BALTIMORE – 21 of 79 candidates who participated in the American Institute of Floral Designers' (AIFD) Professional Floral Design Evaluation (PFDE) July 2 in San Francisco were successful in their quest to become CFD and were invited to become an Accredited Member of AIFD, it was announced by AIFD.
An impressive 35 additional candidates scored high enough to receive the Certified Floral Designer (CFD) designation, AIFD's newest designation program.
Held immediately prior to AIFD's acclaimed National Symposium, the PFDE provides the Institute a forum in which candidates seeking to become Certified Floral Designers (CFD) and Accredited Members of AIFD can be evaluated based on ten points of professional floral design including mechanics, balance, color, theme, line and creativity.
The candidates who were successful in achieving scores high enough to receive the AIFD designation will be invited to be inducted as members of AIFD during its 2012 Symposium which will be held July 12-16 in Miami, Fla.
To be eligible to be evaluated, a design artist must first successfully complete one of five education pathways. Once an interested floral designer has completed an education pathway, he or she may then enroll into AIFD’s two-part Professional Floral Design Evaluation (PFDE) system – a hands-on design session in which he or she demonstrates his or her design proficiencies. During the live evaluation, candidates will have four hours to create five specific designs (funeral, base arrangement, flowers-to-wear, bridal, and designer's choice) which will then be evaluated by seven distinguished AIFD members. AIFD provides each candidate with all flowers and hardgoods necessary to complete the designs.
“AIFD has high standards, and even though we are very anxious to grow membership, we will never lower the standards we have set for Accredited Membership,” said Membership Chairman Joyce Mason-Monheim AIFD of Tucson, Ariz. “AIFD strives to hold the bar high and motivate designers to achieve that mark.”
AIFD’s influence in the floral industry is felt worldwide as is indicative of the number candidates who were successful in their PFDE evaluations: 38 were from the United States, five from South Korea, four from Japan, three from Korea, three from Canada and one each from Hong Kong, the Dominican Republic and China. Other U.S. states adding members were: Alabama (1), Arizona (3), California (18), Colorado (1), Florida (1), Idaho (1), Kentucky (1), Louisiana (1), Maine (1), Minnesota (1), Montana (1), New Jersey (1), New York (1), North Dakota (1), Pennsylvania (1), South Dakota (1), Texas (1), Virginia (1) and Washington (1). For further information on AIFD, its Accreditation process or plans for its 2012 National Symposium, please visit www.aifd.org.
About the American Institute of Floral Designers
Established in 1965, the American Institute of Floral Designers is, today, the floral industry's leading non-profit organization dedicated to establishing, maintaining and recognizing the highest standard of professional floral design. AIFD and its worldwide accredited members are in the forefront of the industry in presenting educational design programs and in designing flowers for such renowned events as the Tournament of Roses Parade, Academy Awards and Presidential Inaugurations.
Source: American Institute of Floral Designers