Floral Design: Elements of Design

Achromatic

Achromatic means "without color." White is the combination of all of the individual colors in the spectrum.

Color Harmony:

Color harmonies, also called color schemes, are guidelines of combining colors and color values in design

Color Wheel

A color wheel shows the colors in logical order according to the spectrum. The warmer colors are shown on the right side of the wheel, and the cooler colors are on the left

Design Element

Design elements are all of the things that go into creating a floral design.

Filler Flowers

Filler flowers are usually the final placements. These are fine, often frilly materials such as Monte Cassino aster, statice, and baby's breath.

Form

In floral design, form refers to the shape of an overall arrangement, as well as the shapes of the individual plant materials used in the arrangment.

Form Flowers

Form flowers are those having a distinctive or unsual shape. They do not necessarily fir into the other categories.

Hue

A pure hue is a color that has not been darkened, lightened, or grayed.

Intensity

Intensity (sometimes called chroma) refers to the brightness or dullness of a hue. A color's intensity can be changed by mixing it with other colors, but not with white, black, or gray, which would change the value rather than the intensity

Line

In floral design, line is the visual path that creates the foundnation for an arrangements style and form. It cna be straight or curved, static or dynamic.

Line Flowers

A line flower is one that has a long stem, a spike or linear form, or both.

Mass Flowers

Mass flowers are closed-form, singleflowers that have a dense, rounded shape.

Pattern

A pattern is an element that is repeated to form a decorative design.

Primary Color

Red, yellow, and blue are called primary colors, because no other colors can be mixed to acheive these colors.

Secondary Colors

Secondary colors are created by mixing two primary colors together.

Shade

A shade is a hue that has been darkened by mixing it with black. Tints and shade change color by either making it lighter or darker, thus changing the value of the hue.

Size

The element of size works with the elements of line, form, and space to help determine the physical dimensions of an arrangement.

Space

Space is the three-dimensional area that is occupied by a floral design and may also include the area immedietly surrounding it.

Spray Tint

Spray tints, or paints, can be used to change a flower's color to match popular trends.

Systematic Dyeing

Systematic dying, or stem dying, is an option for florists who occasionally receive requests for particular colors, such as school spirit colors, that are not available in a flower staple such as carnations.

Tertiary Color

A third level of colors, tertiary colors, are created by combining one primary and one secondary color.

Texture

Texture is both the visual and tactile surface quality of a material.

Tint

A tint is a hue that has been lightened by mixing it with white.

Tone

When gray is added to a hue, it results in a tone. Adding gray to a hue also lessens its intensity

Value

When white, black, or gray is added to a pure hue, it changes the value, or purity, of the color, making it lighter or darker

Visible Spectrum

When light is refracted through a prism, you can see all of the colors that make up the white light. This is the visible spectrum

The system of mixing colors is called

Additive Color System

The system when the paints are mixed together, they absorb more light and reflect back less color. 

Subtractive Color

The system that does not add or subtract color. 

Partitive Color