Less is more

November 10th, 2009
When considering a floral composition, many factors need to be considered before executing the design. Cost, type of floral materials, accessories, foliage, function, and color harmony are but a few. When the determination has been made for the function, the rest of the considerations take on a level of most to least importance. One consideration that is often overlooked or under considered is how many insertions or placements there will be in the final execution.
A composition that requires 50 to 70 insertions versus 20 to 30 or less is going to be labor intensive and take much longer to execute compared to the styling that uses less insertions. From a production output for the same selling price, the floral design with the less amount of placements is actually more profitable as more arrangements can be produced in the same amount of time. How do you accomplish this you ask? Simply by using more impactual placements with both foliage and floral materials often gives a cleaner more sophisticated presentation. Consider an area in a floral styling that might require an area of white. It would take far longer and more product to fill in this area using 3 to 4 stems of chrysanthemums versus 2 stems of spray roses. Not that chrysanthemums are a bad choice, it is that the spray roses are a quicker and easier insertion. Another example would be covering an area with one insertion of a hydrangea versus 5 to 8 insertions of carnations. Both might give the same coverage and somewhat equal in price, but the single insertion is going to be much more efficient.
While designing this week, look for ways to simplify and reduce the number of insertions going into your everyday design work. Using less insertions will create more time for other projects and increase the bottom line!