@leila.garner.art
What if you could send a message without words? In the Victorian
era, a bouquet wasn’t just a gift—it was a secret message. A red
rose meant love, but a yellow one signaled jealousy. Giving some-
one basil? That was an insult. This intricate system of floriography
allowed people to express emotions often too delicate, forbidden,
or complex to say aloud through secret coded messages. What
happened to these hidden languages, to the intentionality of a
handwritten letter or a carefully chosen postcard?
The Floral Code investigates how meaning shifts when
communication moves between both physical and digital spaces,
questioning what has been lost and how we might bridge past
and present forms of connection. Through digital interactives and
physical ephemera, this project seeks to make this old, coded
language more accessible. As a designer, I believe that history
is not just something we look back on, but rather it is something
we carry forward, shaping the way we connect to each other in
the present.
By layering materiality, sentiment, and subtext, this work
asks: Why have we abandoned intimate, intentional methods of
connection? How can we reclaim and modernize these lost forms
of expression in a world of instant and often disposable commu-
nication? Through storytelling, design, and interaction, this thesis
celebrates the poetic tension between old and new forms of
self-expression.
Boston University College of Fine Arts
School of Visual Arts