Jewelry design - what & where to learn

Jewelry Discussion
21

This is a very interesting thread! I have taken one design class. I’m
not sure I got anything out of it. I was told by the instructor I
have an awful eye for design and placement, am incapable of learning
such, etc. My photography instructor told me quite the opposite,
fawning over my photos and disliking most others. Took the
photography class first, btw.

I suspect that some people have innate senses about design, others
not. And then there is an eye for what appeals. Thinking on it, I’d
have to say I did learn some things about design…why certain shapes
work toward certain things, how to arrange pieces so that people’s
eyes don’t drift away, but into the design.

Like you, Kenton, I sometimes just play with something until it
’comes alive’, then I know it’s done. :slight_smile:

At other times I’ve drawn a design out, blocked it out even, hated
it, took a break, more work…eventually I find what I’m looking for.
Usually when running errands, if you can believe it. A woman queued
up at the check-out had a hideous (to my eyes) bracelet on and she
kept straightening her collar. And there, in the fabric near her
collar, was an odd shape that completed an abstracted image I was
struggling with.

For me, inspiration and design work together, and without one, I
lose the other.

Just my thoughts…
Kim

22 
I have worked with jewelry designers that have multiple art
degrees but haven't ever put torch to metal.

This also speaks to the “How to start and MFA program.” to a degree.
We get resumes all the time in the mail (though we don’t hire).
Almost all of them have a list of schooling, some have job
experience. They all go straight into the round file. Send some of
that stuff and a single picture, and you’ll have something. Sure,
you went to school, but did you learn anything? Of course the other
side of the coin is rampant, too - “I never read anything or had any
training (one said even that it can’t be taught!), but I’m a jewelry
designer because I want to be.” Those don’t go in the round file,
they get burned…

23 
good design is not willy nilly, heely feely or all peace and love
and bell bottoms.

And it doesn’t come out of thin air, either. If you have trouble
designing or find yourself running out of ideas, it’s Back To Nature
for a refresher course. The garden, the seashore, the desert…are
infinite sources of inspiration. Find something out there that
appeals to you. You now have a base from which to work. The challenge
will be translating it into a wearable and decorative object. Two
things you never want to hear: “Beautiful craftsmanship…but it’s
ugly.” and “Lovely design, but it isn’t going to hold together.”

Dee

24 
i just have to throw this link in this subject
http://en.wikipedia.org/golden_ratio

Almost renamed this “So what is this Golden Ratio and what does it
Mean?”… But it’s good as it is… The Golden Ratio is easily
researched as to WHAT it is - I won’t get into that here. I’ll begin
with this quote from Mathworld:

In the Season 1 episode “Sabotage” (2005) of the television crime
drama NUMB3RZ, math genius Charlie Eppes mentions that the golden
ratio is found in the pyramids of Giza and the Parthenon at Athens.
Similarly, the character Robert Langdon in the novel The Davinci
Code makes similar such statements (Brown 2003, pp. 93-95). However,
claims of the significance of the golden ratio appearing prominently
in art, architecture, sculpture, anatomy, etc., tend to be greatly
exaggerated.

To think about the importance of the Golden Ratio in design - I’m
not pretending it’s not important - I am saying it’s not THAT
important - we need to ask ourselves, “Was the piece in question
designed using the Golden Ratio?” In the case of almost everything
everybody mentions - the pyramids, the Parthenon (for sure), the
Mona Lisa, DaVinci’s anything, the answer is unequvocally NOT.
Search for “Mona Lisa Golden Ratio”, and you’ll find beautiful
golden rectangles drawn here and there, for sure. Anybody who wants
to can draw any rectangles they choose in the same spots with the
same results - they don’t mean anything, it’s entirely arbitrary
(It’s actually based on a triangle). Fact is, the concept has been
around for a long time, but nobody much cared about it until the
1500’s and really not until the late 1800’s and after - that’s
debatable, I guess, but certainly not the pyramids.

From Wikipedia:

Some scholars deny that the Greeks had any aesthetic association
with golden ratio. For example, Midhat J. Gazale says, "It was not
until Euclid, however, that the golden ratio’s mathematical
properties were studied. In the Elements (308 B.C.) the Greek
mathematician merely regarded that number as an interesting
irrational number.

And:

It is indeed exemplary that the great Euclid, contrary to
generations of mystics who followed, would soberly treat that number
for what it is, without attaching to it other than its factual
properties."[16] And Keith Devlin says, "Certainly, the oft repeated
assertion that the Parthenon in Athens is based on the golden ratio
is not supported by actual measurements. In fact, the entire story
about the Greeks and golden ratio seems to be without foundation.
The one thing we know for sure is that Euclid, in his famous
textbook Elements, written around 300 B.C., showed how to calculate
its value.

The point being that the Golden Ratio is important. Mostly it’s
important in mathematics, because it pops up all the time. And it’s
not even really that important in mathematics - The General Theory of
Relativity is important. The math behind String Theory is important.
Bose-Einstein Condensation is important. The Golden Ratio is more of
a mind puzzle that maybe leads to some understanding of nature’s
plan. But the fact that we can go back to antiquity and draw
rectangles on things only means that it represents a pleasing shape,
and people like pleasing shapes. If something is designed using the
Ratio, then you have something - going back later and imprinting it
on art work is trivial and meaningless. So, learn what it’s about,
enjoy it, use it - you’ll get a finely shaped swimming pool if you
use the Golden Ratio. After that I’d suggest moving on to the nature
of curves - much more interesting and useful. Yes, mathematical
construct curves can be tied to the Golden Ratio, too, but Golden
Ratio curves are only a tiny percentage of curves (and only a
non-designer would use such a ponderous method to draw them). Get a
pencil and go “Swoop” on a piece of paper… I have three “real”
mathematicians in my family (particle, laser and other), and they do
have an endless fascination with how numbers make patterns, kind of
like going into a grocery checkout with 16 items and having it add up
to $60.00. Does that mean that everything, or indeed anything, in the
real world and especially artistic design needs to even nod to the
principle? No, not really, unless you just want to… On the other
hand you won’t get far without knowing what it’s about, either.

25 
I was told by the instructor I have an awful eye for design and
placement, am incapable of learning such, etc.

Where do they find people like that, and more importantly, why on
Earth do they hire them?

26 
even if you believe you are playing around and experimenting and
doing somthing new you will unknowingly be doing it according to
the rules !!!! because the rules are what make humans feel good.

Although all that Goo has said on this thread is true, I balk a
little when it gets into the realm of numerology, maybe. Yes, there
are patterns in the world. Do they mean SO much? Well, maybe yes,
maybe no - certainly the patterns are there. Since his link to music
didn’t work, plus you don’t need to know harmony, anyway (the best
book i’ve seen on harmony - the study of music - is 4" thick and
costs $150), I’ll put it more tightly:

C scale, key of C:

C D E F G A B (C) - assign those numbers (music does this): C=1,
D=2, etc.

So, 1,4,5 is C, F, G

1,4,5 is the most common chord progression in the world (not every
pop song, but nearly)

Eight bar blues in C: C, C, F, F, C, G, etc.

Twelve bar blues: 1,1,1,1,4,4,1,1,5,4,1,1

That is everything Chuck Berry, Elvis and the Rolling Stones and
even much of Broadway (Even Beethoven, actually, though it’s harder
to see) ever recorded, with variations that don’t alter the form in
any real way. The important thing is that it SOUNDS right. Play 1,
4, 6 and it just doesn’t work, though there are other progressions
that do work. And actually it’s not THAT true because often the
fifth is flatted or is the 7th (G7) - not a “pure” fifth.

Now, I’m not going to argue with Goo or anyone that there’s some
mystical arrangement - it could be that there is, in the human
psyche. But, as he points out, these are important things to
understand if one is to be a designer of any merit - the patterns of
nature, man, and the universe.

27 
If you have trouble designing or find yourself running out of
ideas, it's Back To Nature for a refresher course. The garden, the
seashore, the desert...are infinite sources of inspiration.

Yes you are right, but as someone else said at some point, there is
nothing new, that hasn’t been done before. When I look at the work
of others, there are often recurring themes. I thought of using the
leaves of the ancient Gingko biloba tree, as they are unique and
beautiful, but I haven’t done so because almost everybody else has
had the same idea. There are Gingko biloba leaf earrings and pendants
everywhere!

Insect forms also seem to be popular. I think that’s where there can
be a problem with literal interpretation. I think that being
inspired by something one sees in nature can work very well if you
take that inspiration and use it in a more abstract way or give it
some personal twist. I’m not personally a fan of carved dog or
dolphin pendants and the like and unless you are a dog breeder or
work with dolphins, etc it seems a bit odd to me to want to hang such
creatures around the neck. However, I have seen some wonderful work
from some artists who are inspired by some of the more unusual sea
creatures and base their designs around them, but not in a truly
literal way. They are more suggestive of such creatures.

Helen
UK

28 
even if you believe you are playing around and experimenting and
doing somthing new you will unknowingly be doing it according to the
rules !

Knowing the rules is necessary before you can break them and produce
good stuff.

KPK

29 
I also think that many are unable to deal with parameters and
constraints, which is fundamental also.

Parameters and constraints are my best friend. Without these you
have no target. Without a target you’ll never hit a bull’s eye.

It might be fun to throw a bunch of bezels and squiggles at your
charcoal block but what have you produced? Randomosity. That’s not
design, that’s chance. Ok, a few of those might be cool by accident.
But have you mastered a concept? Have you drawn out of the materials
something that you knew was in there just screaming at you to get
out? Have you been the creator…or a bystander?

That might sound snobbish to some but you have to keep raising the
bar. What, no bar? how do you jump?

30

Hi Neil-the-Jeweler! You sound a lot like my husband. Lovely,
wonderful man, great artist and designer…smart enough to know that
a little chaos is good for the soul and that I don’t highjump (with
the bar and don’t forget the pole for support), I jump for distance.
No bar, but we keep improving anyway. :slight_smile:

Yeah, I recognize that look on your face. He gets it too. I think I
drive him nuts. But he enjoys watching me work and has told me how
amazed he is when I sit at the bench, completely engrossed in the art
of creating, just where the direction takes me. Do I have a few
pieces I’d hide from the garbage man? Yeah…but not many. He, on the
other hand, has a way of creating in his head and on paper, with
rulers and lines and math that completely baffles me. So…with the
two of us together, we decided to learn from one another. I’ve
started journaling some of my ideas…minimalist sketches, one might
say, but I’ve started. And my head is full of the possibilities that
the metal creates. I’ve seen some amazing work…this list is
populated with a great variety of artists and artistic styles, and
many centuries of experience added together.

I’ll tell you I have a horrible memory. That’s not the truth. My
head is filled with images and sketches and sculptures, jewelry and
designs and space. I am not a good enough artist to draw
these things, but the metal shows me how to create it regardless.
With all that going on, of course I forget. But I’m starting to find
it’s worth the trade-off.

And like you, my husband knows the parameters, the constraints…the
numbers and angles and shades of answers. He knows what lines he
wants before he picks up the metal. I envy that, sometimes.

Kim

31 
I'm not personally a fan of carved dog or dolphin pendants and the
like and unless you are a dog breeder or work with dolphins, etc it
seems a bit odd to me to want to hang such creatures around the
neck.

The real reason to look to nature can be literal, but it can be not
literal, too. Instead of making (yet another) dolphin pendant, look
at the graceful arc of it’s spine, and just use that - same with a
greyhound or lots of other things. Plus there’s all the other things

  • parts of flowers, trees, shells, seeds. Take 1/32 of some snowflake
  • instant pendant. Diatoms, spores, crystal structure…
32 
i think one that is trying to make jewelry should get modeling clay
(or PMC) and model things from it,, feel it in your fingers, and
shape intuitively, things, and not things,, twists, what YOU call
a design,,"

This sounds like the Reggio Emilia teaching method out of italy it is
a teaching philosophy that uses natural materials to provide toddlers
a learning experience. it is quite well respected all through out the
world ! stimulas based learning but at some point as donovan suggests
maturity is required in ones field and learning parameters requires
discipline.

I would like to see someone who is in charge of a jewelry design
program actually make a committment to something worthy of the money
being paid for degree programs.

it would be nice to see some young people graduate design school AND
be marketable in thier field

goo

33 
Insect forms also seem to be popular. I think that's where there
can be a problem with literal interpretation.

Yes, insectoid designs are popular. Someone once said that if your
design looks like something that will catch a fish it will sell.
Know what? They were right!

As to literalisms in jewelry design I also find it better to
“suggest” an object than to “literally” try to duplicate it. Tis
better to leave something to the imagination- it works ever time. :slight_smile:

Kenton

34 
By marketable do you mean make money? If that's the case, it's
never going to happen.

Schools are not designed to teach their students how to make money.
That’s the job of the industry that they enter. This is especially so
if you’re talking about jewelry, a craft. Even though there is
Orchid, one cannot learn how to make jewelry simply by posting on
Orchid although that expectation seems to be rife.

Apprenticeship is the answer. In craft you have to be there in person
to learn; to watch and question and attempt. Books are wonderful
things as are videos, but not nearly the same as being there.

KPK

35

Hello Orchid readers,

I have a small school in Northern New Mexico and I have taught many
students about jewelry making techniques and design. Most students
have the same questions. In the week long classes that I teach we
can not address everything but I do try to give students good solid
approaches to learning about the design process and figuring out how
to construct things. My school concentrates on fabrication
techniques.

In thinking about design we are almost over stimulated by all the
ideas that surround us. Most introduction to jewelry making books
have a section on design worth reading. Spend time in bookstores and
libraries exploring what is out there and looking through metal
working and lapidary magazines provides examples of what already has
been made by other craftsmen and gives an indication of techniques
that are available. Visiting galleries and shops teach people
something about what they like and don’t like. It should also inspire
you to get going on making your own jewelry. Inspiration is all
around us and the more you see the wider your design vocabulary will
be.

Do photo copies of interesting images, keep a scrap book of ideas and
do sketches. Don’t copy, just absorb and refine your tastes. Train
your eye to recognize good proportion and figure out what most
appeals to you. Designing is about making decisions and all of us
already do that every day. Don’t be afraid of it all but instead
become more aware of the conscious decisions you are making.

Once you are inspired I feel it is essential to take a good beginning
course with someone who can teach the basics and especially
soldering. You must have technical knowledge as well as ideas to
become a good jeweler. My introductory workshops start with
demonstrations and then students try each technique. In a week long
class half of the week is spent watching, then trying techniques and
experimenting to see how metal works. Don’t underestimate the
importance of just allowing yourself to play with metal without the
pressure of making a jewelry project. That play time will generate
ideas you never expected to have.

After you have an idea about how metal behaves then it is time to
make some thing. I encourage my students to do sketches but
additionally, especially with beginners, I find making models out of
paper and tape, or thin metal helps clarify the procedure of
constructing things. It gives a truer idea of how the piece may
look. Because jewelry is small and often detailed, learning the
proper sequence of building your piece is essential. Again that
should be covered in a good jewelry making class. Construction takes
careful thought and valuable time can be lost if things are put
together in an illogical way and have to be redone. For example, when
soldering a bezel on to the piece, the background should be textured
and polished first so that you don’t have to work around the delicate
bezel later trying to polish behind it. I teach my students to
solder in a very careful meticulous way so there should be no clean
up. Soldering is one process that a good instructor can teach you.
Careful soldering is one of the most important skills you will
learn. It is of absolute importance that you get good training with
someone who doesn’t have bad habits. It is hard to unlearn things.

Design and technique go hand in hand and is essential to develop
both. Making jewelry is like any other skill. It requires practice
and patience. You can teach yourself a lot of things from books but
nothing replaces working with someone who knows what they are doing
and has been working for a long time. You can learn tips and short
cuts you could never find in a book.

If you have an opportunity please look at my web site and come to
visit New Mexico. We have wonderful galleries and suppliers here
that will stimulate your imagination. I will look forward to meeting
you, Marilynn

Marilynn Nicholson
Taos School of Metalsmithing & Lapidary Design

36

Orchid should be back in not too long, I guess, unless they having
so much fun they just stay away ;}

Goo mentioned music as an analogy for design, and it’s caused
thoughts in my mind. Whether that’s good or bad depends, I guess.
I’ll start out with the guitar, and go to the piano, and I’m assuming
everybody is ignorant of harmony, so excuse me if you’re not.

Most people who want to play the guitar buy one and some book, or
take lessons. I bought a book of popular songs that I knew and they
have little charts of the chords where needed, but then I could
alread read music. You put your fingers like the chart, and you’ve
got a song. People learn 20 or so chords and careers have been made
out of that. But they are monkeys, because they don’t know why or
how those little charts are here or there or which ones go where.

So, you go to the piano, and by dumb luck you hit the key that
represents C, and your fingers walk upwards going CDEFGABC, and it
sounds good. In fact, it sounds just like Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do,
because that’s just what it is. Cool! So, you are master of the
piano! You decide to take it further, and you go down to the key
below the C, which is B, and do the same thing - BCDEFGAB. Well
something’s wrong here, because it sounds like two tomcats fighting
at 2AM. Whatever could it be? Without the theory to know what’s
going on behind the scenes, you will never know, it’s just plain bad.
You can do the same on the piano as millions do - buy sheet music and
play it to your heart’s content. But again you are really a monkey,
as many orchestral musicians have referred to themselves as being.
Again, millions of people find joy in playing music, and often they
know little of what they are doing but they just find pleasing
sounds on their own - nothing wrong with that.

A professional musician or especially a composer - someone like
Andrew Lloyd Weber, for instance, does know, and has to know the how
and why, though. And the same goes for jewelry design or any design
for that matter. It’s really very little different from music, the
only real problem is that music is a self-contained art form and most
others cross over many disciplines to find their way - it’s more
difficult to say “This is jewelry design” than to say the same for
music. Anyone here can design a chair and even build one, but that
doesn’t mean Ethan Allen is going to hire you as a designer - that
takes real ability and knowlege. And the same is true of jewelry -
many here are having good fun and even making money doing their
designs, many of which are pretty good or very good. That doesn’t
mean that Cartier is going to hire you as a designer, though. A
professional jewelry designer is more than that.

For the curious, the reason the B and C scales sound different is
because the C scale is a C Major scale. A Major scale is defined in
steps, which is the difference between two white keys on the piano -
each white key is one step, the black keys are half steps or sharps
and flats. (the piano is based on the scale, not vice-versa) The
major scale is two whole steps, one half step, etc. In order to get
that spacing when starting from B, you need to use 5 sharps, meaning
5 black keys, to get the same sound - the same “flavor” of scale.
That’s the reason, though of course the whole theory of scales and
keys and everything (diatonic tetrachords…) is much more, but
this isn’t a music lesson…

http://www.donivanandmaggiora.com

37 
Schools are not designed to teach their students how to make
money. That's the job of the industry that they enter.

to quote the most prestigous past leader of the USA “Define
marketable " of course it means to be able to be employable which for
the employer fill a position that will make money for thier business
that is true for any field of employment. HERE IS WHAT I AM SAYING.
when parents and young people sign up for jewelry major at art school
they are uninformed AND these folk DO NOT KNOW how uninformed they
are and the art college doesnt care because of " cavet emtor” you
dont see universities graduating athletes who dont know how to play
football ! or some other big money sport ! they may not all make the
cut to the playing field but they do have the skills to coach,
manage, sports writers or commentators sell sports equipment or the
like. young people or artists who graduate “art school” on the other
hand seem to be a different story, the big demand in the jewelry shop
is “bench monkey” cranking out hollow chain repair and sizing paper
thin hollow shank rings that the stones fall out of if you look at
them the wrong way and of course it has to be done to perfection at
$6 each so inorder for the shop to survive they have to do 30 per
hour to make the shop rate so the kid can struggle to pay off student
loans and keep room and board plus transportation at $10 an hour? the
other big help is cleaning the shop and they dont even require young
folk to take a class in janitorial svcs at "art school

goo

38

Yes I agree with KPK. I wondered if anyone would mention
apprenticeships. It’s most valuable to find an experienced jewelry
professional who can teach you one-on-one at the bench when you’re
first learning the trade. It’s priceless to have a student be so
eager to learn that they houver over my shoulder and ask question
after question about the tools and techniques, then ask “can I try to
do that?” When I was first learning I’d do as much ‘brain picking’ as
I possibly could, take notes, then try it myself. I really do need to
write a book.

Margie
www.mmwaxmodels.com

39 
suggests maturity is required in ones field and learning
parameters requires discipline.

Orchid’s on vacation now or soon, so this will be part of the new
threads later, I suppose. Many people think that Jimi Hendrix was “a
natural”, and his playing was effortless. and it just came to him. In
reality he learned theory and practiced for 8 hours a day, every day
for years. It is a fact that anybody can get some PMC and mash it
into some bizarre shape, cook it, likely sell it and maybe make a
good living at it. And more power to them. So a customer walks in the
door with a 2 ct. diamond who wants a tailored piece that’s also
highly original. What do you do then? Winging it can get you by, but
solid skills and ability gets the prize. The issue, to me, is not to
say that there’s some certain way that’s “right”. The issue is, do
you (whoever) want to be a street artist or the next Lalique? Lalique
also learned theory and practiced 8 hours a day, every day, for
years. Start now.

40

I’ve noticed a common thread among this topic’s responses. Those who
teach classes in jewellery design/making and those who went to
college to learn such things, all seem to think it absolutely
essential to have classes from a knowledgeable and qualified teacher
of such things. I would say they are a tad biased.

KPK said the other day that the view that one could read simply
Orchid and become a jeweller was rife. I responded to him offlist and
onlist (twice) but my reply didn’t get through for some reason, even
though there was nothing untoward in my post. I said that his
statement is unfair and that everybody learns in a different way.
Also, everyone has different personal circumstances and one isn’t
always in a position to be able to take classes, whether it be for
financial reasons or just from a practicality point of view.

As a community of people, Orchid is made up of people from many walks
of life and who learned to make jewellery in different ways. Some
went to art school and learned their craft. Some started in the trade
via the apprenticeship route (which I think is a fantastic, real
world method of learning), and some have taught themselves to make
jewellery. And it is worth noting that all methods of learning have
produced very good jewellers who make very good, salable jewellery.
By the same token, I’m sure that all methods have also produced
people who are not so good.

There is no one way to learn. We all pick up things in different
ways. I learn best by doing it myself - hence I am self taught (and I
have people who want to buy my jewellery). I don’t learn well by
watching someone else do things - it’s not until I get my own hands
on something, that I start to learn. Yes classes would be great but
if I’d taken classes, I would never have been able to afford my
bench and all my tools, equipment and materials, and therefore I
would never have been able to make the jewellery I’ve made and
continue to make. If I took any classes in making jewellery, it would
be in stone setting, as while I’m now happy with bezel setting and am
doing that every day, I would love to learn prong setting, channel
setting, pave, etc, etc.

One of the more valuable comments of this topic (or perhaps it was
another thread) has been that it would be invaluable if such college
courses that teach jewellery design/making, would also teach some
sort of business classes alongside the art part of the curriculum. I
agree wholeheartedly with this sentiment and it is this side of
things where I feel I am lacking. I have an ever growing list of
things I have to make for people, and have people asking me to make
custom pieces for them - but I haven’t got a clue when it comes to
business or accounts and things such as pricing. I’ve just spent
three days constructing a bracelet for a friend and because she’s a
friend I’ve merely charged her for the materials - ie a pittance. I
still have about two days worth of work to do on the bracelet so
I’ve sold myself really short. It’s this type of thing that people
who go to college also need to learn.

Helen
UK