aim is to impress family and friends or even to turn your hobby in to a small

business. The small pieces involved and fiddly techniques can however be

incredibly challenging and often the most demanding aspect of handmade

jewellery is the design process. It is all well and good if you have the

patience to sit for hours with a steady hand and construct a piece for

yourself but if the finished item turns out to look as ugly as a dog’s back

side then the whole process would have been a complete waste of time. The key

to avoiding such situations is to plan carefully for the design of the

jewellery that you wish to make. Designing a product of any kind requires

several areas of basic thought and these will include aesthetics, function

and material and so I shall discuss each of these areas in further detail.

Aesthetics- What will the piece look like? This may sound like an obvious

consideration because it is the most important area of jewellery design.

People wear jewellery to make themselves look attractive and so it goes

without saying that the jewellery needs to look appealing. When you design a

piece you need to think further than this and consider carefully who is going

to wear the jewellery because this will help you to arrive at some decisions

about style. For example if you are designing a piece to be worn on a summer

holiday you might go for a design that is fun and bold because this will

represent the mood that you would hope to be in. For wedding jewellery your

design would likely be more pretty and romantic. So when you start to design

your jewellery you should consider what look or style you are aiming for.

Function- The function of all jewellery is usually the same- to accessorise

or enhance the outfit that a person is wearing and this is why aesthetics is

so important. The particular function of a piece of jewellery can also give

us some guide lines for our design and this will mainly be sizes. For example

if you are designing a necklace you will need to work out a minimum length

that will suit most necks and then decide whereabouts on the neckline the

piece will sit. Will it be adjustable to fit the maximum amount of people?

You should also consider the type of clothing that will be worn with it.

Material- Material is an extremely important part of design and you need to

get it right. With jewellery there is a huge choice of materials that can be

used and adapted and this is almost limited only by your imagination. You do

need to make sure however that your design will be appropriate for the

material and technique that you wish to use. Some materials such as glass and

metals can require specialist skills and equipment to work with and so you

need to bear in mind the available materials and skills while you design your

jewellery.

Good design is key to beautiful jewellery so take your time, experiment and

have fun. For inspiration for your handmade jewellery take a look at http://

www.purpledragonaccessories.co.uk