A floral designer works to create artificial and live floral arrangements for many different events. As you gain experience in the field you may be expected to supervise the work of other floral designers who are less experienced. It is important that you have a high level of creativity and that you can often work with specific flowers that are requested by a customer. In addition, floral designers often find themselves being hired to decorate a client’s home or office on a regular basis or for a specific seasonal event. Keep in mind, floral designers work in the service industry. Therefore, it will be crucial that you can work as a salesman, as well as in customer service. Get started with any of the floral design courses today from the colleges listed below.
While a college degree is not a requirement to work in this field, it will provide you with the design background that may allow you to be more successful. However, in order to work as a floral designer you must have at least obtained your high school diploma or the equivalent. Should you decide to pursue a formal degree program you will have the option of obtaining your degree in ornamental horticulture, floriculture, or floral design. It will also be a good idea to include business related classes in your degree program to help you manage the various business aspects of a floral design business. In addition, even if it is not required by your learning institution it will be a great idea to create a portfolio that showcases your abilities. It is also completely feasible for you to pursue your floral design degree from the comfort of your home by choosing an online learning format. While these are quite plentiful on the web, you may be required to complete some campus-based classes in order to obtain your diploma. It is quite common for individuals who want to be a floral designer to attend a vocational institute or a community college to receive some level of formal training. Take a moment and peruse some of the colleges or universities that are listed on our site. If you see any that interest you, they will be happy to send you some information regarding their degree programs that will fit your career goals. Individuals who aspire to become a floral designer are also capable of seeking employment as an interior designer, a botanist, a fashion designer, or a landscape architect. While these professions may not seem like feasible employment options, they actually will allow you to use the same basic principles of design just in different applications. If you have any questions regarding your floral design training classes you can ask any of the colleges listed below, they will be happy to assist you.
Floral design is also called flower arrangement and as the name suggests it is the art of using flowers and plant materials to create a balanced pleasing composition. Refined floristry can be traced back to the culture of ancient Egypt. Elements of floral design such as form, line, space, colour and texture are incorporated in professionally designed floral designs, artwork and arrangements. The principles of floral design like rhythm, proportion, balance, unity, contrast and harmony are also incorporated. Floral design has very many styles including the Western, the Eastern and European styles that have all influenced the commercial floral industry as it is today. The first style Ikebana is an Eastern one that incorporates the three main line placements of heaven, earth and ,man and emphasizes on colour and variety of botanical materials not limited to just blooming flowers in mass collections of multiple flowers. The western design is historically characterised by asymmetrical, symmetrical, vertical and horizontal styles of arranging flowers.
What Do Floral Designers Do?
Florists arrange and cut live, silk or dried flowers and greenery to create decorative displays and designs and help customers in selecting flowers, ribbons, containers and other flower accessories. A floral designer can create a single arrangement for a special occasion such as a wedding or design displays for rooms and open spaces for important functions like funerals, banquets and anniversaries. The sense of artistry that designers have is applied together with the knowledge they have gained over time of different types of flowers to make decisions concerning choosing the appropriate flowers for suitable occasions. They need to know the properties of every flower like which type of flowers can last longer outside of water, those ones that are more delicate and prone to wilt quickly and which ones are poisonous to certain types of animals. For instance, lilies are toxic to cats. They also need to know what flowers are in season and when they will be readily available. Colour varieties of every flower and the average size are important aspects for a florist to know. They may be needed to calculate the number of flowers that will fit into a certain vase and or how many rose petals are required to cover a certain size of a carpet.
Additionally, florists apply their knowledge and experience to recommend designs and flowers to customers after they have selected the flowers of their choice. The designer can then arrange those flowers in a visually appealing design and to make it appear more attractive, balloons, stuffed animals, decorative vases can be used in designing floral arrangement. After selling flowers, they advise customers on how to care for flowers and explain the ideal temperatures of certain flowers a on the frequency of changing water. Floral designers provide flower food for cut flowers to the customers. Whenever a customer needs more complex displays, he or she has to order in advance but in the meantime designers can create small arrangements and bouquets while the customer waits, if it is necessary some florists work alongside event planners on contracts when creating arrangements for events like weddings.
Floral designers may also create single designs to serve a customer’s emotional needs to help them relax more. Floral designers order form suppliers new flowers and on arrival, the new flowers are stripped of leaves that would be below the water line and then are cut. They also mix flower solutions sanitize workplaces and fill floral vases and containers with food solutions. Flowers must be kept in cool display cases to give them longer life and freshness.
- Decide on the type of arrangement desired, date, time, occasion and location for delivery.
- Grow flowers or order them from wholesalers to make sure there is an adequate supply to meet the needs of customers.
- Commentate flowers and foliage for every arrangement according to the budget of customer.
- Answer telephones, take orders and wrap arrangements.
- Design floral displays that suggest a particular style or sentimentality.
Floral Design Styles
There are variety styles of floral arranging in different countries with each having its own style depending on the flower varieties readily available in the nation and their culture. Here are the different floral design styles.
English Garden: This is traditionally an English form of floral design whereby stems of flowers are placed in a radial style and it features abundant use of seasonal foliage and flowers. the English garden design usually are done as taller vase arrangements or low tufted mounds all sides and incorporate garden flowers lilie gardenia, roses, peonies, camellia and delphinium arranged with very minimal space between the foliage and blooms to accent them because they are always the main feature in any floral design.
Dutch Style: This design involves contemporary and linear designs using many different kinds of greens in a natural way. The Dutch garden style arrangement started in the early 18th century and the best example of Dutch style arrangements of flowers. These designs use bark, stones and mosses.
Ikebana: It is a floral design style originating from Japan and it is well known for its simplicity of form and line. Primarily, Ikebana design is practised for personal enjoyments and as mentioned earlier it has three parts of alignment, earth, heaven and man.
European or Modern Style: This floristry involves linear and contemporary designs that highlight the unique forms of individual floral materials and the designs. Modern styles incorporate exotic, unique and tropical flowers such as Anthurium, Orchids, Bird of Paradise and Protea; however, other common blossoms like Lilies, Roses and Gerberas are also employed. The arrangements used feature negative space and they incorporate asymmetric material placement. This style of floral design is directly contrasting with the English garden style. The play on the use of colour and different textures together with the spaces used between each bloom an aspect that can be quite experimental are used to identify modern designs.
Importance of Specific Flowers in Floral Design
A floral designer will typically arrange flowers by season and holiday and in different cultures, different flowers signify different things. There is a variation in the holidays and events in which flowers are used for instance; poppies are used to remember fallen soldiers but only in the commonwealth countries and the Great Britain. The cultural meaning of flowers to people’s cultures, ethnic groups and country strangle affects their choice and use because they would prefer to buy flowers that mean something to them. Various colours convey different meanings to different groups of people like her are colours associated with luck, love or death. A red rose might signify love in some cultures but in others, it can be considered indecent or simply puzzling while colour white in flowers carries conflicting attitudes among different cultures. It represents death in most Asian cultures while in the European heritage, white symbolises innocence and purity, this can therefore can lead to miscommunication and might give offense if not used appropriately.
Dried arrangements and related media
Permanent components and creations that incorporate dried materials like bark, dried flowers, wood, scented but dried inflorescences, preserved materials and artefacts, leaf skeletons and leaves are among the common additions of the floral design art and they carry some level of practical significance because they last forever and are not dependent on seasons. The materials they are made of offer idioms, effects and associations corresponding to and contrasting with fresh flowers and foliage.
Work environment and work schedules
In 2014, about one in four floral designers were self-employed and the self-employed floral designers have to perform all the business tasks too including keeping track of expenses, income and taxes. Others can decide on hiring and supervising staff to help with those tasks. Some have long-term agreements with owners of office buildings, restaurants, hotels, and private homeowners to occasionally replace old flowers with fresh arrangements to maintain the appealing and freshness nature of a place and other florists work with interior designers in creating displays. In 2014, floral designers held almost 58,700 jobs and their largest employers were florists, grocery stores, miscellaneous nondurable goods merchant wholesalers, sporting goods, hobby and musical instrument stores and lawn and garden equipment and supplies stores respectively. Those working in retail businesses are always ready to receive walk I customers, respond to orders placed over the internet, telephone or transmitted electronically by other floral designers. Those working on contracts are needed to travel to various locations to cover the events going on. Working full time is common in most floral designers but there may be variations in their working hours depending on the work setting. Independent shops in business districts and downtown areas usually open during normal business hours while flora departments located inside grocery stores or any other stores in suburban areas and shopping malls may stay open longer. During special times of the year especially holidays, florists are more busy than normal. It is not always possible for most orders to be completed too far in advance because of freshly cut flowers being easy to perish, therefore, designers work additional hours just before and after holidays. Special holidays such as Christmas, mother’s day and Valentine’s Day make many part time and seasonal opportunities available for floral designers.
Fresh Flower Sources and Floristry Shops
Fresh flowers for floral designers are usually supplied from three major sources local flowers, local wholesalers and flower auctions with the majority of flowers supplied by specialist cut flower and horticulture suppliers. The largest international flower market and auctions located in Aalsmeer in the Netherlands with the other two major markets being the Ota Flower Market in Tokyo Japan and Dubai Flower Centre. Miami is the main distribution point of imported flowers in North America and many local wholesalers buy fresh flower stocks to resale it to local florists and floral designers in their areas. Flower shops contain large collections of flowers whereby some are displayed on the street and others have large plates of glass windows to display the flowers. Flowers are refrigerated and kept in water in glass or plastic vessels to keep them fresh. Many flower stores have separate workrooms where flora designers can work on orders with a little more peace and privacy. Flowers sold in floral shops represent the variety of flowers available in the season and the blossoms flown from around the world too. Roses, irises, tulips, lilies and orchids are the basic varieties in temperate latitudes. Floral shops sometimes, stock gift baskets, flowers, fruits and chocolates but other only purchase such things whenever there is an order. Different holidays and events largely influence the floral design business because of its seasonal nature, holidays and events like Christmas, Valentine ’s Day, weddings, funerals, mother’s day among others. They make up the largest part of the business which a more constant sale of home décor and home plants. Flowers for personal enjoyment also contribute a significant portion of the floral design business and the ones selected for anniversaries, birthdays and get-well wishes. Floral designers design cut flowers are widely sold in supermarkets too apart from retail shops and petrol stations, the outlets usually offer a limited selection in the form of mixed bouquets and roses by the dozen. Purchasing flowers at such outlets can be less expensive when compared to buying from florist shops and professional floral designers may offer a greater flower selection with high quality and skilfully arranged.
Flower delivery services in floral design
It is the major service in floral design mostly done through websites that allow consumers to search online collections of flowers. Floral relay service is incorporated to primarily smoothen order exchange and completion between third party sales agents of floral products and local florists offering exclusive networks, clearing house services and operates as joined marketing sources. The man function of wire service affiliates is to act as agents and sell products and services for the local florist suppliers where a flower design or any other floral gift is not bought from the supplier unless a customer requests or makes an order for the item and then the products are supplied to customers at a discount. A commission is earned out of this, the difference between the advertised price that the customer pays and the discounted price at which the agent is charged makes up the profit and therefore a commission. A wire service affiliated agent earns 20 percent of the product and local delivery price and the services charged.
Flower delivery services are majorly divided into four categories:
Local Florist
These websites offer arrangements and bouquets for all direct delivery in the geographic area that are physically serviced by their companies’ personnel and vans. Also known as hand delivered service it has an advantage of giving shoppers the precise items available for delivery on a same day basis.
Courier Florist
Grower direct or courier delivered flowers are assembled into bunches at the farm and in the importer or distributor’s warehouse, packed in cardboard boxes and shipped directly to the recipient through overnight couriers. Flowers delivered through this service can be fresher compared to other methods although temperature fluctuations and shipping conditions may negate the benefit.
Relay Florist
Relay services are done through websites here, organisations or people procure a purchase order between a consumer and themselves of the order being placed directly with a local florist in the delivery area. The relay service relays the order and payment to a local florist in the delivery area without a commission because the services cannot normally fulfil the order itself unless the delivery is local to the location of the relay service.
Floral Ordering Broker
These are third party agents who display arrangement s and bouquet product images and transfer orders to affiliated local florists for hand delivery and fulfilment. Here, orders are sent to local florist for fulfilment through a floral wire service and it has the advantage of consolidation of purchase for delivery to multiple places through a single website.
Many florists hold a high school diploma or an equivalent qualification while for the floral designers who wish to start their own businesses there are postsecondary programs that are useful for them. In the floral design and techniques of caring for flowers there are programs available but offered in private floral schools, community colleges and vocational schools most offering diplomas or certificates. These classes teach flower and plant identification, advertising, floral design concepts and other business courses relevant to the field. Students also exercise working in greenhouses as part of the certificate and diploma programs. Other universities and community colleges go ahead to offer associate’s degree or bachelor’s degree programs in floral design. There is a growing interest in the natural world and flowers that continues to grow with time and as a result there has been an increase in educational institutes that offer training in floral design expanded to many state universities and certified design school globally. Advancing in floral design is done by taking formal floral design training which helps those interested in self employing themselves or becoming chief floral designers and supervisors.
Training: Hands on experience is the required training where floral designers work with experienced designers by preparing simple flower designs and practising the basics of tying ribbons and bows, learning about proper handling and care of flowers and how to cut stems to suitable lengths as their first practices. They are also exposed to different flowers and their growth properties together with how they are used in more complex floral designs.
Floral Design Licenses & Regulations: The American institute of floral designers is the responsible body for offering the certified floral designer credential that, although is voluntary, indicates a measure of expertise and achievement. A floral designer must first demonstrate a grasp of floral design knowledge that is gained through education and by work experience before being certified.
Creativity: Artistic skills and knowledge of design in a floral designer are put to use every day to come up with the suitable designs for different occasions they therefore have to be open to new ideas, as new trends in floral design are very versatile and ever changing.
Customer service Skills: Floral designers in their daily tasks, deal with flowers and in interacting with customers and suppliers. One has to have knowledge of what a customer is looking for explain the options available and give them high quality services and flowers. Artistic ability is essential for a designer of flowers to use their sense of style in developing aesthetically pleasing flower designs. Organisational skills are important in every profession but in floral design, there need to be some level of organisation for the business to operate smoothly and make sure that all the orders are completed on time.
Salary and Job Outlook
Floral designers receive a median annual wage, the salary are which half the floral designers earned more than that amount and half that was earned less, on May 2016 was $25, 850 while the lowest 10 percent floral designers got less than $ 18, 760 and the highest 10 percent earned over $ 39, 130. In the same year, most designers worked full time. Floral designer employment is predicted to decline 3 percent from 2014 to 2024 because most are employed in the florist industry and it is where the overall industry employment is likely to decrease over the period of the ten years. The number of florist shops in the florist industry are the determinants of floral designer demand as the decline in shops will lead to decrease in the demand for designers although there will be a continued need for florists for flower arrangement for events like weddings and anniversaries. Local florist shops are the majority group that fulfil orders made online from flower delivery services and therefore this arrangement can increase the number pf orders florists can get. On the other hand, it can also dampen demand for additional floral shops because each florist shop will become increasingly able to serve a wider area of clients. General merchandise stores and grocery stores offer loose cut flowers and floral decorations, they can therefore make it more convenient for clients to buy flowers and decrease the number of trips people have to make to florist shops to get floral decorations and other services. This also contributes to the 11 percent projected decline in floral designers’ employment and florist shops and the 5% growth in grocery stores. However, floral designers with formal education in floral design will have better job prospects in the future.