Design for Jewellery Makers: Inspiration, development and creation

A practical hands-on resource for intermediate and professional jewelry makers, as well as those attending jewelry-making courses and who have taken up jewelry making as a hobby.

Containing expert guidance on design and the design process it includes more than 30 inspiring step-by-step project briefs and themes for readers to use as a base for developing their own ideas.

Also included are examples of jewelry pieces by contemporary designers, sourced by the author, as well as the author’s own illustrations. Following the introduction, the book includes an overview of the design process and the fundamentals of jewelry design, followed by practical guidance on making space, making time and managing your expectations.

Also included are chapters on:

• Practical considerations: everything you need to know in order to design functional jewelry, such as how thick to make an ear wire and how long a necklace should be. It also include information on surface treatments and finishes, allergies and toxic materials.
• Design methods and techniques including sketching and making paper or clay models. 
• Design project briefs: structured into 4 categories – ideas led by typical beginner’s jewelry-making techniques; material-led projects (experimenting with a range of materials and letting the designs emerge through the process); themed briefs (e.g. movement, animal symbolism, the seasons, family, labyrinth, fantasy); and open briefs for more experienced designer-makers.

• Q&A interviews with contemporary designers.

Trained at the Royal College of Art, award winning jewelry designer Louise Seijen ten Hoorn lives and works in London, UK where she creates one-off pieces, small production lines and commissions from her studio in Pimlico.
 
Louise works predominantly in metal, as well as materials such as plastic, rubber, and textile to create jewelry, objects and small sculptures. Her work has been exhibited in the UK as well as worldwide in the USA, Lithuania, Portugal and The Netherlands.
 
Besides being a jewelry practitioner, Louise teaches short courses in design and jewelry making at various Adult Education Colleges in London.