michelangelo was frustrated because he wanted to start sculpting pope julius ll's tomb statues,
To argue about real motivation of the artist who lived and worked
several hundred years ago is besides the point. Only he knows what
actually happened and he is not telling. The incident was mentioned
as an example. If Michelangelo was struggling with his work, the
least we can do is to have the same consideration.
Leonid Surpin
The red thread tied around all this arguments that goldsmith somehow must slavishly follow all client's wishes, is an indication of a degree of insecurity about his/her own abilities. By allowing client to take control of the process, a goldsmith creates an excuse for the anticipated failure. And when it does happens, then goldsmith can blame everything on the client.
I wouldn’t say slavishly. Custom manufacture, which is what
jewellery making can be, requires a maker, and a customer with an
idea.
Even if the idea is just a simple idea e.g. “I want a ring with a
diamond in it”. Without the motivation of the customer, the
commercial jeweller has nothing to make or sell.
If you make custom items for clients, you must listen to them. The
process I like to follow :-
Sit with the customer and draw a rough sketch of what the
customer is describing. They leave when they’re happy. A pot of tea
and coffee close by is handy.
Refine your render, present it to the customer, make sure they
are happy, and if they are get the customer to sign off, and date the
render. They do not take the render until the item is made.
Make the item.
The only exception is when I use material that has random elements
in it, pattern welded steel, and Australia burls. Even then the
customer is getting what they asked for.
You are not making an excuse for failure, by catering to the
customers needs. Catering to the customers needs is good business
sense.
A client does not know what she wants, except that she wants to own a beautiful piece of jewellery. The rest is up to goldsmith. The ship sails to the Land of Ownership Bliss with only one captain on board, and that captain is me. A client can come along for the ride, or stay ashore and cry her eyes out at the lost opportunity. That is how it works. That is how it always worked. Trump wrote an excellent book "The Art of the Deal". Judging from comments on this subject, it has to be a mandatory reading in jewellery schools.
In the “Universe of Leonid” I’m sure that’s true. Maybe if you deal
with brain dead zombies, the people I deal with know exactly what
they want.
I have full control in the construction, but it’s my “interpretation”
of their ideas and needs that make the sales.
When we need a medical intervention, do we go to a doctor and start telling him/her "you are going to do the following.", or we describe the problem and let him develop a solution based on his/her training and expertise.
You go to the Doctor and say “I feel unwell…”, “I have a problem
with…” etc. Even when you go for a general health checkup you know
why you are going, and what you want the doctor to do for you.
The important thing about a Doctor, is that they listen to their
patients. They are a service industry.
The first thing my Doctor says is “What can I do for you today?”,
not “You need and enema!”
When we go to a restaurant, do we go in the kitchen and start dictating to the chef how to prepare our dinner, or we rely on his/her experience.
Depends on the restaurant. With a local Thai restaurant, I had to
send food back because they would not add the right amount of spice.
Even if you ask for Asian hot they will still leave the meal seasoned
at a level I consider bland.
Goldsmith/client relationship is a complicated subject, but in a nutshell the dynamics are not much different than in any sales scenario. One can never close, unless one has complete control over the situation. One will never have control, unless there is a trust has been developed between the parties. A trust can never be built, unless a seller can demonstrate that he deserves it. Product knowledge and overall mastery of the subject are significant components in this equation.
It’s only complicated if you make it complicated.
It’s supply and demand. You make jewellery as per the customers
needs, and sell it to them.
If you make exactly what the customer wants the sale is a snap, and
if the customer doesn’t want it, well the customer doesn’t get the
piece. For custom work 50% non-refundable deposit.
Frankly, it has been a revelation for me. I was alway wondered why there are so much bellyaching about prices of metals, slow business, and etc. I guess the mystery is solved.
When the price of gold hits $2000 an ounce I think belly aching is
warranted. Sure the price is offset by the customer, but it means we
get to make less, and I like making stuff.
Business is fine, it’s a little slow because the American economy
has been hammered. There no financial point in making things if no
one will buy them.
The mystery to me is how you had any customers at all.
Regards Charles A.
I'd be interested to hear how others use the 5 principles* of design (balance, proportion, rhythm, focus or emphasis, and unity) and the 7 elements* of design (point, line, form (2-dimension) and shape (3-dimension) and space, movement, color, pattern, and texture) to create not only well-designed pieces, but to also create a "platform" (my term) design on which you can vary one or more of the design elements to create a series in which each individual piece stands on its own, but the entire series is cohesive.
It is an excellent idea to take discussion in this direction.
However, it will take us into the area where words alone would not
do. So, if I can make a suggestion that whoever desires to do so is to
display design itself and provide explanation of the thinking process
and theoretical under-pinnings. May be Hanuman would want to provide
a space on his server for this purpose. As long as copyrights are not
violated, it should be ok to display designs of others with similar
explanations.
I also would like to add that it is possible to make a design,
correctly employing “5 principles” and “7 elements” and still wind up
with bad design if functionality of an object is ignored.
Leonid Surpin
I have only one small comment to make in this iteration of the
beauty and art question. Leonid Surpin stated that nature designs
with an eye toward maximum functionality. In fact, biological systems
never operate to optimize a design or structure but to simply make a
system that works better than whatever else was functional at the
time. A system moves toward being superior at a competitive task but
not necessarily optimal. It is competition which drives novelty in
biology. What is the value of novelty in jewelry.
Does our competition drive it? Are the classic methods, materials
and designs actually superior, and, if so, why don’t we all use
them? Can, in all truth, anyone describe the universal optimal
design or method of work? It is my conviction that there can be no
such since there are so many of us sitting in different chairs with
different goals, cultures and minds. I think that is why there is so
much dissent and difference of opinion on this forum as to how any
task “should” be performed, how a designer “should” design, what
materials "should be used…
Ganoksin has aided me in seeing metalsmiths and jewelers as a
community. I am no longer doing my “thing” in isolation and have
learned a lot about how some tasks might be performed and, in
general, what people see as ethical behavior or bad practice. For
all of this, I thank you. I will never, however, be convinced that
there is a specific way to work. There are, instead, a myriad ways
to work. This certainly appears to be true if the postings on
Ganoksin are any witness. Wishing all of you well,
Gerald Vaughan.
Leonid,
I was alway wondered why there are so much bellyaching about prices of metals, slow business, and etc. I guess the mystery is solved.
With all due respect, the goldsmiths you frequently argue with are
still in business, bellyaching or not. You had to close your studio
business if I recall, so perhaps they have it right and you have it
wrong.
Personally, I wonder whether the ideal is somewhere in the middle. I
can see where you’re coming from with your doctor and chef examples,
but the customers’ wishes have to come into the equation too.
Helen
UK
(three questions: too much, too little, just right ). I find these
three questions to be very usefull as simple but extremely effective
I dont think their simplicity should reduce the respect they deserve.
thank you Leonid, best regards goo
Getting back to Goo’s OP (sorry to be late, been out of town).
or how many have others set the goals for you ? if you are like me and you have a custom jewelry storefront every time a customer approaches you and says " i have all these diamonds and i want to put them into one ring " that is a goal !
My goal with every customer that comes in is having a smiling
customer walking out (having spent more than they originally intended
to). Happy people tell their friends, their friends tell their
friends, and so it goes. It works, I promise. Check your online
reviews to see how you stack up. Don’t have any? Ask for them…
challenge and an opportunity. You must produce a piece of work that is going to speak of several things, it will please or not please your client, it will send a message to your community that you are a can do designer and it is a personal challenge to yourself that you practiced you art craft trade with respect to yourself.
If you do that, the above will always be true. You will have happy
customers and they will tell their friends.
Some of my rules are to always design within my clients lifestyle, dont design outside of your skillset level, dont put poky settings on rings for clients who work with their hands alot.
I would only add that I think you should stretch your skills and
work outside of your comfort zone. That’s where the next level of
skills are. Some of my favorite work was doing things I didn’t know
if I could pull off or not, the best ones are the ones everyone else
said couldn’t be done. What’s the worst that can happen? You might
have to post a “how to” question on Orchid? Starting over with Plan B
is probably the worst, and that isn’t usually so bad.
I like my designs to be seen at a distance which means i use alot of motion in the piece i refer back to basics of geometry with concepts of ratio like the golden rectangle or 2:1 ratios for fancy cuts on pear shapes. so... anyone willing to participate with this
This is the seasoning you add to the mix. One of the guys that works
here right after he started said “I overheard you talking to that
guy. You recognized the person that made his ring instantly. I want
people to recognize my work like that!” I told him he had to work at
it for years until he was fluent enough in metal and stone to leave
his own mark like that, but it’s not only doable, it’s almost
inevitable. Referencing Jeff’s words, two seasoned goldsmiths given
the same design will come out with two pieces pretty darn close to
identical. There will be differences in the way certain elements are
done though, the shape of a channel wall for instance, the depth of
the stones, the cross sectional shape of the shank. That’s where the
individual personality comes in, and it’s why certain people’s work
is instantly recognizable by people familiar with their work. It’s
our signature style, and everyone that’s done this for a decade or
more has one. Just because one is different from the other doesn’t
necessarily mean one is superior. Just the different ways we cross
our "t"s or dot our "i"s. It’s one of the most beautiful facets of
our business if you ask me. I always learn from carefully examining
the work of others. In my shop, we always strive to do work to the
level that other goldsmiths can appreciate - impressing customers can
be easy, giving other professionals a reason to give it an admiring
once-ever is another thing entirely. That is one of the very few
non-negotiable goals of all custom work that leaves my shop. Even if
it’s butt-ugly, it’s gonna be a really well made piece of butt-ugly.
I want to get some feedback on the idea that there can be rules in creating jewelry designs.
Can there be rules in designing? That’s pretty much all there is if
you do this for a living, but they move around a lot. They’re
different for every customer and every design. And that’s the real
trick isn’t it? Figuring out what’s important? What their rules
are? What’s going to make them go weak in the knees? If you can’t
make them go weak in the knees every now and then, you need to work
on your communication skills 
Every now and then in the custom jewelry business we get to really
do what we want. I get to do that twice a year when I make pieces for
charity auctions. I have no parameters except what I place on myself.
Except, it has to have enough broad based appeal to drive bidding. It
has to be a piece I can size or modify if the auction winner needs it
slightly different. It has to be able to be fairly and accurately
valued at three times my cost for it to be a truly cost-effective
donation. But I get to do what I want (no rules, just right, uh-huh).
Sometimes, I whack it out of the park. Sometimes people yawn and wait
for the luxury weekend on the yacht or the golf trip to Scotland to
hit the block before they start bidding. If I had the secret, I’d be
posting from the Bahamas.
Sounds to me like you’ve got it goin’ on Goo. Just keep after it.
Dave Phelps
"platform" (my term) design on which you can vary one or more of the design elements to create a series in which each individual piece stands on its own, but the entire series is cohesive.
Well, Emie, it sounds like you’ve taking this thread in an
interesting direction. For myself, I’ll just say one thing - it
sounds like you already know quite a lot.
A craftsman is “a machine” in a certain sense only. Students learn
and teachers teach parts of the machine - it’s the nature of the
beast. So, jewelry schools devote a day to the jeweler’s saw, then a
day to the torch, and etc. Classes and workshops foster the same
sort of thing. Shakudoor mokume workshops. Not saying it’s right or
wrong, just that it’s how it is, often. Except that a machine - a
car engine for instance - isn’t a piston or a crankshaft, it’s a
machine. It’s when the pistons and the valves and the shafts all
work together in unison that the machine functions. And that’s the
same with craftspeople of all kinds. I don’t ~really~ think,
“Now-I’m-going-to-saw.” I think, “I need to do this and the saw’s
the tool for it.” Carving a wedding band with a mountain panorama
and a river and a little skier on a hill last year - (oh my God, I’m
a hack!) puts together the lathe, design tools, the flexshaft,
gravers and more with hand-eye coordination, and you just sit down
and do it. That’s the machine - I need to do this, and that’s the
way to do it.
And the same goes with the list of design elements. Likely you will
devote time to line, surface and form and all, because that’s how
things get taught. It’s when all of those concepts meld together and
become “a Machine” that the person actually ~becomes~ a designer.
As for the question quoted above, that’s pretty simple. Add another
concept to your list: Theme and Variation. You didn’t type it but if
you know what you did type, then surely it’s familiar to you.
John and Jo-Ann: Thanks for your kind words. Yes, Theme and
Variation are inherent, IMHO, in creating a cohesive series. The
theme should be recognizable in each piece, even as variations of it
are played out in the series. Much like musical compositions, I
think.
Leonid: Thank you also for your kind words. I agree that images are
probably the better way to illustrate intentionally using design
elements and principles in a “variation and theme” process to create
a series–it is hard to show in words. For a few examples, I would
refer people to Kazuhiko Ichikawa’s fan series on his Facebook page
(his photos); Andy Cooperman’s work online (several different series
exploring a variety of capture techniques); Judith Kinghorn’s gold
and oxidized silver brooches; and Linda Threadgill’s recent brooches
featured in Ornament magazine. Without permission to re-post their
images here, I encourage folks who may be interested to visit these
sites.
I don’t believe that the craftsman or artist is a machine, nor
should he take a mechanized approach to design. However, I do believe
that the more “tools” you have in your kit, the better able you are
in manifesting your vision in a tangible form. “Theme and variation”
(I really like that term) is another tool. That vision, its
manifestation, and your intentional selection of “tools” to bring it
to fruition is all part of the creative process. Plus, if you are
"stuck" and don’t have the luxury of remaining so, deliberately using
some of these tools can get you moving again much like sketching
everyday helps a painter, or playing practice bits helps a musician.
Looking forward to more discussion on this. Thank you to everyone
for sharing so much of yourselves in this forum.
Emie Stewart
but they are artists in that their work is based on design that is quite separate from the necessity
There you said it, Richard. They are artists (aren’t we all?) who
are designing. There’s not really any disagreement, I think, it’s
mostly the difficulty of conveying things in one or two paragraphs.
My thoughts are directed to makers - people who sit down at the
bench and feel mystified as to where to go and what to do. I’m
suggesting that “art” is an amorphous, undefined thing that offers
little or no guidance, where “design” is a discipline. The topic of
this thread. Yes, your examples are useful, if not my picks. But -
ask them. I’d bet dollars to donuts that each one would say
something along the lines of, “I start here, then I go there, then I
do this and then I do that.” At least if they thought about it.
And somebody else who wrote me also forgets that I, and others here,
are at a point in our careers. There was a time when I made a
ginormous conchobelt - was a pound of silver and a pound and a half
of mosaic stone. It was representational - birds, frogs, all
different, 12 elements with a mountain scene on the buckle. That
sold the next day, at auction, for $10K.
A month later was a turquoise fringe necklace (european style, not
native), all handmade. Flowers, fruit, chain. That one sold at
auction the next week for $6K. Just a couple of highlights. That was
in the early 70’s, when I was in my early twenties. I also ran a
couple of shops, at the time - notably the inlay/stone room. Where I
am today isn’t the same as my total experience - well, it’s the sum
of it, I suppose. I just followed the money, that’s all.
I told him he had to work at it for years until he was fluent enough in metal and stone to leave his own mark like that,
I just plucked out a particularly choice quote from David, but I’ll
add something else. I’ve been getting a feeling on this thread, not
directed at anybody in particular. That feeling is, “But you’re not
a REAL designer- THOSE people are designers.” And - since I can’t
design on the spot, it can’t be done and/or your designs must be
crap because you don’t take weeks to come up with them.
Well, I used to make freaky stuff till I got tired of being poor.
Then I gained more skills and more sense and more wisdom. I can - not
that I can, I ~have~ made all sorts of things. Thing is, I just
can’t sell it, just like a great many others can’t sell their own.
There are some few doing quite well with more avant guarde design,
not so many. There are quite a few selling $50 pieces hand over
fist, too. That’s 1/2 hour’s work for me. It’s just evolution.
And yes, I have customers coming Thursday for a custom pendant. By
the time they leave we will have a special design nailed down. And it
won’t be a basket setting. Cartier, Van Cleef, Boucheron, Heyman - on
and on and on - all have staff designers and it’s their job to design
jewelry on demand. Which isn’t to say that a complex piece can be
done in a few minutes. The fact that someone or the people they know
can’t do it doesn’t mean it can’t be done. Which is much of what this
thread is about. I know it’s pretty much what we do for a living,
given a choice.
Just want to chime in to this thread: Structure, function, beauty.
It has to be well made (no weak solder seams, not too thick or thin,
stones well set, etc., etc.,…), it has to do what it’s supposed
to do (rings must fit, balance well, not get snagged…settings
should last…earrings should hang right, not be too heavy…), and
the thing should look good (well…eye of the beholder, maybe?,
but…). There is a big difference between what a designer does and
what an artist does…think about it.
BK in BWA
I’ve been following this thread very closely. Here are the extreme
positions flanking this debate as I see them:
One camp believes there is a design process that can be used to
reliably crank out quality designs at a reasonably rapid pace upon
demand; and that those who complain about the jewelry designer’s
equivalent of “writer’s block” are either ill-disciplined, lazy
individuals or just plain ignorant of how to do design. The opposing
camp believes that those who rapidly crank out designs upon demand
are either geniuses or hacks, and that one is either inspired with an
artistic idea or one is not.
I’ll probably make someone angry, though that isn’t my intent. Just
pretend you see a friendly, caring face talking to you instead of
faceless words. Think of it as exercising your imagination and your
patience, which is bound to be helpful to one’s design skills,
however one goes about the task. J
Let’s start with the premise that one is an artist who believes in
the inspiration origin of good design ideas; but one does not receive
as many inspiring ideas as one would want. What is there to be done?
Is there anything that one can do to improve one’s “inspiration
count”? Or is one simply doomed to not have enough ideas for a
lifetime of work? One can only take so many nature walks or hot baths
in a day.
If there really isn’t anything one can do to improve the rate at
which inspiration strikes, then one is simply doomed to a life bereft
of enough inspiration to get the work done to our satisfaction.
That’s a sad fate.
If, on the other hand, there is a design process that works, that
improves the number, quality and speed with which designs arrive,
wouldn’t it make sense to use it? One the one hand is success and
fun, on the other is frustration and failure. It’s a simple choice,
isn’t it?
What if the design process doesn’t pan out, doesn’t improve the
number, quality or speed with which designs arrive? If we didn’t
spend a lot of money on it, are we any worse off? I say we aren’t. If
nothing else, the novelty of failing a new way might give us an
inspiration.
Oh, but you say, “You pre-supposed there was nothing I could do to
improve the rate at which inspiration strikes, and there is something
I can do to reliably do that!”
Ok, but if you reliably do that, isn’t that now your new design
process? J
In my non-jewelry professional experience, I’ve put the same basic
choice to others about their software design and development
processes. I’ve found that the vast majority of people simply do not
want to let go of their failure and change to simple, inexpensive
methods that had been demonstrated to work. I really struggled with
why they would do that. Then I finally understood.
You see, if I was right, they could have improved their software
processes on their own and their projects would have succeeded. Since
they chose not to do so, they were at fault for all the project
failures in their career (and most had quite a few). If I was wrong
and those I gave this option to were right, someone else, the
ubiquitous all-powerful “they above us who shall not be named but who
squelch all positive initiative” were to blame.
It’s not that they didn’t want to improve, they just didn’t want to
accept their project failures as their own even more.
I’ve tried all kinds of ways over the last few decades to sugar coat
the lesson but there’s simply no way to do it that people won’t
immediately see through.
I can easily see an artist struggling to come up with new designs
not wanting to acknowledge that there was an easier and better way to
get designs done. After all, that would mean that the paucity of
designs was due to their ignorance of good design process instead of
because the noble struggle for inspiration is so heroically hard -
and aren’t they ever so much better than almost everyone else who
can’t design at all?
Maybe I’m wrong and that there is no reliable design process that
helps turn out good designs quickly and reliably, upon demand. But we
have the testimony of many capable jewelers on this list that it is
possible to do so.
When faced with a choice of certain failure and reliable testimony
about proven methods, I prefer to try the proven methods rather than
plan to fail. That way, I might succeed. And if I fail, at least I
get a surprise with it and had hope for awhile.
Best of luck to you all.
One other aspect of this is whether a good design process can be
taught or whether one has to be born knowing how to do it.
It’s an important question if you (like me) aren’t one of the people
who can’t come up with new designs very quickly.
But I’m still a novice at making jewelry, so I don’t expect to be
able to at this point in my learning curve.
Thinking about this led me to think about the nature of teachable
skills. What makes a skill teachable? What can a teacher or student
do to improve the teachability of a skill?
After reviewing my life experiences at both teaching and learning,
I’ve decided that skills can be divided into three categories,
Teachable, Learnable and Discoverable. It is important to understand
which category a given skill is truly in because it governs how you
approach teaching it.
Given unlimited time and unlimited resources, one could argue that
all skills are teachable. It’s a moot point, because no one has
unlimited time and resources. One needs to make that determination
with a reasonable or customary amount of time and resources available
for instruction.
Teachable
A skill is Teachable if the instruction can be organized so that an
average and willing student has a 98% chance of learning it in a
reasonable or customary amount of time.
Learnable
A Learnable skill is not teachable. You can teach a student the
on how to learn the skill, but you cannot teach them the
skill. This is because a learnable skill requires a large amount of
independent action on the part of the student. You can teach them
what that action needs to be, you can teach them how to perform that
action and where and when to do so. But they have to do it, on their
own and with great regularity, which is something out of your
control.
Discoverable
A Discoverable skill requires an “Aha!” moment that arises when the
student is able to make the connections between disparate facts and
circumstances and truly understand the lesson. You can organize your
teaching so that the student circles around the topic, you can tell
them what to do and how to do it, but the student must make that
internal “Aha!” connection on their own.
So, how about some examples?!
Let’s take the example of “How to silver solder.” An instructor can
explain the scientific facts that are important to know about
soldering, the process of soldering and devise a set of exercises
for the student to perform the task of silver soldering. At the end
of the exercises, over a four to sixteen contact hour course, a
typical willing student can be expected to be able to silver solder
with a reasonable degree of proficiency. They will still have trouble
with tricky situations, but they will be able to solder many joints
just fine. They will benefit from additional practice, but that is
immaterial to the discussion. This is a predictably teachable skill.
Let’s take the example of “Build a mental and physical collection of
easily recallable and reusable design elements from (very) many
current and historical cultures around the world.” An instructor can
give them the task, teach them how to use the library, show them a
goodly number of examples, and even tell them how to record what they
learn in order to help them remember it and find it again in an
efficient manner. But the instructor simply cannot spare the time to
make the student do this work for the student, nor would it truly
help the student get that knowledge in their head, able to recall it
at need. The student has to:
This is, given a student who does the above, a predictably learnable
skill. No matter how many items and the corresponding reusable design
elements a teacher shows a typical willing student, they will not
recall enough of it unless they have put in the time to do the work.
Some skills like this are motor skills in which the muscles have to
be repetitively trained over a period of time; others are mental
skills where the brain has to be trained as well.
Let’s take the example of “Play Ball (Safely) with my grandson
Alexander.” Alexander is two years old and big for his age. If he
throws the ball with his right hand, all is well. But if he throws
with his left hand, he’s got a truly powerful throw, so watch out.
This would seem to be an imminently teachable skill. The amount and
complexity of the knowledge to transmit could not be easier. In
practice, however, Alexander has to bean someone really hard in the
face before the student says, “Oh! Left hand. Watch it! Got it.” This
has turned out to be a predictably Discoverable bit of knowledge.
Having made this a funny story, perhaps I have, unlike his father,
succeeded in turning this Discoverable skill into a Teachable one.
The only way to know is for enough of you to come over and play with
my grandson while I dig out pictures of him to show you.
Ok, I got to slip in a story about one of my grandkids! I could tell
you I’m sorry about that, but I don’t believe in lying to my friends,
so here’s another example. “Is Design a process that can be followed
to quickly and predictably get good results, or is it totally
dependent upon Inspiration?” I like specific, real-world examples, so
let’s start with a real-world design task, “Design a unique piece of
jewelry for this couple that is very much in love. Quickly.”
No, by “Quickly” I don’t mean “Immediately, while they are standing
there.” But I certainly do mean, “Before they go to another jeweler
and buy from them instead.” That gives you a sliding but unknown
window of time to work in.
What is the he first step of the design process - assuming a
"Brilliant Inspiration" ’ does not leap forth from your forehead like
Aphrodite did from Zeus’? I submit it is to “gain more time to do the
design”.
One can do this before ever meeting the couple by building such a
reputation for happy customers that this couple is willing to wait a
long time, but that hardly helps those of us who haven’t come up with
so many good designs that we have earned that reputation. What else
can we do? How about charm and excite the couple with how they will
feel when “your” design is ready for them, and then how much more
exciting it will be when they hold the finished item(s) “you” made
for them in their hands? This is something that, while not in your
control, is certainly in your range of influence. Being able to do
this is largely a learned skill because one has to practice it to get
truly good at it. But if the jeweler has never mastered this skill,
or even tried to master it, they are unlikely to think of trying to
do it, much less do it well.
Now, I’m happy to say I have some experience with successful
romance. I courted a charming, delightful, smart and knowledgeable
beauty and we’re still happily married some thirty one years later.
Surely what would win Rebecca’s heart would melt the hearts of
everyone, right?
You did know that Rebecca is the kind of person who reads
undertaker’s trade journals while stuck at the funeral home for a
relative’s funeral, and makes comments like 'Wow! Did you know that
they use staples to keep the.", didn’t you? I suspect you didn’t. I
also expect that you really, really don’t want to know what those
staples are keeping in place, either. Or that she reads
archaeological site reports about people who died in a peat bog over
two thousand years ago to find out what their stomach contents were;
then makes a (surprisingly!!) tasty bog person gruel that matches
the ingredients? Or that she makes beautiful works of art (in dozens
of media - so eat your heart out with jealousy) and gives them to me
because she loves me?
So, should I just assume the things that make my honey excited will
work for our potential lovebird clients? Or is there some process I
could follow to find out what excites them? I’m thinking there is a
process I could follow. I could observe what they are dressed like,
what they are carrying, what tattoos they have and what their names
are. I could ask them what they each love to do on their own and what
they love to do by themselves. I could ask them how they met or about
any funny experiences they shared together. Socrates in ancient
Greece developed a means of questioning people to get at the heart of
what they mean. It’s called the Socratic method and it’s an extremely
powerful mental tool. But if the artist hasn’t learned how to follow
this process of getting from a potential client, or
isn’t even aware of it, they can’t make use of it effectively.
Incidentally, if the couple had a great time sharing their loving
moments with me and not any of the other jewelers they’ve talked to,
my time window to come up with a winning design just might have
gotten significantly larger. Their budget might just have gotten
larger, too. J
Now that I have some relevant that might “Brilliantly
Inspire” ’ me, maybe inspiration will hit and I’ll get the sale. Or
maybe it won’t. Do I just give up if nothing comes to mind? Do I just
wait around for “Brilliant Inspiration” ’ to strike as the potential
client clock runs down and they buy from someone else? If I don’t get
inspired, do I just claim that I have a block and call it a day? Or
is there a process I can follow that will help me come up with a
winning design?
I think there is. I believe that good designs are Discoverable. By
that, I mean that if I can navigate my brain close enough to where a
good design can be found for long enough I’ll stumble upon it and
recognize it when I do. This is also why design is so hard. Not
because design is so hard in and of itself, but because keeping my
brain working efficiently at this task requires me to have mastered a
lot of other skills.
If I don’t know how to solder, I either won’t recognize a good
soldered design or I’ll have to throw it away because I can’t use it.
If I can’t solder with the necessary level of quality and don’t know
who to subcontract that step to for reliable results, I’ll have to
discard that design. The same is true of texturing, riveting, sawing,
casting, raising, chasing, repousse, engraving, enameling, cloisonne,
champleve, acid etching, patination, and so on through a veritable
host of skills.
If I don’t how different proportions work to present a pleasing
effect, I’ll turn a great design idea into a terrible design. The
pieces of the design just won’t seem to fit together. I could, of
course, make it dozens of times using trial and error to get the
proportions right, but by then I’ve probably blown my client’s
deadline or lost money on the deal.
If I don’t have a good mental library of reusable design elements
that can be mixed and matched, I’ll be navigating in largely empty
space. I can’t easily realize that a given reusable design element is
"just what I need right there" to turn a so-so design into a great
one. I can’t easily realize that I could take half of one design
element and half of another to create an original design element
that’s “just right” if I never learned the two design elements I
could have borrowed from.
I hate buying clothes. It’s boring and it takes forever. I can’t
remember what I have and have trouble finding things in my size. It
might take me weekends of effort to replace my business wardrobe when
it wears out. Then I discovered The Men’s Wearhouse. I walked in and
the salesman asked me a few questions to determine what part of the
store we needed to be in. He asked a few more questions to get a
rough idea of my stylistic interests. Then he showed me four suits
and asked which I liked. I pointed out two, the others disappeared,
and a few more showed up. We repeated this drill a few times over the
next three minutes, then he gave me one in the right size (having
measured me) and sent me off to try it on. When I came back a few
minutes later, the empty table next to where we had been standing
was now full. There were two suits I liked, plus a host of shirts,
ties, socks, belts and shoes that all looked good with the suits and
could be mixed and matched with one another. All I had to do was
point at each item and say, “Yes” or “No.” In ten minutes my wardrobe
was picked out. All I had to do was spend a few minutes getting the
tailor’s marks on the suits and pick up the suits a few days later. I
spent way more than I meant to and I was extremely happy. I looked
good at work and I hadn’t wasted four or five weekends making it
happen. That company had a sales process that was tailored to their
business, which is making men look good in things they have to buy
and typically don’t want to. And jewelers think they have it hard. At
least people who buy jewelry want to!
How does that relate to the design process and my prior points?
That initial interview was just a sentence or two, but the salesman
knew I was looking for suits and not casual clothing. He had learned
what kind of products I wanted to buy and did not waste his time or
mine showing me the wrong products. He used the Socratic Method when
he showed me a small range of suits to choose from. He was able to
quickly zero in one what kind of suit I felt good in through the
pictorial medium of the sample suits and relevant questions, like,
“Which parts of this suit do you like the most or the least? And
why?” He knew his stock (which in our case could be our design bank
of styles) and used this method to quickly bring something in front
of me that I was interested in. The next part, where he assembled a
smorgasbord of items that mixed and matched with the two suits is
the brilliant part of this wardrobe design process. He worked to his
strengths and mine. In my case, I know what I like when I see it. He
was good at recognizing which colors, textures and styles would look
good together given the starting point of the two suits. The process
was painless and we both got what we wanted out of it. He got the
satisfaction of making a customer happy, designing a great wardrobe
combination, and a fat commission check. I looked good at work and
(for bonus points) my honey was happy with the way I cleaned up, too.
I’m about to mention an equally important aspect of this wardrobe
design process that is less obvious. He was in the business of
selling business wardrobes to businessmen. He wasn’t surprised that
someone came in looking for a couple of nice suits and the other
items to go with them. He was prepared to deal with his most likely
(and lucrative) customers. Going back to our design problem for our
lovebirds, should I be surprised that two folks came into my jewelry
business to buy love tokens? A general purpose jeweler shouldn’t be
surprised at such a request! That’s their bread and butter! Any
general purpose jeweler designer should already have spent a great
deal of time contemplating the nature of designs that are suitable
for this purpose. For example, a common theme in marriages or
engagements is that of two people becoming one. If I am properly
prepared to do my job as a general purpose jeweler, I should already
have explored how to represent that thought in jewelry. I may not
have designs fully ready to produce at a moment’s notice, but I
should have quite a few solid starting points ready to go. Let’s say
I decide to focus on what they like to do together or the cute way in
which they met as the basis for a design. If I’m prepared, I should
have already done some thinking about how people meet or what
hobbies they often do together in my part of the world and how to
translate that into jewelry. Be prepared is a good motto. Let’s say
that they met in a living history re-enactment group that is focused
on the War Between the States. If I have historical knowledge about
the war and the artistic themes prevalent during those times, I can
bring that knowledge to bear in my initial discussion with the
potential client and as another starting point in the design process
as well. Maybe one is a Rebel and the other is a DamnYankee and they
kid one another about it. (Yes, DamnYankee really is just one word
and the only kind there is according to some of my southern-born
friends). That might spark an idea to use blue and gray (the colors
used by the two opposing sides) blending together somewhere in the
design. That knowledge bank is just like our wardrobe salesman who
knew his stock and how to present it in its best light.
I think The Men’s Wearhouse method could be adapted to custom
jewelry design through the medium of artistic styles and motifs.
Maybe not. At some point I’ll find out for myself if someone else
doesn’t chime in that it works for them.
I don't believe that the craftsman or artist is a machine, nor should he take a mechanized approach to design
I’m not really surprised that was misunderstood - it’s the nature of
forums and sound bites. I didn’t mean anything like mechanical. I
just meant that all of the “tools” - sawing, torching, designing -
need to work in unison with each other. As a piston is just a chunk
of aluminum until it gets hooked to the crankshaft and fuel is
injected and a spark is made…
… It’s when that relatively effortless place is reached where you
don’t ~think~ about sawing, or designing, that the fun begins and
sparks start flying.
people -
i realized how lucky i have been with my work when i read this :
I don't necessarily make what I like, I make what the customer wants.
to people who inquire about my designs my response is “i get to make
what i want, how i want it, when i want to, with material i want to
use, and people pay me for the results. what could be better?”
Converting a customer's thoughts and ideas into jewelry in my opinion is an art form of its very own.
ah, but would it not be more self-satisfactory to have a customer
say “i love your designs. could you make something for me in amethyst
(whatever) like one of these (whatever) pieces?” unless a potential
commission selects you by pinning up a jewelers’ roster and letting
sail a dart, point out that your style attracted them and to allow
you to make suggestions/sketches of what you see for them. it’s like
being the destination instead of the taxi.
good luck -
ive
as my dad said “decide ahead of time what your price would be to
trade off part of what you are so you don’t sell yourself too
cheaply.”
Maybe I'm wrong and that there is no reliable design process that helps turn out good designs quickly and reliably, upon demand. But we have the testimony of many capable jewelers on this list that it is possible to do so.
The more I read this thread, the more I am becoming convinced that
jewelers who claim that they can design quickly and efficiently,
actually do not understand what design really is.
So let me repeat my suggestion. Show us these designs and explain
their features, rationality behind, and the main idea.
There are eastern saying that in the kingdom of blind, the man with
one eye is the king.
I have a deep suspicion that it is very reflective of the sentiments
in this thread.
Leonid Surpin
I agree–in that “relatively effortless place”, we’re firing on all
cylinders and truly lose track of time since we are so immersed in
the creative process. It is a great place to be.
It's an important question if you (like me) aren't one of the people who can't come up with new designs very quickly.
David - believe in yourself and practice ! when i design maybe one
out of every 500 are really good and one out of 5000 are great this
does not stop me from producing ideas it makes me produce more. maybe
we should get a workshop going on how to design
Goo
Let's start with the premise that one is an artist who believes in the inspiration origin of good design ideas; but one does not receive as many inspiring ideas as one would want. W is there to be done?
herein lies the greatest mystery one side believes they have to feel
inspired to come up with a jewelry design. there was a time in the
past when i was a young artist that i believed ( key point here
believed ) i needed to be " in the mood " luckily i had Art & Music
teachers that cared and they taught me that the formula for success
is 1 % inspiration & 99% persperation Now believe ( key point here )
I personally do not need to feel inspired when i design jewelry.
When i design jewelry for a client i need to have instructions, and
parameters these instructions are the translation of the clients
personal tastes likes and dislikes. I just pick up the pencil and
eraser ( key item here eraser ) & start drawing, any one can do this
it is a bit difficult at first when you have no practice at it but
it is possible out of 20 thumbnails you may like only one but the
one is worth all the throw away thumbnails, you show them and the
client says no maybe and in the end yes, yes.
I like that one.
This does not make me a " hack " it makes me a positive thinker as
far as i understand the common American definition of the word " hack
" is some one that shows no care in executing craftsmanship in their
work. and according to Elenor Roosevelt you cannot make me think
badly about my self unless I allow you too so there I am not a " hack
" like Mozarts nemesis Salieri who was filled with hatred and
jealousy because he had no faith in himself, while Mozart was free
and followed his own rules and disciplines ( yes I am comparing
myself to Mozart get overit ).
Designing is problem solving plain and simple
goo