A Designers Thoughts

When I first started my jewelry business I did a lot of research. I looked at designs, searched the net on trends, colors, and fashions; I read any book, magazine or website I could get my hands on about the jewelry business and industry. I take a look back from time to time and see how my designs and busienss are evolving.

Early on the designs were simple and didn’t use hardly any wire techniques. After a few wire working classes, I was hooked and now love to design something that incorporates the wire as more of an accent to the beauty of the natural gemstones.

Now many comment on how bold, exotic and trendy my designs have become. When designing, I look to the stones to lead me in a direction; either from the color combinations or just by adding metals, glass or crystals makes it stand out.

One thing as an Artist I’ve learned, I’m my worst critic and need to learn that not having the perfect fit or completed look is all part of the creative handcrafted style that makes me an Artist.

I’m still searching the net, looking at jewelry, designs, trends, colors, and fashions; but mostly, I look to my customers, because the jewelry is a pure reflection of their personality and who they are.

If there is but one piece of advice I could give…it’s go with your instincts, never give in, learn to be flexible and above all have fun with what you do and enjoy your creations.

Color Designs & Emotions

Jewelry is an express and extension of the person. We’ve discussed in other posts that what we wear reflects who we are or want to be; rather it is professional and classy, sassy and casual or even flirty and wild. Designing jewelry is like being on the cutting edge of a ‘finished look’ to someone’s outfit. But it is more than that, it also an expansion of the designer and artist that created the jewelry; created from their imagination relaying on skill and experience to shape gemstones, wire, chain, silver, gold, copper, glass and crystals and anything else that they can get their hands on into something unique – an expansion of the artist or designer personality connecting with their clients and customers.

Which leads me to an interesting article I found online at the Sessions Online School of Design; I’m reprinting excerpts because of the value of the information and the use of yet another tool for everyone to use.

Using Colors to Connect with Your Audience



“Color creates audience responses by stimulating emotions and communicating on levels other than reason and intellect. It can excite, impress, entertain and persuade, but color can also create instant negative associations. It’s a good idea to be aware of how the majority of people respond to color and use this information in your choice of colors. Use the guidelines in the chart below to help you choose the colors that are most appropriate for the message you want to get across in work.

Color Chart (suggested meanings) The chart below represents several meaning for color. Each color may represent another emotion to you. Use your best judgment when dealing with color and make sure to get feedback on the colors you use.





Red
Aggressive, strong & heavy
Blue
Comfort, loyalty & security
Yellow
Caution, Spring & brightness
Green
Money, health, food & nature
Brown
Nature, aged, & eccentric
Orange
Warmth, excitement, & energy
Pink
Soft, healthy, childlike & feminine
Purple
Royalty, sophistication & religion
Black
Dramatic, classy & serious
Gray
Business, cold & distinctive
White
Clean, pure & simple

Most colors go well together with members of the same "family". Warm colors for instant, such as red, brown, orange and yellow look better together in combination warm colors; cool colors like blue, green, gray and white with cool colored families. Using color families generally makes for a more appealing presentation and makes the presentation come across as ‘complete’ rather than ‘mixed’.

Contrast is fun and can be used effectively to accent and draw attention to such things as pendants or focal beads. In general, keep the contrast low. Too much contrast makes your work look obscure and uneven, avoid the extremes.”

All good advice when designing at any level or anything, not just jewelry. Try mixing some of the colors together to get an eye for what ‘emotions’ your jewelry pieces might be saying. This is just another tool one can use in order to reach out to their audience, clients and customers.

Excerpts from Sessions Online School of Design

Design Color Inspiration

What inspires someone to create in certain colors? Where did they come up with the color combinations? Did they see them on TV inspired by a personality or movie star? Or maybe they see something in a magazine or just in nature or on adventurous exploration trips. As an artist or designer color combinations can be quite the challenge because of the wide ranges to choose from.

Where ever a designer or artists gets their inspiration, it is their own and is really reflected in the art they create. I recently read a great article in the new Beading 101 & Beyond by Bead Style; “How to Mix Colors”. “Color choices are very subjective. Three great places to start when combining colors and building your color confidence; the color wheel, fashion trends and color forecasts, and ‘snapshots’ from your everyday life.”

Color wheels can be found anywhere on the Internet and are an easy way to show complimentary color combinations; you can choose from primary colors, secondary colors, and tertiary colors. It helps to create a broader look at several colors rather than just a few.

Fashion trends and color forecasts are predicted months in advance of the seasons by the expert fashion industry. To find out the latest in ‘hot or in’ colors, browse thru your local mall or favorite mail-order clothes catalog. I also will browse thru the weekly Sunday paper sales ads and some of the women’s magazines just to see what people are wearing. I keep color charts that are published from year to year; this gives me an idea of what comes and goes and what stays as a ‘staple’….my advice, never throw out anything!

Snapshots of nature, sunsets, and those vacations can bring a lot of inspiration to your designing world. There is no better palette to draw from than that of nature itself.

Sometimes you may see a very striking jewelry piece that really accents the individual; often what we wear is a reflection of who we are; our personality or what we want to become. Jewelry can be a staple for most or an accent to finish off the best dressed or it can predict the personality of the individual. For a moment, wonder through your own jewelry collection and see what you might have…..do you wear a lot of sterling silver, gold, maybe a combination of the two or do you wear a lot of copper or maybe a little bit of everything.

One of my favorite quotes is by Thomas Merton "The imagination should be allowed a certain amount of time to browse around." The more you keep things ‘fresh’ and browse around letting your imagination create, will lead to some of the best creations of our talents. Don’t be afraid to walk on the wild side and try things you have never done before; you just never know what might work and what won’t until you try!