On my online workbook this week: Did you see that!?!

Dear

This week's inspiration is asking... … what is going on here???

My tip for you this week is to be mindful when designing to allow the onlooker to complete the picture. I did this design just for fun for-on-my-desk and at first wasn’t going to share it. At first glance it is not really a DESIGN- design. But then when I stared at it and I realized there is something to be said about it. There is a story here.

If you have been following along for a while you know that I like my designs to have lean in closer stories. If there can be an insider joke… just between us floral designers that is even better! This one is so subtle that I wonder if you even noticed that you noticed.

The design part of this design…the tricky part is calculating just how subtle and by how much you can turn up the contrast to make the entire “just a handful of grass” design more interesting. A little less height and you will hardly notice the ghosts. Over exaggerate the height and now they attract too much of your attention. Tone it down with just enough height to abide by our design rules (one and a half to two times the height of the vase) and you let designer’s in on the inside joke and we are all nodding our heads knowingly. It's not a design but yet...

Take it further and tick off our entire list of elements and principles of design even in one oh so undesigned-design. Your choice of the two ghostly fluffy tails is vital… they should stand out from the vase fluffy tails below. It can be the colour (they are more mature and the grass more faded compared to the tails and grass in the vase) and/or the texture (the ghost fluffy tails are full of pollen making them scruffier than the rest) and of course the height.

Place the ghostly fluffy tails so that they look like they are having a conversation. And trim the grass on the faded stems so that it looks like the stem is pointing at something... in this design it is the contrasting dancing green grass left longer at the base (for added movement and rhythm).

That’s designing. Let there be a “something” that is tailor-made to invite your specific group of onlookers to somehow participate.

Enjoy!

Every good wish,

Christine