Jewelry-making techniques bring materials together within a composition. Techniques construct the interrelationship among parts so that they preserve a shape, yet still allow the piece of jewelry to move with the person as the jewelry is worn. And techniques manipulate the essence of the whole of the piece so as to convey the artist’s intent […]
Techniques and Technologies Read More »
Materials establish the character and personality of jewelry. They contribute to understanding whether the piece is finished and successful. However, there are no perfect materials for every project. Selecting materials is about making smart, strategic choices. This means relating your materials choices to your design and marketing goals. It also frequently means having to make
Jewelry-Making Materials: Knowing What To Know Read More »
Color is the single most important design element, whether used alone or in combination with other design elements. Yet jewelry creates a series of dilemmas for the colorist, not always anticipated by what jewelry designers are taught in a typical art class. This article reviews the basic concepts of color theory and suggests how to
THE JEWELRY DESIGNER’S APPROACH TO COLOR Read More »
Whenever you create a piece of jewelry, it’s important to try to anticipate how your choice of materials, techniques, and technologies might positively or negatively affect how the piece moves and feels (which is called Support) when worn and how its components maintain shape and integrity (called Structure). Toward this end, it’s important to redefine
ARCHITECTURAL BASICS OF JEWELRY DESIGN Building In The Necessary Support and Structure Read More »
Jewelry designers want to be successful. But things can get a little muddled when thinking about how to get there. Our teachers, our friends, our colleagues often disagree on this point, and tell us to look for conflicting measures of success. We can often lose sight of what we want to end up with. The
The Goal-Oriented Designer: The Path To Resonance Read More »
Contemporary jewelry represents a specific approach for thinking through design. Making jewelry is, in essence, an authentic performance task. The jewelry artisan applies knowledge, skill, and awareness in anticipation of the influence and constraints of a set of shared understandings. Shared understandings relate to composition, construction, and performance. These understandings are enduring, transferable, big ideas
Contemporary Jewelry is Not A Look–Its a Way of Thinking Read More »
