Teaching literacy in jewelry design is a lot like teaching literacy in reading and writing. We want our students to comprehend. We want them to be able to be self-directed in organizing and implementing their basic tasks. We want them to be able to function in unfamiliar situations and respond when problems arise. We want […]
Teaching Disciplinary Literacy: Strategic Learning In Jewelry Design 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 »
Many people, jewelry designers among them, draw inspiration from traditional jewelry styles. The common inspirational thread here is a feeling of connectedness, coupled with a desire to feel connected. But the core issue for jewelry designers today, striving to achieve jewelry which is more contemporary than merely a replay or reworking of traditional preferences and
Contemporizing Traditional Jewelry 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 »
The artist creates something out of nothing. The jewelry artist does the same, but also imposes this act on the person who wears the result, and who, in turn, decides whether to display or demonstrate its desirability and wearability, and all within a particular context or situation. So we start with nothing into something. That
POINT LINE PLANE SHAPE FORM THEME Creating Something Out Of Nothing Read More »
It’s not happenstance that some pieces of jewelry draw your attention, while others do not. It’s the result of an artist fluent in design. That fluency begins with selecting design elements, but it comes to full fruition with the application of principles of composition, construction, and manipulation. This is where the artist flourishes, shows a
JEWELRY DESIGN PRINCIPLES 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 »
