Behind the Design: Focal Point vs Details & Accents

It's that time again! Time to go "Behind the Design". It's time to take a look at he link between Fine Art & Design Principles and Event Design. Today I'd like to focus... I mean really focus, on what really draws you into a design, one of the biggest mistakes I see Event Designs and how understanding how we, as viewers, react.

In Fine Art a "Focal Point" is the specific area of focus (the place were your eye is drawn to) on the piece of art. Focal Points can be created with color, light, proportion and its position in the total space such as the canvas. For example, in the Johannes Vermeer portrait "Girl with a Pearl Earring", the painting features a three quarter view of a young girl's face with a dark background illuminated by light. Art first viewers may try to focus on the face itself but it is the pearl earring near the center of the painting that catches the viewer's attention and draws their eye to that area of the canvas.

In Interior Design, because you are dealing with the scale of a 3-Dimensional space a Focal Point will be larger and fit proportionally with the size of the room - example: a striking mirror in the foyer, a larger piece of artwork over the sofa, floor to ceiling window treatments or a dramatic bed frame.

In Tablescapes and Event Designs determining the Focal Point(s) should be one of the initial step of the design process. Use of lighting, color and position in a space (in the case of Event Design, space refers to the surface of the table or the space in the event venue) are used in developing the Focal Point however, they are not the most common mistakes. Often times the biggest mistake is "focusing" in details and accents instead of the Focal Point. They find a bunch of cute little favors or decorative accessories but do not begin with creating a cohesive overall design plan or layout and the complete look never really quite comes together.

In another recent post, Behind the Design: Tablescape Scale and Proportion, I asked readers to imagine the most beautiful, exquisite perfect orchid... then imagine it is floating in a kiddy-pool, then in the middle of a huge Olympic size pool. The point, it doesn't mater how lovely the decorative element, if it is not used in a design that considers the proper and scale it looses it's impact. The other side of this is a design that is too big and not function to the scale of the table or room - the poor guests struggle to see each other or across the room. Remember, the number one rule of design is "All good design should demonstrate both form and function".

Question:

Have you ever seen a centerpiece that seamed to be lost on the surface of a table because of it's scale of the centerpiece wasn't proportional to the size of the table?