NGC Handbook for Flower Shows - Excerpts

 Handbook for Flower Shows

NGC CREATIVE DESIGN STYLE

NGC Handbook For Flower Shows 2017 Chapter 7

See Handbook for history, styles and periods; attributes of design; elements of design; and principles of design.

VI. Creative Design

Createive Floral Design is an acknoledged art form introduced in the late 1950s to American Flower Shows. These designs are not bound by traditional patterns or styles. They are designs with a relationship between form and space.
  1. Characteristics of Creative Designs
    1. Conform to the Principles of Design
    2. Are eclectic in approach, borrowing from different styles and/or periods to create new concepts and forms
    3. Show restraint in the amount of plant material and/or number of components used. (Exception - Assemblage, Creative Mass and Tapestry Designs.)
    4. May have more than one focal are and more than one point of emergence, but clarity of design is all important.
    5. Uses components in a non-realistic manner and may contain abstraction, with plant material not necessarily in water.
    6. Positions components according to plastic organization, molding and shaping the design witn a volume of space to create a three-dimensional effect. Create rhythm and balance using forms and spaces to achieve depth.
    7. Juxtaposes components by placing them side by side, front to back, and above and below to achieve depth and a third-dimensional unity to increase the appearance of depth.
    8. Uses penetration of space -the strong thrusting of plant materials and/or other physical components, from front to back - to add rhythm and balance.
    9. Employes contrasting, advancing and/or receding colors, smooth and/or rough textures, transparent and/or reflective qualities.
    10. Uses plant materials, non-traditional container/s with multiple openings and unconventional, man-made objects not normally associated with floral design or art.
    11. Allows any part of the design to be dominant, including the container.
  2. Abstract Design

    All Abstract Designs are creative, but not all Creative Designs are abstract.

    Abstract Designs share the same characteristics with all other Creative Designs, but go a step farther. All components need not be abstracted. These designs, however, have a dominance of abstraction. Plant material and other optional components are selected, treated and/or organzied in a non-naturalistic or non-representational manner.