Look Beyond Jewelry
In order to have an original concept for a jewelry design, you should find inspiration outside of jewelry. Nature, art, architecture, furniture or even industrial products can give great inspiration for new, original design concepts.
Nature can be especially helpful for finding unusual shapes and patterns or unique textures. Art can suggest different compositions or color combinations. Architecture can provide great inspiration for proportions and geometric structures.
Create Initial Sketches
When you encounter an idea that interests you, take out your sketch book and start working through the concept.
You are looking for a concept, which can be as simple as an interesting curve or shape, a combination of textures, contrasting flat and curved surfaces, a particular repetition of a pattern or shape or a combination of interesting structure and lines.
Jot down a couple of words to describe this visual idea. These words might describe a feeling, or a shape or color. These words will help you as you work through your jewelry design process. You can use them as prompts to help you remember what was exciting to you about your visual reference.
Start exploring this concept visually. Try drawing this shape or idea in a variety of different ways. You are looking for ideas that spark your interest. These early sketches are really just an exploration of an idea and don’t need to be fully developed or beautifully rendered at this point.
Transform Inspiration Instead of Copying It
At this point you will probably have an idea about what you like and what doesn’t interest you, or doesn’t work for a piece of jewelry. Use this knowledge to continue working through the inspiration and create new ideas.
The goal is to use this information as inspiration. Rather than copy something you find that interests you, use it as a jumping off point. Try changing the scale or proportion of different elements. Simplify shapes. Rotate different shapes or change the way things are arranged. Exaggerate certain characteristics. Mix different ideas together. The possibilities are endless. This process may take a number of explorations and iterations to arrive at a design idea that you really like, but keep at it.
Experiment With Different Directions
Once you have explored your original idea, you can begin working on a design concept. It can be helpful to take each idea and explore it in a couple of different directions or approaches.
Remember there is no wrong approach or final outcome! The goal at this point is to explore the shape in different ways, and explore different types of jewelry, scales, sizes, etc. What might work as a smaller, subtle pendant for one idea, might work better as a larger bolder ring for another.
By exploring the scale, proportion, composition, material and color, it is possible to develop multiple pieces from the same original inspiration. You will also learn more about your strengths and design preferences by taking one idea and exploring it in different directions.
Develop Your Own Visual Language
As you work through different design concepts and sketch out ideas, you may start to develop your own style or visual language. Over time you will develop a unique way of interpreting an idea. You will learn your strengths and design interests. There may be particular shapes or materials or approaches that keep reoccurring in your sketches. Pay attention to these themes and ideas.
Remember that style doesn’t happen overnight. It develops as you do more projects and explore your interests.
Let Inspiration Become a Starting Point
Once you have explored a lot of visual and design concepts, you are likely to have a much clearer idea about what is and isn’t working for your project. At this point you can begin editing the idea, focusing in on what interests you and eliminating what doesn’t work.
Remember that less is usually more, and the more focused the idea is, the stronger your piece will be. If you include too many different elements, nothing stands out. Find the most interesting element or aspect of the idea and focus on that.