white calla lilies, there steams are flexible and this allowed me to bend them in and out of the twigs. 

Final design

As the twigs were recycled it was a cost affective design, the structure was secured using cable ties and was structurally sound. 

Snake Grass Design

This design has been made using Snake Grass, a structure that can be manipulated into different shapes by inserting a wire up the hollow centre. The flowers used are Clematis and Craspedia, the contrasting colours enhance the design and the different shapes give the design varied form.

Inspiration:

Marie Fracoise Deprez (2006). Passion Florale:
Editions Jeux De Fleurs International

Rolled snake grass: you can bend snake grass to make different shapes. These swirls look really affective and add interest to the design. 

Snake grass design from Flower Arranger magazine.

This design is held together using cocktail sticks, this supports the structure and helps to hold it in place. I like the simplicity of the linear design, but would prefer it to be straight from the top to the bottom instead of getting more narrow towards the top. 

DK - Fresh Flower Arranging, 2011 Dorling Kindersley Limited

This design uses snake grass alongside orange calla lilies and spray rose, I like the idea of using the glass bowl with the stones in the bottom, it creates a small living oasis for the flowers!

Planning the Design:

Here are some quick sketches to show different ways in which the snake grass could be used in the design. I opted for the fourth option,  mostly straight pieces of snake grass with some curled and zig-zag pieces to add interest. 

Final sketch of the planned design.

Craspedia

Craspedia are great to use in arrangements as they are long lasting, their vibrant colour, bobbly texture and perfectly round shape make them aesthetically pleasing and interesting.  

Different angles of the arrangement

This design is interesting to the eye, using a great mix of colours and shapes. The craspedia add a pop of yellow enhancing the purple of the clematis. Personally if I were to make this arrangement again I would keep the snake grass more linear, leaving out the zig zag and swirls.
It is a very modern, quirky design and would be suited to a trendy venue, perhaps a cocktail bar or a contemporary restaurant.
The structure was well supported by the cocktail sticks however it was not very heavy, I feel that it could easily be knocked over, so if re-designing this arrangement I would look to add more weight to the structure.

Handbag Design

This design has been created using card which was cut out into a template to make the 3D structure of the handbag. To make a holder for the oasis, a cardboard ‘shelf’ was inserted before securing the bag together. Then a paper machè technique was used to cover the card board with antique silver paper. After this cellophane was inserted into the hollow area at the top of the bag to ensure the wet oasis did not cause the card to become soggy and collapse.  

The handle of the bag is made from silver aluminium wire to compliment the silver on the handbag. All the flowers used in this design are white they include: Roses, Bouvardia, Hypericum, Santini Chrysanthemum. Also used were Aspidistra leaves and tillandsia moss. 

Using all the same coloured flowers gives a classy look, the white in this design also suits the silver handle and colour of the bag.  

Inspiration 

Designer Moniek Vanden Berghe has produced many floral handbag creations, her books ‘Flowers in Love’ have some great inspiration for this type of design.  

Moniek Vanden Berghe (2005). Flowers in Love: Stichting Kunstboek BVBA
Moniek Vanden Berghe (2014). Flowers in Love 4: Stitching Kunstboek BVBA

 Planning The Design 

Here are the dimensions of the design, two panels were cut out of the card measuring 8 inches in length, 6 inches wide at the top and 2 inches wide at the bottom. A third piece of card cut to the length of 47cm long, this is what gives the handbag its depth.  

Sketch of final design

The only problem with the structure of the design was that it was top heavy, caused by the weight of the oasis and the flower material. This made it difficult for the design to balance. To amend this, weight could have been added to the bottom of the bag, perhaps by using sand or stones.  

Final Handbag design

Personally I find this design really feminine and felt that it's more likely to appeal to women than men. I can see it placed in a boutique or perhaps a beauty salon, somewhere mostly visited by women. If this design were to be recreated I would change the shape of the bag so that the structure was more balanced, this would in turn give the design more strength.