Venting about "Designers"

Ok…then what about this…Say I recently started to produce a
small commercial line. I don’t do casting, even though I have done,
once or twice in the past. So someone else is casting them. I know
how to set diamonds, but it is not my strongest ability to say the
least. So someone else is setting them. I made the models, but had
someone else perfect them for me as they are better at architectural
forms than I. Does this undo my title of jeweler? Does it make me
solely a designer? Neither? What about those of you who have people
working for you making either all or part of your line along side of
you?

How far back do we go for validation? I don’t mine my stones, facet
my stones or polish my stones. Neither do I dive for my pearls,
drill the holes in them or string them. Heck, I don’t even alloy my
metals or roll them into sheet or wire most of the time. Does anyone
out there cut their own beads, or formulate their own polishing
compounds? Maybe, but not many. Because someone else does those
things for me, does that diminish me as a jeweler or a designer?
Does it diminish you?

My point is I think we are getting kind of nit picky. I don’t
believe its what you call yourself, or the methods you use to
produce your work. Whether you personally make all of the elements
or only design the elements, in the end that seems relevant only to
the taste of the buyer. The finished product is what ends up
selling, whether it is done by our own hands or only formed in our
minds, and executed by someone more skilled. Some buyers look for
artisanal work, and esteem it above all others. If the current
market is any indication, most could care less that it is made by
"designers", in a factory in asia. After all opinions are in on both
sides of this apparent conundrum, it still seems that value will
always remain in the eye of the beholder…and of course of the
purchaser.

:slight_smile:

Lisa, (old african proverb: It doesn’t matter what names people call
you, it only matters what names you answer to) Topanga, CA USA

[sorry guys, I had to make this rebuttal but it’s my last posting on
this subject.]

Au contraire

Let me be more specific. I don’t think one’s skill in jewelry making
determines one’s ability to design jewelry. Otherwise, 47th St. would
be the largest designer jewelry showroom in the world. Skill helps
one make better engineering decisions like a more functional clasp
mechanism, for example, or even aesthetic decisions like texture.
But, just because someone can make a box clasp faster than I, does it
make them a better designer? If someone orders a box clasp from
Stuller and uses it on their design, does it make them a fake?

Just because you design and produce your jewelry night and day
doesn’t mean everyone should toil like you to be a designer. So
perhaps you went to the Harvard School of metalsmithing and design
and you have a degree. Brilliant. We’re all just thrilled that you
have so much certification, education and experience behind you.

But I’m afraid that your experience and education doesn’t qualify you
to say the following about me:

. . . you recognize you capabilities are more in line with business
and [rather than 'designing' because the designs are in ethnic
jewelry books'] than those of us on orchid with creativity and
skill. . . 

I worry about business because gold is $460+/oz and 18k is my
medium. And to set the record straight - I design and I develop my
collections. The next thing you’re going to write is that your
jewelry skills help you make more original work.

The Random House Dictionary of the English Language defines as a
"designer: a person who devises or executes designs, esp. one who
creates form, structures and patterns, as for works of art... 

Did Random House specify if that designer is working in 2-D or 3-D? I
believe “devises” [Oxford Dictionary: verb 1 plan or invent (a
complex procedure or mechanism) would cover say, pencil and paper,
i.e. technical drawing or jewelry rendering. No solder involved with
that.

We are planners, gem dealers, devisers, experts, inventors, artists,
craftsmen, smiths, beaders and who knows what else on Orchid [I think this forums is as diverse as it gets. That’s what makes it fantastic.] But will not accept your personal definition of a
designer as the last word.

As someone recently said, let the piece of jewelry show the
brilliance.

Janet Cadsawan

I believe that Mr. Chilhuly lost his eye in a car accident. He was,
at least prior to that, blowing glass actively. There are a large
number of artists who do or did job out some of their work-- such
large foundry castings-- among them Jim Dyne and Deborah Butterfield.
Are they any less artists for doing so? I believe that the architect
example is a good one.

That being said, having a working knowledge of the processes
involved surely makes the experience smoother.

Andy cooperman

I want to thank everyone who has written about this, including the
person who’s question started the thread. I have been alternately
angry, amused and scornful of the responses, depending on where I was
with myself when I read them. When I took my first art class,
sometime in the last millennium I was told that I would never be an
artist, I couldn’t draw and I couldn’t color in the lines. I was hurt
and embarrassed and it took time before I ever showed anyone my work
again. Over the years I have done a number of jobs, all involving art
in some way. I have met many artist machinists and others that were
proud of their work and invested their time and energy in doing what
they do to the best of their ability.

When I look at M. Sturlin’s(sp) work I think there is an artist
whose work I am in awe of and I am very glad that I can see it.

I have never wanted to be a designer, because I do not think the
word has anything to do with art. I think of a designer as some one
who colors in the lines. Who produces 1 piece that many can be made
from, not unique. So I am surprised at the negative
responses… in my world, a designer was a theorist, a person
who was responsible for creating many objects at a time and therefore
not unique. Some of you who have responded define yourselves as
designers, and I do not mean to offend you, I just mean that we all
have different definitions of words as they relate to the real
world.

Anyway I thank you because in reading what you have written I have
been able to better define myself and in my world that is a really
valuable thing.

hi , i have had this on my mind for quite some time…is’nt it
strange how a topic appears on orchid at exactly the same time you
have an issue…guess that means we are all going through the same
paces, so i thought i’d share my circumstances and get ya’lls advise
or comments…

scenerio #1 jane doe worked as a interior designer for 25 years,
taught at local university here in town, worked long hard hours and
was successful …enough to raise her family as a single mom. jane is
a good person and well lilked by all…when her last child was in
high school jane married a very successful business man (money is now
not an issue)…

jane decides she wants to make her own jewelrly (now that she mr b
have second home in santa fe) after seeing the beautiful art in new
mexico…takes several classes and likes it, but can not get good
enough to do her own work/or chooses not to…so for two years she
uses different jewelers to do fabrication and stone setting,with
mixed reviews…some were great stone setters,but did’nt do so well
with silver and vise versa…

my dear friend, girl, calls me up and ask if i would please talk to
her friend, jane doe,who wants to do her own jewelry business and
would i advise her,did as such told her basically what was going
on and so on…ask if i would do her work and i said , i’d try on
trail basis.(was’nt sure i wanted a silver acct but did so as favor
to friend, girl) her work was easy, but time consuming, she has rocks
and beads cut in two and mounts them in bezels…

i have improved her line quite a bit by showing her she needed
heavier bezels, and other misc. things that i have learned over the
last 20 years…her line is much more “polished” no pun
intended…i was charging her very reasonable prices and losing
money and time on my end while going throught some personal
situations (my mom had stroke, she died 4 months later) stress,
undercompensated and not meeting deadlines for jane doe,she went
elsewhere…

no hard feelings on either side…3 months later she calls and
as if i knew anyone that could “do” silver??? i said if i did i would
be using them… in a weak moment i told her bring her stuff back
and i would do it (my life was straightening out) but i would have to
go up on prices and hoped she understood…she said whatever the
cost,she just had to have the same caliber of craftmanship that i
do…well, now that my head is so big , i am all about helping her
out…

during her absense i have called around and ask prices on her
pieces…that’s when i decided just to do the geller system
,…labor is worth 30% of cost (i think that is what he suggest,
please correct me if i am wrong,david geller) that did’nt go over so
well but she accepted the price increase…now this round she wants
to add rings to her pin, bracelet and earring collections…

(fyi she supplies all the metal for her pieces) her first ring i have
to justify every cent (using geller price book) but all goes well,the
second she keeps changing her mind, did two waxes at n/c and told her
if she changed another time that i would have to charage her another
wax charge…feeling a little heat here…third time she has
wedding trio set, wants comfort fit, thick band that will be
invisible set with tiny stones (too small imop) she said customer
wants estimate and must ok wax…told her not sure what cost would
be… gave her est from stuller, she wanted thicker than stock and
more narrow, told her i’d do waxes and give her exact amts,because
customer must see waxes…yeah i ate’em… rings are too
expensive !!!

she has to make a larger mark up…said she can’t pay that much
…which i cannot wrap my head around…we’re not angry or have a
problem i just do’nt know what to make of this…i have had this
story repeat itself over and over…am still doing her other pieces
and she refers people to me for rings…i just want to know how do you
get your cost and they get their’s and we both feel good about the
business we have done together…thanks for letting me vent lisa
mcconnell

I hope I'm not being too picky, but, if I'm not mistaken, Chihuly
doesn't blow his own glass any more because he lost the sight in
one eye from years of looking through the view hole of a glass
furnace. 

Hi Donna;

Chihuly lost an eye as a result of an automobile accident. He
definitely does know how to blow glass, very well indeed. What he
actually does now is train and direct a number of crew captains who
then work over their own small groups of glassworkers. It’s a
productivity strategy, and since the thrust of his marketability is
the Chihuly style, and not the technical virtuosity, it works. That’s
not to say he doesn’t have a staff of highly skilled workers.

David L. Huffman

Hello Everyone,

I’m a newbie to this field and list and am learning so much from
everyone here! Thank you all for sharing your experience. What’s
most enjoyable is the feeling of enthusiasm that comes across in
almost every message. At this point, I don’t even know all the terms
people are using, especially when the discussions get technical, but
I do know one thing right now… I must have a rolling mill! And
make my own stock! The possibilities are exciting.

The discussion about what makes a jewelry designer is probably
similar to on-going conversations among people in every creative
field. My conclusion is that it comes down to the personal.
Different people make sense of the world in different ways. Some
people do it almost solely through their intellect and others
through their fingers and others through some combination of ways
that’s so “them” it’s not even clear how they (I) (we) do it.
Conceptual artists claimed that art is not the “product” but the
idea behind the product, so having other people do the nitty-gritty
touching of stuff to get the artist’s ideas down on paper (or made
into some sellable form) conveys that intellectual approach. Even
conceptual artists, though, started out making their own marks on
paper because every child is thrilled by having a crayon and a
surface to draw on. I imagine even experienced dress designers still
get a thrill from running their hands across fabric. If Dale Chiluly
never had immediate hands-on experience with what can happen with a
blob of potential and a furnace, it’s possible, but unlikely, that
he ever would have fallen so in love with glassblowing. Or Matisse
in his final years needing assistants in order to create his art
still wanted to hold the paper they’d covered with paint and
interact directly with the material as much as he could.

My experience coming from a painting background is that even
easy-to-push-around paint will sometimes insist on having its own
stubborn way, as though it’s a loud-voiced person. Sometimes you
just have to let it be as it demands. For me, that dialogue,
argument and relationship between maker and materials is where the
muse lives. It’s a special zone. (After thinking about all this…
no wonder all the enthusiastic info about rolling mills grabbed me!)
I think that even artists who do not work directly with the
materials must still somehow form a personal and respectful
relationship with them. Some artists can do that by imagining and
drawing and having other people do the touching and teaching about
the materials, but I couldn’t. The direct hands-on approach comes
naturally to me. Since it’s the way most artists create, it can seem
that it’s the ONLY way to create, but I don’t think so. I might not
understand another person’s way of doing things… and may even be
envious if they seem so much more efficient… but I’d rather avoid
judging whether their approach is good or bad compared to mine, and
just leave it as a “whatever works…” and continue on my way.

Here’s hoping I can eventually get in on some of those technical
discussions…

Debra

I hope I'm not being too picky, but, if I'm not mistaken, Chihuly
doesn't blow his own glass any more because he lost the sight in
one eye from years of looking through the view hole of a glass
furnace. I think he has paid his dues as a glassblower. 

I was under the impression that his loss of that eye was due to an
accident, not gradual damage. Certainly, he was, before that, a very
skilled and talented glassblower, and while he mostly directs others
in the making of his work, I hear he does sometimes still take a
more active part as well, in activities where his lack of depth
perception isn’t a problem.

Peter

the reference to architects and industrial designers has no
relevance in the subject of design without do-ability. 

Ive,

With Respect, I disagree. The relevence is apparent should you view
the fundamentals of concept design through production from another
angle.

The architect is but one element of the whole process. Taking a
theme park as an example. You will have at the first stage the “Theme
designer” who will come up with the platform or staged event and a
pre concieved idea of how they would like to see it happen or
function. Once the concept is formulated, then it is presented to an
Architectural firm who with a team of draftsmen, structural
engineers, enviromental impact assesment professionals, interior
designers, hydrological engineers should there be water and a whole
lot more to put the designer’s theme into the planning stages. Notice
the fact that there is not just one skill set that is applied by one
individual to the project in the Architectural firm, but several
individuals bringing different skill sets. Unlike jewellery, it is
not expected to have the ability to execute a job from start to
finish solely on ones own. Other industries do not rely on one
individual to have all of the answers either.

et al,

The point, is that a theme designer, does not know how to build the
attraction, they just know what the theme is and moves the project
to the one that knows how to build it. The exact same thing applies
to the designer and jeweller relationship. Casing point is that the
Architects job is to execute the plan and oversee the project from
start to finish, same as the jeweller. There is more to it than just
a biased opinion on what a designer should or should not be. Those of
you who are retail jewellers promote to some degree and through the
help of CAD/CAM or not, custom jewellery to customer designs or
specifications. Do you tell your retail customer to get the hell out
of your store, and “only” come back when they know how to make the
piece themselves? Of course not, the jewellers job is like the
architects job, and that is to execute on the whim or desire of what
the customer wants.

When I was in the Service Bureau business, it was my job to evaluate
the models before I built them and advise the customer on any changes
that needed to be made, and once those changes where made, then and
only then, would I go ahead. Being a service bureau was not about
turning the machine on and going home, and to hell with the issue of
whether the model was right or wrong, my job was to execute a
functional model. Same applies to the jeweller. He or she should
advise the designer client on recommended changes to make the project
a viable entity. As those changes are being made, the designer will
learn as they go along as to what can be done and what is totally
unrealistic. My advice did not come for free, it was built into the
cost of producing a working model. As my involvement in recommended
changes became less and less, and they where now producing better
models, and it was clearly reflected in the lower cost to produce the
model. Why individuals don’t identify this situation as a billable
entity rather than a pain in the butt or a threat is beyond my
comprehension. The jewellers job is to execute period. To view a
digital model and look for, and identify problems should take 5-10
minutes tops. No big deal and even better if you charge $20 for your
recommendations. Customer service is all about servicing the
customer and helping them bring the concept through to production
whether they understand the production process or not. The fact they
do the changes themselves to the solid model upon your
recommendations, your charge is billed for expertise and not for
physical man power or machine time. Getting paid for knowledge is the
best money maker there is.

As a professional, I don’t care whether an individual knows anything
about how to make the concept a reality, that’s my job to make it
happen. I manufacture metal molds where the parts are ejected from
the cavities automatically when the static mold opens. In this
context, should I expect customers to know about Multi Unit Dies,
Mold Bases, Leader and ejector pins, core pins, stripper plates?, I
say not at all, that’s my job to make it happen. Another example.
Motorola designs phones and not the tooling to manufacture them. The
Job of the Tool and Die Company or the Molding house is to evaluate
the model, make recommendations and then build a tool. This applies
to anything that is on your desk that’s plastic or even a die cast
part of some equipment made out of aluminum. The individual designing
the phone, does not know anything about draft angles, how the plastic
flows through the tool, the requirements for heating and cooling
lines, required tonnage, hold times and pressure percentages of
injection in relation to clamping force, why? it’s not his job.

Another point is the machining of product that I do here. None of
the designed parts come with Setup Instructions, Tools to be used,
how to machine it or even a single tool path. The job comes in as a
blue print, or more so today, as a solid model, therefore, should I
decline the job because they only know how to build a product and
design parts, but can’t in actuality machine the parts themselves?.

Maybe I look at things differently, but through all of the
negativity, I actually see an opportunity rather than a problem with
jewellery designers who have no bench skills, . Just think outside
the box. In fact, I see a nice little business for someone who has
the right frame of mind and identifies a nice little niche market. A
little creativity and it could be a nice little earner :slight_smile:

Best Regards.
Neil George
954-572-5829

In this discussion of designers it is worth mentioning and
recognizing the considerable number of professional jewelry designers
within our trade. I think these individuals deserve the equal and
commensurate respect due any person who has a vocation for which they
have been formally trained and from which they derive their
livelihood.

I have many dozens of colleagues and associates who are members of
the JDPN who serve as perfect examples. These highly skilled people,
primarily women, are largely self employed as independent designers
and do contract work for jewelry manufacturers. They are extremely
talented at designing and rendering jewelry to fit a given criteria,
usually within specific parameters of metal and gemstone weights, to
suit a particular style, market , and price point. These jewelry
designers have training and credentials from establishments like FIT,
without which it would be difficult to secure work in their field.
Their design work has to be accurate, concise, and intelligible to
be of any value to their clients. Many of them have won awards for
their designs.

Most of these individuals are highly knowledgeable about the
processes involved in making jewelry, whether it is to be a one of a
kind piece or a large volume production item. Many of them also have
experience working in metal or wax and creating models, but for
their primary occupation these are auxiliary skills which are not
essential. What is essential is the ability to conceive and draw
jewelry which can be reproduced by a goldsmith or model maker or
waxworker.

Michael David Sturlin
www.michaeldavidsturlin.com

Folks you cannot do it all and do everything to the highest skill
level. I feel like the original gripe really was more about
designers who do not know their job well enough to be entitled to
the title jewelry designer. Many people think just because they have
an idea for a piece of jewelry that they are now designers. Just
because you can make a rendering of a jewelry item that looks good
(or not) on paper (or computer) dosent mean that it is a good design
for a piece of jewelry. There are many factors that go into good
design and aesthetics is only one of those factors. Function is
another one and manufacture-ability is also a big one. Bench
experience will help with the manufacturing and function aspects but
will have no bearing on aesthetics and style (I have seen several
highly skilled goldsmiths whose sense of style was abominable) If
all these items are thought out and brought to play in the design
then one could be considered to be a good jewelry designer.

James Binnion
@James_Binnion
James Binnion Metal Arts

360-756-6550

I hope I'm not being too picky, but, if I'm not mistaken, Chihuly
doesn't blow his own glass any more because he lost the sight in
one eye from years of looking through the view hole of a glass
furnace. I think he has paid his dues as a glassblower.

Actually, just to clarify, Dale Chihuly lost his sight in his left
eye in a car accident in 1976.

D. Liedtka
www.littlesongart.com

Watching this thread has been interesting to say the least. Reminds
me when I was in school in a previous century. A number of people in
first year were VERY concerned with semantics; none survived the 50%+
attrition rate to second year, if they even made it that far. I do
believe that there are other vocations which specialize just in
making words :wink:

It has been my observation that a ‘paper’ designer with out a sound
technical understanding is just as much of a menace as bench
jeweller with out an understanding of design. Some times the results
of a collaberation by two people can far excede the sum of their
contributions, but all relationships take work, and some just fail.

Jeff
Demand Designs
Analog/Digital Modelling & Goldsmithing
http://www.gmavt.net/~jdemand

B"H

I can understand both sides of your cost problem. When I was at FIT,
I did my own molds (but had a caster – I don’t have the space even
if I could afford the equipment and knew how to do it myself), sprew
removal (NOT by any stretch of the imagination my forte!) and
polishing (I set cabochons in plain bezels but had a very nice
gentleman on 47th street who did my stone setting for faceted stones
with prong settings for a VERY good price – I think he thought I was
cute – I was 20 but looked about 15, but I digress…). I did, BTW,
realize at this point that while my “stuff” looked ok, I was hardly
an expert at the hands on working with silver/gold part. I didn’t
know how to set prices either (still don’t).

Recently, I found someone on this list to work with (we’re no longer
working together because being in different countries made it
difficult) but what I was doing was the rendering (and explaining
what I wanted) and then marketing. The marketing end has been tough.
I bring my pieces to the local shops and I have to give them a price
and they take it, but they tell me honestly that they thing these
items would sell better if I could lower my price. I still haven’t
recouped the money I’ve spent on getting the designed executed and
the molds made (yes, I could do custom stuff too, but I’d have to
find a market niche of people with enough financial recourses to be
customers – the custom stuff would probably be names and biblical
verses etc. in Hebrew or very artistic stars and chais and torahs
etc.).

Oh, BTW, about the art thing that someone else wrote about – my
High School art teacher (who was a major league art snob) only liked
one of my works the entire year. It hurt my self-esteem EVEN though I
had gone to an summer art program for 6 summers (run by my local
public school system) where I knew the teachers thought my work was
good. Teachers, after all, are human beings and just because one
person doesn’t like your work doesn’t mean others won’t. Personally,
I think everyone is artistic in some way. You just have to find your
own artistry. IMHO.

Debbie
http://home.earthlink.net/~compugraphd

I guess there is no getting away from ego’s, and people who feel
they are ‘elite’. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and it
doesn’t change for jewelry, stones, or anything else. Just because
you (in general not YOU reading this) think a piece makes you someone
with ‘creativity and skill’ might mean to another that you bent a
piece of gold wire around a mandrel, it it a few times, soldered it
together and made a ring.

Please… Enough ego, and conceit… It diminishes the list…

Craig
www.creativecutgems.com

I have to say that I am with Janet. Dale Chihuly isn't a
glassblower, but he directs a team of blowers and assemblers to
realize his vision

I just wanted to clarify the fact that Dale Chihuly was a
glassblower; he knew what was possible when blowing glass. He had an
accident - after making his reputation - which left him without the
use of one eye. He decided for safety reasons (his own and that of
his team) not to continue blowing glass but to direct the team. I
guess this makes him a modern Renaissance Master…

Eileen

It seems to me that this situation has a very simple solution; since
the designer has to have a fabricator there is a basis for
partnership. Obviously, since one cannot do without the other, the
relationship is dictated. If the partnership is based on the premise
that each partner has to have his or her fair and equal return, it
follows that equal splitting of the returns will provide sustenance
to both. If it doesn’t, there is no basis for the partnership. Ron
Mills, Mills Gem Co. Los Osos, Ca.

OK, after a week of this I just have to throw my 2 cents in. I like
it when a “designer” comes in wanting my services. The less they
know the more time I spend making their “designs” come to life. My
time is valuable so I charge accordingly. Therefore their
intelligence in goldsmithing is inversely proportionate to my pay
check. The more outlandish, impossibly, ignorant, or how ever you
term it the better I like them. Two philosophies I try to live by
are “It’s morally wrong to allow a sucker to keep his money” and
"The difficult we do immediately the impossible takes just a little
longer." (The first was on a hand embroidered sign made by an
ex-wife, the later came from a crazy surveyor who ate sawdust and
<> 2x4’s for a boss one time.) Lighten up people, laugh, make your
dollar, go do what you enjoy, and laugh some more about how smart
that “designer” was. If your really feed up with them tell them to
call me, go ahead ruin my day!!!

Matt

In this discussion of designers it is worth mentioning and
recognizing the considerable number of professional jewelry
designers within our trade. 

Hi Michael;

That’s a good point to make and it directs us to the question I’m
seeing Gustavo bring up. There are professional jewelry designers
with training and experience and a good knowledge of what
manufacturing involves. They aren’t the big problem. It’s the
thousands upon thousands of self proclaimed jewelry designers who
underestimate what this field requires in terms of training and
background and will waste the time of anyone who isn’t savvy enough
to avoid them. We who subcontract in this trade meet them all the
time. I’m also critical of the many bench jewelers who have gathered
their design vocabulary by basically just imitating what they see all
around them in magazines and books or what they can conjure up in a
cut-and-paste computer program. Personally, I think most of the stuff
that wins the industry awards is the product of this ilk. They have
little understanding about composition, balance, line, proportion,
although they may have good practical knowledge about making a piece
of jewelry. Of course, all these individuals are free to call
themselves designers, and I’m equally free to call them hacks. Now,
of course, one may say, “proof is in the pudding” and that’s mostly
true, but you’d have to see all that goes on behind the scenery to
actually know how much credit should go to whom. So maybe the better
question isn’t “who’s a designer” but “what is good design” and who
should get the credit.

David L. Huffman

Hi Lisa;

I’ll refrain from the old, “been there, done that . . .”. Welcome to
subcontractor-world. Try this paradigm.

Business is like a sieve. What falls through, you don’t want.

So, I’d suggest you set your prices to stay in business, let her
know what you can and can’t do, what you will and won’t do, and
explain that it’s just the way you have to run your business to stay
afloat and keep your sanity. What you are struggling with is by far
the most challenging aspect of subcontracting. If it turns out to be
a long term relationship, it will be because you both are learning
how to work together, but it sounds a bit like you have hesitations
about the committment (possibly for good reasons) and she has a
problem with loyalty. Maybe this will work itself out though. I
struggle with the same kinds of problems all the time. You can spend
a lot of time communicating with a client about their work, and one
hesitates to charge a consulting fee. Are you geographically close
enough to this person that you could arrainge to meet? If that were
possible, what you’d want to do is have her collect enough work for
you to justify meeting, bring her in and go over everything in that
group of work, and charge a fee for your time, but cut it down from
your regular hourly rate since it is partly what goes with your
territory. But it’s also her problem too, because she doesn’t have a
good working knowlege of this stuff and you’re teaching her design,
basically. By the way, you’ll need to educate her on one point: If
she gives you a design, and you give her and estimate, and she gives
you the go-ahead to carve waxes, you shouldn’t have to eat it if the
customer doesn’t go for it. It’s real easy to give away too much of
your time in this business.

David L. Huffman