Paper State Flowers Project - Ellen Schofield and David Rogers

Let's pay tribute to all the flowers that will bloom in the coming months by having a look at a pretty fabulous project that is underway between graphic design colleagues at Minnesota State University, Ellen Schofield and David Rogers. They've teamed up to create a typography/paper flower composition to represent each of the fifty states.

I can't imagine a world without flowers and apparently our government leaders agreed (isn't that a novel thought these days) on their importance too. A National Garland of Flowers displayed at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair prompted the idea, and each state was asked to select a symbolic flower.

Pink and White Lady Slipper

*Play along and guess the states! Scroll down for answers.

Ellen wrote to introduce their work... "With the Paper State Flowers project we're working our way through the United States one collaborative piece at a time. In doing so, we're learning about the flowers that characterize the states' terrain."

Wild Sunflower

David designs the multi-layered letterforms while Ellen constructs the flowers... both rely on their computer design skills and a laser cutter to create the components.

This sheet of perfect circles resulted in...

... geometric peach blossoms. I'm especially partial to this state, wink.

Peach Blossom

Ellen said, "This project reminds us in our increasingly fast-paced, digital environment to slow down and stay physical with the materials of our trade."

 Saguaro Cactus Blossom

Slow down indeed... I love that it is necessary to really concentrate on each design to pull the state's abbreviated name from negative space. I tested my husband on several and he was downright gleeful when he correctly named the one below. It's a tough one!

Poppy

I asked Ellen if they have plans for the collection once it is finished and she replied, "Honestly, our main purpose on this project was to collaborate on something joyful. We will have a small gallery showing in southern Minnesota in October when it is all (hopefully!) complete."

As you may have guessed, Ellen and David are multi-talented. This fierce paper snake is her work...

... and here is a colorful sample of David's digital art.

Follow along with the project's progress via Ellen Schofield and David Rogers on Instagram, as well as the Paper State Flowers website. Ellen and David team-teach a Dimensional Paper Flowers Skillshare class too.

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Pink and White Lady Slipper - Minnesota
Wild Sunflower - Kansas
Peach Blossom - Delaware
Saguaro Cactus Blossom - Arizona
Poppy - California