Principles of Design - Balance

Please ignore the green fabric in the photograph. There were several arrangements on that table.

Triangular floral arrangements have only been common in Western Civilization for a century or less, but triangles were often used to balance compositions in Renaissance art. While symmetry is very characteristic of design in Western Civilization, the use of geometric forms is equally characteristic. I am not sure that I really understand how other civilizations achieved balance in design, because I will always look for an underlying geometry. Like most people, I tend to find what I have been trained to look for.

I am not a flower show judge, but I have attended the design courses at a flower show school, where the judges are trained. Flower show judges are trained to look for an imaginary central axis. This axis is always vertical because balance is related to the forces of gravity. Weight (actual or visual) is supposed to be distributed on each side of the axis to create a sense of balance. When using symmetrical balance, the axis is supposed to be placed in the center of the design, but the axis doesn't need to be at the center of an asymmetric design.

I will be honest with you. My only real artistic gift is my sense of composition. Even before I learned who to draw, I could create something that others saw as artistic because they saw the composition as artistic. My floral arrangements don't get criticized for being poorly balanced, but unless the design is symmetrical, I am not even thinking about an imaginary axis. I don't even know where to look for the axis in my triangular arrangement. In my eyes, the composition is balanced because it is a triangle. The tall leaves of New Zealand flax do angle off to the right and that destabilizes the composition enough to add visual interest, but the base of the triangle has enough visual weight to counterbalance those leaves.