✺ INTRODUCTION ✺
For as long as I can remember, flowers have been part of my creative life and one of my passions. I grew up wanting to own my own flower shop, loved spending time in nature and adored the Flower Fairies books. As a creative, I would doodle flowers in school, and when I studied Photography at university, flowers would be the subject of many a project, and incorporated into as many of my photoshoots as possible. I was never really aware of their recurrence in my practice though, until starting this project.
For all of us, flowers play a role in our lives more than we realise. With each significant moment in our lives- birth, celebration, weddings, death, flowers are there. Many of us give flowers, receive them, grow them in our gardens, wear floral prints and decorate our homes with floral motifs. Flowers cross cultures, and have symbolism and appeal on a universal scale that little else can compare to. But what is it about flowers that make them such an important part of our lives?
In art and design, flowers shape-shift, appearing in every style, for bold, abstract forms to botanically accurate and intricately detailed. Their versatility means flowers continue to be popular in modern design trends. As more of us live in urban spaces, and with the pandemic reinvigorating our need for nature, flowers and plants have never been more celebrated.
With all this in mind, this final major project aims to develop a personal design brand, sharing my love of florals and interpreting the flower though in a variety of creative mediums, from illustration to photography, moving image and floral design. With creative projects each inspired by flowers, I aim to share this brand to social media and build the brand online.
✺ PROJECT AIMS & OBJECTIVES ✺
✺ RESEARCH | FLOWERS ✺
WHY DO WE LOVE FLOWERS?
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There is a science to why humans love flowers so much, and scientists and psychologists argue this love is engrained in our DNA. With humanity's innate connection to nature, humans respond with positive emotions when around flowers. An example of this is in a behavioural study Rutgers University, which found that every person who received flowers in an experiment responded with a genuine, involuntary smile called the “Duchenne smile”. This smile is an indicator of true happiness (Haviland-Jones et al., 2005).
Flowers also possess many of the traits we find beautiful, such as colour, fragrance and symmetry (Hula, 2016).
FLOWERS IN ART
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Flowers have been appearing ever since art's very origins. In the last two thousand years, a document of humanity's love for flowers as a subject can be found. Flowers appear in cave paintings, on the walls of ancient relics and religious sites. Art reflects society of the time and evolves with history, and the flower remains throughout. Roses were the emblem of Tudor England, Dutch painters were revered for their flower still life, and in the 1960s, fashion and culture used flowers as symbolic, cultural reference in the form of 'flower power'.
“Over many centuries, flowers have become an integral part of our lives, attracting particular customs and iconography. The beauty of the real thing is the catalyst, which, for more than two thousand years, has inspired artists and craftsmen in cultures all over the world.” – (Pavord, 2020:9)
A timeline showing how flowers have appeared in art and design throughout history
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The Flower’s Influence on Art and Design in
19th - 20th Century Britain
(Extracts from research proposal)
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flowers in contemporary practice:
design trends, social media & the digital flower
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Cottagecore Moodboard with examples of lifestyle, fashion and aesthetic trends.
✺ RESEARCH METHODS ✺
INTERVIEW, SURVEY & BRAND ANALYSIS
INTERVIEW WITH ILLUSTRATOR, BETIMOO
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Illustrator and friend Bettie kindly allowed me to interview her about her practice. I used this interview as an opportunity to understand her influences, advice on starting out as an illustrator and how social media is used as part of her practice.
The full interview can be viewed below, with the most important bits of information I took away highlighted in yellow.
SURVEY
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A survey was shared via Bettie with her online illustrator community to gain insight into how independent artists and illustrators promote themselves and their work online.
Results confirmed that social media is an essential promotion tool for artists, and the most popular platform to use is Instagram, with 100% of survey respondents confirming they use the platform.
This data is supportive of my interview findings, and will help to establish my social media strategy, including what kind of content to share and how often to post online.
BRAND ANALYSIS
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I carried out a brand analysis for four brands I love and whose product ranges could align with the designs I create for this project. It is beneficial to my overall portfolio if I keep these aspirational brands in mind, as it gives me a better chance of creating work that might appeal to them or similar brands when I start looking for jobs or commercial/collaborative opportunities.
This was also a good exercise to see how important floral motifs are to current consumer trends to help gage the potential for my projects.
I analysed each brand’s online product range to identify how many products contain floral themes and in what form. Findings reveal that each of the brands analysed are currently promoting a floral range of products, supporting my review’s identification of floral trends within vintage and ‘Cottagecore’ aesthetics.
✺ RESEARCH | INITIAL INSPIRATION ✺
When writing my research proposal, and prior to starting my project practically, I conducted a vast amount of research of creative practitioners from various fields including illustration, photography and floral design.
Spending some time analysing these artists allowed me to identify the ways in which florals are used in their practices, inspiring me as to how I could also interpret the subject of the flower.
EXHIBITION |
RHS BOTANICAL ILLUSTRATION & PHOTOGRAPHY
AT THE SAATCHI GALLERY
SEPTEMBER 2021
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I attended the RHS Botanical Illustration & Photography exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery during the final week of this project. As much of my work had been created by this point, this exhibition was primarily to give me inspiration for future creative projects that work with the flower as a subject.
The aim of these botanical illustrations is to have the scientific and visual accuracy, rather than artistic interpretation or stylisation of the flower's form.
There was also a small exhibit called In Bloom, which showcased a selection of works by contemporary artists and their interpretation and use of the flower.
These exhibitions coincided with the week of RHS Chelsea Flower Show, which I created an artwork for as my final creative mini project and can be viewed under the Creative Mini Projects tab.
Paintings from the RHS botanical art exhibition, celebrating technical skill and accuracy.
In contrast, contemporary artists exhibit In Bloom showcases flowers in a more eclectic manner.
✺ RESEARCH | ILLUSTRATION ✺
With illustration being the main creative discipline of the brand, I am required to invest a lot of time and effort into the illustration aspect of this project. While I am competent with photography and floral design, illustration is the discipline I have least experience in and I have much to learn.
First becoming introduced to digital illustration in my semester one projects, I have been keen to explore this medium further and understand illustration as a whole. In order to improve both my knowledge and ability, I referred to a variety of Skillshare videos and online tutorials to help to strengthen my understanding of the world of illustration, particularly within commercial and digital settings.
UNDERSTANDING ILLUSTRATION
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Amongst the Skillshare classes I completed during the early stages of my projects development was a class by illustrator Tom Froese called The Style Class: Work Out Your Illustration Style in a Daily Project.
Some key things I took away from this class included:
'Making something regularly is just one part of finding your style, sharing it with an audience is also important.'
'Before it reaches our intellect, style passes through our senses, straight to our hearts.'
'Finding an illustration style is not about finding a static style, stopping growth on purpose so our style can remain consistent'
Types of Illustrator
There are two types of illustrator: Artist and Designer.
Artist type: self-identity in their work, boldly expressing themselves in a very specific way. Their illustration style may seem to be more based on patterns and repeating elements, heavily stylised, and only ever using a specific set of colours.
Designer type: able to adapt their abilities uniquely to each problem, taking on each project with a particular brand rather than particular stylistic elements like coloursBased on these two types, as described by Froese, I feel that, for now at least, I am an Artist type illustrator. At the moment, I am trying to create a brand with consistency, though over time, I may evolve into a Designer type, who is able to alter my illustration style more diversely to suit different projects.
This class was a valuable resource in finding your own style as an illustrator. Many illustrators will hone their style over years, and while I expect to be the same, I wanted to have a somewhat refined idea of my illustration style prior to putting work online, in order to develop a more coherent brand voice and greater consistency.
UNDERSTANDING COLOUR THEORY
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I have always worked quite instinctively when it comes to choosing colours, and felt that in order to train my designer's eye better and to make well-informed design choices, an understanding of colour theory would be helpful.
Colour choice is also something I consider a lot as a florist, as particular colour palettes can completely transform the whole feel of an arrangement. This is supported by the Putnam brothers who, in their book Flower Colour Theory, create a plethora of floral arrangements using a variety of colour palettes and textures.
I have applied my new knowledge of colour theory to my illustrations to date, as well as considering what my choice of colour says about my designs and how they are received by others.
New York florists Darroch and Michael Putnam explore the importance of colour in their book, Flower Colour Theory. In this example, an accent colour of blue is used to break up the primary red hues of this arrangement.
✺ INSPIRING ILLUSTRATORS ✺
With an abundance of incredible illustrators past and present to discover, I selected my current favourite illustrators to analyse their practice and observe any similarities or recurring themes between them to influence my own design decisions moving forward.
Tove Jansson
Recurring Themes: nature, flowers, creatures, people
Illustration Style: playful, stylised, narrative, characterful, colour, black and white
Medium: traditional painting and drawing techniques such as paint and ink
Final context: publishing, children's books
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Best known for the Moomin series, Finnish author and artist Tove Jansson is one of my creative heroes. Tove's worlds are whimsical, her characters full of personality and expression. Tove's illustrations include a combination fictional creatures (the Moomins) human figures and animal characters. Tove's narratives often contains more mature undertones such as mental health, which has allowed for her stories and illustrations to maintain a timeless appeal amongst adults as well as children. She also had an affinity with nature, incorporating nature themes throughout her visual and written works.
As Moomin is still popular today, contemporary artists now recreate and reimagine the characters, for example animators of the Japanese TV series, and the production of new Moomin merchandise. While their work aims to emulate Tove to continue her legacy, Tove's original illustrations are unrivalled in their imagination and character.
I hope to draw influence from Tove's ability to create character and storytelling with her illustrations.
Oamul Lu
Recurring Themes: nature, flowers, people
Illustration Style: contemporary, elegant, playful, colourful
Medium: digital illustration, animation, traditional paint
Final context: product packaging, digital screens, publishing
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Chinese artist Oamul Lu has been a favourite of mine for several years. Nature features heavily in his work, with contemporary, luscious natural scenery and floral motifs captured with his inspiring use of colour, form and texture. Lu's popular artwork has seen him create commercial projects for brands including Samsung and Chanel.
I hope to draw influence from Oamul's contemporary illustration style and use of nature and digital mediums in his practice, as well as adopting a complementary colour palette in my work.
Taryn Knight
Recurring Themes: nature, people, animals, fairytale, slow living, cottagecore
Illustration Style: traditional, wholesome, children's illustration
Medium: traditional such as gouache and pencil
Final context: publishing, print, social media
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Taryn Knight is an American illustrator I discovered on Instagram several years ago. Taryn Knight creates illustrations often with a touch of magic, and has a distinctive style of drawing her human characters.
Taryn's whimsical illustrations capture the trends of Cottagecore and slow living, as well as creating arts targeted towards fans of popular culture like Harry Potter, giving her a large following on social media. Taryn's visual identity is highly representative of her own personality, as someone with traditional hobbies such as reading, slow living and baking, which is apparent in the work she creates.
I hope to draw influence from Taryn's ability to tell stories with illustration and capture a nostalgic and fantasy element with some of my designs.
Seungyoun Kim / Text Context
Recurring Themes: people, animals, clothes
Illustration Style: stylised, soft colours, contemporary
Medium: traditional painting and drawing, some digital
Final context: publishing, print, picture books
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I recently discovered the works of Korean artist Seungyoun Kim via her Instagram @textcontext. I was drawn to her humorous illustrations of dogs, often poodles, in clothes. Seungyoun Kim's illustration style uses contemporary, stylised human forms and fashion that is of the moment.
I hope to draw influence from Seungyoun's contemporary and stylish illustrations, as well as the playful nature of her artworks.
✺ FRAMEWORKS ✺
The Brand Analysis honeycomb and Iterative design process will be useful references when developing my brand and creating the most effective set of final project outcomes.
REFERENCES
Books:
Phaidon (eds), Aloi, G., Fortenberry, D., Pavord, A., Walters, M. (2020) Flower: Exploring the World in Bloom. London: Phaidon
Davies, G. & Saunders, G. (2012) The Romantic Language of Flowers. Cambridge: Worth Press
Kelly, S. (2015) The Liberty Colouring Book. UK: Penguin Random House
Warne, F. (1996) Flower Fairies: The Meaning of Flowers. London: Penguin Group
Wheeler, A. (2012) Designing Brand Identity: An Essential Guide for the Whole Branding Team. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons
Online:
Behance (2021) Graphic Design Trends 2021. Behance online article. Available at:https://www.behance.net/gallery/106902311/Graphic-Design-Trends-2021 [Accessed on: 26th April 2021]
Dilworth, F. (2020) Cicely Mary Barker: An Enchanting World of Flower Fairies. The Collector online article. Available at: https://www.thecollector.com/cicely-mary-barker-flower-fairies/ [Accessed on: 26th April 2021]
Hula, M. (2016) What flowers do we like? The influence of shape and colour on the rating of flower beauty. PMC PeerJ Article. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4906640/ [Accessed on: 26th April 2021]
Haviland-Jones J., Hale, H., Wilson, P. & McGuire, T. (2005) An Environmental Approach to
Positive Emotion: Flowers. ResearchGate PDF file. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/ publication/228855433_An_Environmental_Approach_to_Positive_Emotion_Flowers [Accessed on: 26th April 2021]
Positive Emotion: Flowers. ResearchGate PDF file. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/ publication/228855433_An_Environmental_Approach_to_Positive_Emotion_Flowers [Accessed on: 26th April 2021]
Homes & Gardens (2021) Chintz gets a contemporary makeover – everything you need to know about this maximalist microtrend. Homes & Gardens online article. Available at: https://www.homesandgardens.com/ news/contemporary-chintz [Accessed on: 4th May 2021]
Ideal Home (2020) The New Vintage Interiors Trend is set to be even more popular for 2021 than cottagecore. Ideal Home online article. Available at: https://www.idealhome.co.uk/news/chintz-charming- vintage-interiors-trend-2021-259274 [Accessed on: 26th April 2021]
Luigi Bevilacqua (2020) The Flowers of Art Nouveau. Luigi Bevilacqua blog post. Available at: https://www. luigi-bevilacqua.com/en/flowers-art-nouveau/ [Accessed on: 26th April 2021]
Ly, D. (2019) Meet the Florist Behind Instagram’s Dreamiest Still Lifes. Sight Unseen online article. Available at: https://www.sightunseen.com/2019/02/doan-ly-apbio-instagram-flower-photographer/ [Accessed on: 26th April 2021]
Making a Mark (2007) Flowers in Art: William Morris – Herbals, Flowers and Making Patterns. Making a Mark blog post. Available at: https://makingamark.blogspot.com/2007/07/flowers-in-art-william-morris- herbals.html [Accessed on: 26th April 2021]
May, T. (2020) 8 Top Social Media Platforms for Artists and Designers. Creative Bloq online feature. Available at: https://www.creativebloq.com/features/social-media-for-artists [Accessed on: 27th April 2021]
Medium (2021) Top 7 Illustration Trends 2021. Medium online article. Available at: https://medium.muz.li/
top-7-illustration-trends-2021-e09546f17630 [Accessed on: 26th April 2021]
MoMa (2021) 10 Ways to Sell Your Art Online. MoMa online article. Available at: https://www.moma. co.uk/10-ways-to-sell-art-online/ [Accessed on: 26th April 2021]
Pardilla, A. (2020) What is Cottagecore? Meet the Biggest Trend During Quarantine. Huffington Post online article. Available at: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/cottagecore-trend-quarantine- diy_l_5ecd875ec5b6e3f6739dbdfc [Accessed on: 26th April 2021]
Reggev, K., Ogilvie, D., Hatch, M. (2020) What Exactly is Cottagecore and How Did it Get So Popular? Architectural Digest online article. Available at: https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/what-exactly-is- cottagecore [Accessed on: 26th April 2021]
Reidy, T. (2020) Blooming on Instagram... why Gen Z has taken to flower arranging. The Guardian online article. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/jan/18/flower-arranging-instagram- generation-boom [Accessed on: 26th April 2021]
Statista (2021) Instagram: Distribution of Global Audiences 2021, by age and gender. Statista Statistics. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/248769/age-distribution-of-worldwide-instagram-users/ [Accessed on: 27th April 2021]
Ypulse (2020) TikTok’s Massive Growth Among Gen Z & Millennials in 3 Charts. YPulse online article. Available at: https://www.ypulse.com/article/2020/02/19/tiktoks-massive-growth-among-gen-z-millennials- in-3-charts/ [Accessed on: 27th April 2021]
Victoria & Albert Museum (Date Unknown) The Whiplash. V&A Museum online article. Available at:https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/the-whiplash [Accessed on: 2nd May 2021]
Further Reading
About Flowers (Date Unknown) Rutgers: Flowers Improve Emotional Health. About Flowers online article. Available at: https://safnow.org/aboutflowers/quick-links/health-benefits-research/emotional-impact-of- flowers-study/ [Accessed on: 26th April 2021]
Allen, J., Chudley, J. (2012) Smashing UX Design: Foundations for Designing Online User Experiences. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons
Creative Boom (2021) The Biggest trends in graphic design for 2021, as predicted by leading creatives. Creative Boom online article. Available at: https://www.creativeboom.com/resources/the-biggest-trends- in-graphic-design-for-2021/ [Accessed on: 28th April 2021]
Ewing, W.A. (1991) Flora Photographica: Masterpieces of Flower Photography. London: Thames & Hudson 99designs (2020) 11 Inspiring graphic design trends for 2021. 99designs blog post. Available at:
https://99designs.co.uk/blog/trends/graphic-design-trends/#9 [Accessed on: 28th April 2021]
