Form as in the Principles of design in floral art with floralartmall.com,

The Principles and Elements of great design in floral art and flower arranging are; accent, balance, colour, contrast, dominance, form, line, pattern, proportion, rhythm, scale, space and texture.A brief introduction to each element and principle as associated with floral design is available in this free series with a more comprehensive series of instructions and examples available on the CDs below. The feature illustrated here is the element form and you will find links to the others in this free series in the left column.

At last!! You can now learn all the elements and principles of floral design at your own pace, on your own computer from an internationally trained and accredited teacher, Ngaire Clarke! These are the foundation stones of excellent design, essential for all florists, floristry students and floral designers. Stand out from the crowd after taking these thirteen lessons, step by step, theory and practical, with short movie clips, slide shows and summary sheets to illustrate all the key points.
An exclusive in-house publication, this is only available through floralartmall.com and floraldesignmagazine.com. Presented as a CD Rom for playing through your computer monitor.
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The companion CD Rom to Elements and Principles , this incredible CD Rom gives you all the stunning colour theory of excellent floral design. Step by step instructions, theory with illustrations from Nature, you will be able to break out and try new schemes, fresh approaches, with this series of lessons by 12 international floral design teachers.
Not available anywhere else, this is a world exclusive published in house by floralartmall.com. It will lift your designs up into the world of the experts!
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Form

"The structural quality of an object, or the design as a whole. Forms are 3 dimensional, e.g. sphere, cube, or pyramid. They may be solid or volumetric. Form is identified in space. Shape is two dimensional and is the outlined appearance of a form, e.g., circle, square, rectangle, triangle etc.." From Flair, The FASNZ book

Form is the 3 dimensional shape of a piece of plant material or a design as a whole. Forms can be round, and are called points. Forms that are long and thin are called spikes.

In this impressive design photographed at the Melbourne flower and Garden Show, the lilies are the points, the bird of paradise and raupo reeds are the line, called the spikes. The huge cones are also a form.
It is necessary to have a contrast of forms in a design but having too many varieties of form is often a clutter, especially in modern work.

A point can be regular or irregular, and rounds hold the eye longer than cubes. Large points attract you first and your eye rests there a while. An example of this is a flower face front on to the viewer. In the design on the left you can see how the lilies are placed not only full faced but also side view, down slanting, and up facing. This allows the eye to move on from the most dominant point.

A design with all spikes or all rounds is very boring, and it is the interplay through a design of the two that makes it interesting.

If you are a beginner, click on the picture for the bigger version and see how many times you can see a point next to a spike or another 3 dimensional shape to provide contrast in the design!

Creating form ~ a beginners guide!

Lets have a closer look at the design above.
On the right is a part of the arrangement that is all points. You look at it quickly, think what lovely lilies, and move away.
Now the part of the arrangement that is all spikes is on the left too. Once again it is monotonous and doesn't hold your interest for long. True?
Therefore you need both and suddenly you have the "wow" factor.

When you select your plant material for a design be aware that you need this contrast. If you like the look of a bunch of little daisies and want to use them in an arrangement ,think about another form that you need to make a contrast to them. They are rounds, so you need perhaps spikes.
When you place your rounds, put them in so their "faces" face in different directions, so the eye moves form one to the other.

Florists at the moment, in a very simple way, are going just that adding beargrass (spike) to gerberas and roses (points.)
In this bouquet can you see how the beargrass has made the difference, and added interest?

All points

All spikes

Kenneth Turner uses candles, and bamboo for spikes and shells for the round in this modern piece. Join him here for this lesson emphasizing form.

Chrissie Harten from England guides you through the steps involved to make contrasts in form,and nest these forms with a very modern, 3D centrepiece here

AND NOW TWO BOOKS THAT WILL HELP YOU FURTHER...

The Art of Floral Design has become the definitive standard in teaching design techniques. In-depth and illustrated in full color, it offerscomprehensive information on the principles and mechanics of flower arranging, basic flower anatomy, and arrangement styles for all occasions. This well-written text combines theory and practice to familiarize you with the basics and guide you through more advanced floral techniques.
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Flower Arranging Style : An International Collection of Ideas and Inspirations for All Seasons by Judith Blacklock
In this book, one of the London's best known flower arrangers shows how anyone can create stunning arrangements for every season, every room, and every occasion. Packed with descriptions and step-by-step instructions, Flower Arranging Style is an indispensable resource for beginning and experienced arrangers alike.
Order here