Designing Your Own Custom Piece of Jewelry

How often I have heard "I know in my imagination what I want, I can picture it, but I can't get it down on paper".

This is a pretty common expression by consumers who desire to design a custom piece of jewelry for themselves. They try sketching and then when they hit a roadblock, get frustrated and give up all attempts at creating their dream jewel.

Well I have good news; you do not need to be an artist to be inspired. You need creative channels to inspire you towards the end result, which is your ideal custom design special piece.

So where do you begin, where is the starting point?

Look through fashion and jewelry magazines. You may notice a certain setting that is exactly what you want, while in another publication, you may see the right shank - call it a hodge podge of designs or as my Hungarian background would say, a good goulash.

In other words, you can see bits and pieces of features that appeal to you and can be executed into one design.

I can tell you one thing, designing the specific piece is not done overnight, it can take weeks, months and even years.

As you begin to cut out pictures, store them in a scrap book and as you come across more pictures just keep adding them to your collection. Other designs may appeal to you and you may change your mind numerous times.

If you don't collect magazines, then your computer will be your other best source. As you find pieces that appeal to you, bookmark them or print them up.

Let's say you are interested in a sporty ring. Google, "sporty rings", it will yield multitudes of pages which you can print up and collect.

Has your library card been gathering some dust? You will have a pleasant surprise when you visit your local library and see their collection of books on jewelry.

You have to decide what style, type and era of jewelry you are looking for. If you want your jewelry to be inspired from a certain time period, you may explore books that focus on a certain genre or style, i.e. Modernistic, Art Deco or Victorian.

Carrying a small camera or your phone's camera can often capture the right picture at the perfect moment.

You may see a person wearing an extraordinary piece of jewelry, or you may pass a jewelry shop window and see a piece that attracts you - you can instantly capture it all with a single click. Your camera can also capture images of objects, animals, foliage, landscapes - anything that can inspire a shape, theme or color.

If you travel to different countries you can be influenced by their own jewelry designs. So many countries have their own distinctive design concepts - you will definitely want to capture those on film.

Now if you can draw a little, then buy a good sketch paid and when a creative moment strikes you, fill that pad with shapes and textures. You may have bursts of ingenious creativity use those moments passionately and let the creativity in you flow.

Carry a small notebook with you because you never known when a creative idea hits you - it can be a thought, image or a word.

Think of words that are associated with the theme or type of jewelry you wish to have designed. Descriptive words evoke images, patterns, shapes and shades.

As an example, if you are a boater, the words associated with that are speed, nautical, adventurous, waves, compass and buoys.

Keywords that would describe a swimmer include wind, water, athletic, strength and endurance, movement, flowing and graceful. When you look at these words, you can visualize shapes, lines and textures which can be incorporated into your design.

If you are looking at designing an initial, name, or expression, look at various types of fonts or calligraphy books or sites.

When you are researching the area / subject that focuses on your jewelry, pull out detailed information, choosing only the most significant feature(s) so that as the design evolves, it becomes that much more exact and detailed.

You have a starting point from which to begin; from there you can add, take away, substitute, analyze until it is the way you vision it.

If you wish to explore this topic any further, or have any questions, please email me at anytime.
Have fun!