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Never underestimate the power of Design! I strongly feel that if you do not have a good design sense, you limit yourself immensely and your art or jewelry will always lack connection or something in some way. It’s not something that will happen right away but you need to keep sketching. Sketching designs is the first visual representation of your designs and the quickest way to see if you have got a winner on your hands. It also helps to play with stones on paper, so place a few stones on a sheet of paper, you want to use in a collection or in a few jewelry pieces. This usually will help you design around the stone showing you exactly how the stones will look in the design your sketching.
It’s important to keep developing skills as an artist and it’s even better if you have put in the time and effort and have developed your own Signature Style of design. So what is that? A signature style of design is a distinct design that is associated with a particular artist’s body of work. It can be something small or big, but it’s that repetition in the artists work that will make it stand out and it will be a prominent feature that will be recognized as the artists signature style of design.
So does every jeweler have their own signature style? No! They do not. Some do have their signature style but many do not. Some jewelers only make nature jewelry so you will see mountain necklaces, lakes and trees necklaces, bees necklace, insects jewelry, leaf jewelry, flower jewelry and so on. Some jewelers think their jewelry style is working with 2-3 gemstones that they always want to see in their work, some jewelers think their signature style is a distinct design that will feature in all their work, some jewelers think their signature style is their texture they use in all their designs, some jewelers think their signature style is a theme that they use to design all their jewelry, for eg., celestial jewelry, dark jewelry (witch jewelry), fairy jewelry, nature jewelry, romantic jewelry, etc.
However, a jeweler should be true to their style of jewelry. There are so many styles of jewelry like Minimalist Jewelry, bohemian jewelry, talisman jewelry, goth jewelry, Victorian jewelry, statement jewelry, Avant- Garde jewelry, modern jewelry, antique jewelry, Pearl jewelry, classic jewelry, art nouveau jewelry, retro modern jewelry, art deco jewelry, Edwardian jewelry and mid century jewelry. With so many styles of jewelry, it gives you all the more reasons to pick a style and then work on building your personal jewelry collection that exudes that very style with each and every piece. Same goes for the jewelry makers.
Designing jewelry encompasses everything about how the finished piece of jewelry will look. So for necklaces you should consider the style of the chain, length of the chain, decide on the design of the bail that would best suit the pendant. Some pendants can have hidden bails (where the bail is soldered behind the pendant). For Rings, you can consider the band size, use a single band for a ring or make it a double band ring. Also the design of the band, can be different rather than keeping a simple half round wire as a band. Little things go a long way in designing a piece of jewelry. Yes, it’s all extra work, but in my opinion, totally worth it. Your designs and extra work will make you and the jewelry you make stand out. For earrings, consider making some designs as studs as well as dangle earrings because some like earring hooks and some like earring studs! So if your design works with both styles, you may want to consider making them in both ways. For Bracelets/ Cuffs, you can design them as single bands or double bands and again work on how the bands will look. It’s not just about the Stone, always! Your design is just as important. It will always enhance the gemstone and appearance of the cuff to another level.
Another important factor in design is the ability to keep learning and keep getting inspired by just about everything around you. Learning never stops and I believe, you learn something small, at least, from everyone you meet. Now, realization is another topic by itself but let’s just stick to design :)
Work with different techniques, metals, stones, designs till something within you clicks. Apparently, sometimes it happens fast and sometimes it takes a bit longer but your still gonna enjoy the whole process and journey. Get those thoughts, initial designs roughly sketched onto any paper in front of you and then transfer it to your design journal later. Don’t bother about your sketch being perfect or anything. I constantly draw my jewelry designs on visiting cards, napkins, loose pages, menu cards, etc. The point here is to get your design on a hard copy so you can refer to it whenever needed. And Yes, you absolutely need a Design Journal or Sketch pad. You can always put your loose and random pages/cards that have your designs into this sketch pad.
For me, it’s all about those little moments (most of the times), where I have these random designs that form in my head so I always have a sketch book and pen ready, in my studio, my handbag, my bedroom and in both our cars. So a rough sketch of the design goes into any of my books and then when I have a Collection I’m working on, I’ll re-visit them to see if they work or not. I get inspired by just about everything, from memories, travel, books to tv and from nature to animals. I also find myself daydreaming for a few seconds or a couple of minutes when I’m out in nature or visiting a new city. Everything around slows down and I’m with that design forming right in front of me (I call it ‘my snow globe’ moment).
Do not allow the pressure to design or make jewelry overwhelm you. Disconnect to reconnect. The design will come to you. There is no point in doing something you are no longer enjoying or in love with or can’t. I have very rarely (maybe a handful of times) had to make time to design jewelry. It’s more of an organic flow where a design comes to my mind's eye, then I design, as my hand reaches automatically for a paper and pen/pencil/sharpie. Maybe this is the reason, why I do not have blocks (I think that’s what artists call it). It’s different for everybody though. This is just how it happens for me.
Don’t try to chase your competitors and design similar pieces. You are One-of-a-Kind so Believe in yourself and design with enthusiasm and sketch what comes from the heart. Be true to yourself and back your designs by bringing them to life! Now that is, POWER 🔥
Many a times you will find yourself changing a few things around while making the jewelry. It’s natural and I believe in going with the flow, so I let it form it’s own story. I don’t fight it and I’m usually happy with the way the designs turn out when they are made into beautiful pieces of jewelry. Of course, it’s a bit more complex than just this… For example, for my jewelry, I have to always know when to stop working on a piece for it to have just the right amount of organic feel or that old world look that I totally dig, whilst still maintaining the structure and technicality that will lend to the jewelry being strong and durable and not just being pretty and unique. I know quite a few jewelers who will not stop till they get their jewelry to look exactly how they sketched it and that’s great too. You do what works for you. There are many who just make jewelry without sketching and without having any idea of what they want to make. To those, I would say, good for you! There is no right or wrong way. That being said, investing in yourself as a jeweler is the best thing you can do for yourself, your career as a jeweler and your Customers, especially because there are so many technicalities, methods involved with various designs that we can think of. Self-teaching yourself jewelry making, limits you, in my opinion and that is the reason you see some jewelers who will make the same-looking jewelry for years. Of course, some jewelers don't wanna take a risk and hence, stick to making what's been selling for them whilst some jewelers choose the Minimalistic jewelry route since those are simple and fairly easy to make. They have around 10 designs and will keep making slight changes to those same ones and will keep recycling them with new power names as talisman something, etc, etc(nothing unique jewelry and definitely not one-of-a-kind jewelry)! If this is your scene, then fine but this kinda jewelry is gonna be found out pretty soon. Today's customers can see right through it all and we should be thankful for that :) As Jewelers, its important for us to first educate ourselves so we can educate others and use the best methods and adopt the best processes to make strong, durable, high quality Unique jewelry, once we have designed them. Studying jewelry in a jewelry school or college, also gives you the freedom to design just about anything because you will have a ton of ways in your back pocket to make them in the right way without compromising the jewelry's structure and foundation.
