We are often asked “How do you come up with this stuff?” Like any worthwhile design, the foundation must be solid before we can begin to explore the boundaries. Since we were part of the {Macy’s Flower Show} this year we thought to take the opportunity to dissect our floral masterpiece in a post as a way to answer that old question.
Having an inspired theme can make a world of difference and Macy’s is not one to disappoint. And as luck would have it, the south Asia theme this year included Thailand, a country where Emily has spent a great deal of time in her travels! We started with some sketching and the creation of an inspiration board to narrow down the color scheme and determine what design elements have the most relevance to the theme. Macy’s had a digital display of every designer’s inspiration board so visitors could interact with each display. Here is our initial sketch and design board:
The intricate use of flowers and plants in daily culture in Thailand was something we wanted to capture with the design. The central mandala, woven and otherwise manipulated tropical leaves, floral garlands, and offering trays were all key to our piece and reminiscent of Emily’s travels.
The color palette of bright orange, fuchsia, magenta, and yellow-golds are emphasized by the abundance of all the glorious tropical greenery. We also painted exotic animals using a gold low VOC paint to accent our offering trays.
The addition of white as a main color updates the look from traditional or ceremonial to translate into the modern space of the Macy’s department store. The mandala itself we “framed” with white flowers for fluidity and an added modern feel.
We hope you enjoyed this look into our design building process and the detailed shots of the piece provided by the creative, talented {Gustavo Fernandez}. Follow us on {Facebook} to see more images from the event and installation!
If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change ~ Buddha
