project management in a floral studio: The event as service design

As someone transitioning into research from an apparently unrelated field, I feel called on to explain what competencies and experiences are analogous and transferable from it.

Hi, I’m Consistently Me

I have always loved the nexus of design and research. As a kid, I built and curated little exhibits in my room, affixing labels with explanations and fanciful taxonomy to my window-sill vignettes. I’m sorry I don’t have any photos of carefully labeled ham bones and daffodils to share.

I studied urban planning in college, using social science methods and GIS maps to illustrate how policy inequity shows up in the designed environment.

Design and Project Management

Professionally, however, I’ve spent almost twenty years working as a designer and production manager in the floral/event design industry.

In that time, I have worked as a freelance designer for dozens of companies, and have also functioned as a project manager in full time roles and for my own photo styling and floral work. There is a little bit of “fell into it” and a lot of passion to explain why this career was compelling.

As with any project management role, managing a floral event design studio often means multiple projects to track simultaneously and creating (or adopting) systems to help with the prioritization, scoping and grouping of tasks within the projects. I have used various tools for this piece of the job. Though I have worked more recently with various project management software, the majority of my work has been organized by lists (such as the discrete materials lists for each project I’ll share below), digital production calendars, and spreadsheets.

It also involves a great deal of little ‘r,’ secondary research (sourcing stuff, finding stuff, figuring out if someone already knows the best way to do stuff), and also a larger process of experimentation akin to qualitative design research.

The process also echoes the UX design cycle in that the design progresses as a series of prototypes is refined.

Quick anatomy of the floral/event design business:

Most floral studios pick a niche for their work. In many cases that niche is wedding work, because it is inherently project-based and allows a cyclical and sequential focus on each job (or at least a particular stage in its production). It also allows project based staffing, project based inventory, and generally less overhead expense than a full-service studio incurs.

The other piece of that varies from business to business is in the level of involvement with overall event design. In some cases, a majority of that work the planning can fall to an event planner, in other instances, the planning (overall aesthetic considerations: lighting, linens, furniture etc.) is part of the studio’s scope. It is potentially more lucrative, and allows more involvement in the process, but there is a question of workload and scaling.

For many years, I managed at a studio that worked with a number of luxury boutiques and hotels in downtown SF. We designed and installed weekly flowers, but also often provided the overall design for events they held or hosted. This work required a lot of juggling, because multiple planning and production cycles occurred simultaneously.

The consultation: understanding client need, style, budgetary limits, opportunities

Whatever the studio model, the early components of event design generally follow a similar pattern.

The first step in this process involves sitting down with the client (in person if possible) and finding out as much as possible about the parameters of their event. This includes

• venue(s),

• guest count,

• purpose of the event,

• people actively involved in any kind of ceremony or presentation and any special considerations for them

• the subtleties of the stylistic/emotional theme

• and of course the budget

It is important to bring up budget early. It makes it possible to frame the design conversation and reduces revision, and it allows the designer and client to work as creatively and effectively as possible. It is also important to encourage the client to bring images and share as much as possible about what is important to them and their sources of inspiration. This is open ended, though prompts can be used. It is really important to listen for themes that can be reflected visually and spatially.

It is also important to encourage the client to bring images and share as much as possible about what is important to them and their sources of inspiration. This is open ended, though prompts can be used. It is really important to listen for themes that can be reflected visually and spatially.

The proposal (proposal image)

After the initial consultation, a proposal is written up. It can be relatively straightforward, and close to a final draft, or it can be the first of several. This reiterates ideas discussed in the consultation and itemizes specific elements and services. Some people dread this process, but I find it deeply satisfying to see if I’ve understood the client and can develop something that resonates with them and will develop into a real world event.

Prototyping— mood boards and sample meetings (less spreadsheets, more pretty flowers)

Sometime after the first proposal draft is received, and a favorable response is received, the refinement and prototyping kick into gear. Sometimes a client has approached knowing they will hire you, but occasionally they have met with other studios who have also submitted bids. This process is a little variable, but my practice is generally to start a collaborative mood board (in Pinterest or as any kind of sharable doc.). I also proposed a sample meeting when it appears a dialogue is leading into a likely contract.

The sample meeting has multiple very practical design production purposes. It is provided free of charge, but invaluable in its return as:

• a sample unit against which to check your budget (Does this centerpiece cost what you are charging? Is the labor more extensive than you anticipated? Were you wrong about the current market price for one of your elements?)

• a chance to show options from other vendors

• a user test (What kind of feedback are you getting from the client? Does it work on the table as you imagined? Is the scale right?)

Some chairs and linens considered

Contract

As soon as a proposal has been received, and if it has been responded to with enthusiasm, I ask whether the client would like to work with me and if they’d like me to send over a contract. Since the contract allows for revision within three weeks of the event, it is often signed early on. If there are major revisions, the contract may come after they are submitted. A non-refundable deposit is requested at this time.

How to estimate value and opacity in the industry: “Do you know what her markup is?”

While it’s not impossible to find an MBA running an event studio, the majority of the people people come in due to a love of design and the thrill of ‘pulling it off,’ but often with no formal business knowledge.

High-end studio design is a relatively small niche, and businesses tend to be collegiate and support each other. Still, there is a lot of awkwardness and confusion around pricing and formulas. As someone often working with budgets and privy to paperwork, I’m often furtively asked about other vendor’s pricing structures, particularly around design labor and the ethics around perceived value. I can only encourage transparency in the culture and share my own practice.

In a labor intensive industry producing a temporal experience as its product, this is tricky territory. Often smaller and newer businesses forget to include a real profit margin, or undersell for exposure. They pay themselves (not enough, generally), but often don’t charge what they need to maintain, build and streamline their business.

The formula I’ve arrived at is roughly this:

• 4x material wholesale

• 1.5x estimated total design hours by rate (including business owner salary), actual labor time by personnel and rate for install and strike.

• 2x markup on most rentals (containers, linen, structures)

• .5 on lighting (sub contract) and more for involved planning

• rented box trucks are generally at cost + labor time pickup/drop-off.

• milage

In theory, the materials markup is partly intended to cover overhead for production space and utilities, and part is profit. The reality is that some very high-end studios are run out of garages, and therefore have an advantage over studios that rent space. This is the kind of variable factor that challenges business owners and design producers to estimate accurately.

Another fuzzy piece is in what the market will bear. Some of this is cultural (in the industry). Weddings, even very expensive ones, have a lower profit margin than corporate events. Because they are ceremonial markers of a major life event, they tend to involve clients who are deeply emotionally invested. For many designers, this translates into a more satisfying creative experience; and providing service for these ceremonies adds a deeply satisfying sense of purpose to the process. There is also a value in being slightly more generous to clients who have ‘portfolio events’ which will offer a return in beautiful images, which are often the only lasting asset for the designers.

A comment on photography

The importance of photography in event design is a subject unto itself. It functions as a way to supplement note taking during flower-market research, it facilitates a visual dialogue with clients, it is the primary vehicle of marketing via social media channels particularly instagram

Unfortunately, not every good floral designer is a good photographer, and vice versa. (creating the images here involved my hands…but few of these photos were taken by me)

The Flower Market

The flower market in San Francisco is the largest wholesale flower market in the United States. Bay Area florists source most of their flowers there. Vendors include growers from Petaluma and Half Moon Bay, as well as international suppliers.

It is a wonderful place, where a responsible person must cling to her list and wallet and curtail dozens of wonderful conversations.

A familiarity with the market only comes with experience and will prepare you to order specific garden roses from Jose at Brannan weeks ahead, and be there at 4:00 am to pick up one of the four tiny bunches of porcelin berry from Green Valley coming in on an October Tuesday.

Staffing and Studio Production

Planning for adequate staff is done in the initial proposal project when you have a sense of your labor hours. It’s fairly reliable math if you calculate from your sample labor and past events, but add buffer. Nobody walks into the door and charges full steam into design. There is coat hanging and there are greetings on one end, sweeping and goodbyes on the other. Larger studios may have at least one full time designer, but generally booking a freelance crew is critical and done early. There are a limited number of skilled designers, and you will want to book them months ahead (as well as newer hands and strong people). You will also want to book a strike crew to pack up and drive after the event (primarily young men who don’t mind odd hours because they are in college and its good money for the time). No sane person wants to drive a box truck full of glass from Napa at midnight on a Saturday after a full week of production (though most of us have).

Design decisions during production (mechanics make this here or on site?)

Lots of design production is done in the studio. A typical production cycle for a large weekend event begins with a flower market trip and organizing dry goods on a Tuesday, market and cleaning and conditioning flowers on a Wednesday, design production on Thursday and Friday, and an installation on Saturday.

The day of:

As the project manager you will have started an ongoing process of coordinating timelines with other vendors. Much of the project manager’s day of involves getting the designed pieces where they need to be within a narrow timeframe. Concerns are mostly with having everything (flowers, tools, phone numbers and floor plans) and leaving on time.

Many large events have a planner who is largely responsible for coordinating the moving parts between vendors on the day of the event.

Often larger events have pieces which can not be completed in the studio. But they must be planned there! Large pieces must be structurally and mechanically sound. For instance with a hanging piece, it’s crucial to know the weight of what you’re hanging, the tensile strength of what you’re hanging it with, and how you will secure it. Arches and hanging pieces also need to look beautiful, and part of this means working quickly with perishable materials and providing especially delicate materials with a water source.

Conclusion…?