Program Goals and Outcomes
Floral Design Program Goals and Outcomes
Our Floral Design Program can help prepare students for jobs as floral designers in grocery stores, hotels, event planning companies, and more. Students will also learn about starting their own floral business.
Floral Design
Program Goal
The program goal for Penn Foster's Floral Design program is to gain the knowledge and skills to work as a professional florist or start a floral business.
Upon completion of the program, students will be able to...
- Understand how floral-design concepts from the past influence modern floral design; recognize the four design categories by which florists classify flowers and foliage; identify other plants by name, shape, color, smell; and discuss traditional use in arrangements
- Comprehend the qualities needed to distinguish yourself as a designer, and understand the career opportunities available to professional floral designers
- Understand the care, handling, and seasonal availability of flowers, in addition to materials and tools and their uses in the creative perspective in floral design
- Use the website Aboutflowers.com, provided by the Society of American Florists, and the glossaries from the lessons to look up flowers and become familiar with the needs and characteristics of specific flowers
- Recognize the principles of design, including composition, scale, proportion, balance, unity, pattern, harmony, contrast, accent, rhythm, movement, and focal emphasis, in addition to, the elements of design including line, space, texture, form, and color theory
- Understand floral components and containers that satisfy a client's requests using various design techniques, including traditional and contemporary design styles
- Recognize a long tradition of design styles, and understand how to use design techniques, including the principles of design, the elements of line, form, space, texture, and color, in addition to observing how these design elements and principles work in actual floral arrangements
- Differentiate between major styles of floral design and identify the mechanics and techniques involved in designing arrangements in these styles
- Understand the extensive tradition of design styles and the aspects of design styles in others' interpretive arrangements, and familiarize yourself in how to adapt each design style within your own interpretive work
- Recognize the floral consultant's role in helping brides prepare for their weddings, including pricing techniques, coordinating the attendants with the bride, decorating for the wedding ceremony and reception, and creating bridal bouquets, corsages, hair wreaths, and lapel boutonnieres using various design techniques
- Comprehend the use of traditional and innovative funeral arrangement techniques to fulfill clients' requests for personalized casket sprays and wreaths
- Identify how to successfully create designs in remembrance of the deceased, while presenting appropriate expressions of the feelings of the bereaved, and working within the client's budgets.
- Recognize the bride's wishes, her budget, and your own ideas of what's appropriate, tasteful, and eye-catching
- Comprehend plants varieties for different environments, including designing for commercial and home environments, indoor gardens, care and treatment of potted plants, and the diagnosis and treatment of plant infestation in order to suit clients' requests
- Identify care techniques and uses for artificial flowers, dried flowers, and plants, including using recycling containers in the construction of designs and proper displays, and the benefits of using artificial flowers, dried flowers, and plants in arrangements and wreaths, along with the relationship of floral design to the interior-decorating industry
- Understand the techniques to care for and use artificial flowers, dried flowers, and plants, and their relationship to decorating
- Identify how to prepare for Christmas traditions by combining fresh and artificial materials, flowers, Christmas plants, and Christmas trees, in addition to using floral wire services
- Identify how to prepare for the major holidays of Valentine's Day, Easter, Mother's Day, Thanksgiving, New Year's Eve, and special occasions, including how to make flowers a part of any festivity, and how to prepare and price gift baskets
- Comprehend different ways to promote flowers during the quieter times of the year by focusing on pleasing smaller groups of customers with gifts and decorations for special events
- Understand how to create custom orders for gifts and decorations at holiday times or special occasions
- Recognize the value of and techniques involved in providing good customer service in a floral design business, including finding the best location, targeting your customers, analyzing your competition, funding sources, insurance, licensing, equipment, supplies, staffing your shop, establishing a business identity, and designing your shop's interior
- Identify common considerations of owning a floral design business, including understanding the roles of growers, suppliers, and wholesalers while having basic business skills that include hiring temporary and contracted help for seasonal fluctuations
- Recognize how effective public relations, advertising, merchandising, location, and shop design can boost the sales of a floral design business
- Understand the basic steps to establish and manage a floral business
- Demonstrate the skills to create floral arrangements for Weddings, Solemn Occasions, and Holidays using fresh flowers, artificial flowers, and plants
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