Tournament of Roses Parade (2016)

Designing for the Tournament of Roses Parade is like designing for an Opera, where the scale is immense. The difference is that in the parade, you can see every surface on the float, whereas in the Theatre or Opera, you have a fixed viewing point.

This was my third year designing for the Tournament of Roses Parade, and I created seven float designs in collaboration with Fiesta Parade Floats. I truly love designing for this larger-than-life, spectacular, floral-covered event.

Below, you can view the concept sketches, which were created using black wax pencil on vellum, as well as colorful, watercolor hand-painted renderings. The actual sketches measure 4 feet wide and 3 feet tall. Although the sketches are large, this scale allows for a significant amount of detail to be incorporated into the designs. Here is the list of float designs:

Aids Healthcare Foundation: A Girl's World of Adventure

Dole: Soaring Over Paradise

Kaiser Permanente: Helping Mother Nature Thrive

Kiehl's: The Beauty of Adventure

Miracle-Gro: Life Starts Here

Northwestern Mutual: Dancing into Adventure

The Bachelor: Love is the Greatest Journey