Red Nymph Jewelry
The jewelry design process varies based on the type of creation you’d like to make. For example, designing a ring that contains a gemstone or diamond must be meticulously designed to secure the stone within the setting. Other types of jewelry, such as clay or wire-wrapped pieces, require less precision.
Over time, you will learn what works for you. However, as a beginner, consider these key things that can make the jewelry design process easier.
Understand the Principles of Jewelry Design
Jewelry design is part art and part science. While there’s definitely a creative element to it, there are also a few core principles to consider. Understanding and applying these principles can help you create a piece of jewelry that stands out and catches someone’s eye—which is exactly your goal as a jeweler. These principles include:
Balance: Jewelry doesn’t have to be symmetrical, but it should consider physical and visual weight.
Emphasis: PIeces of jewelry often feature some point of contrast, such as a center stone, a particular material or texture, or a change in the piece’s shape.
Proportion: Each element of the piece must make sense with the others. If one component is disproportionately large or small compared to the rest of the piece, the entire accessory will feel off.
Contrast: Contrasting elements, such as complementary colors or smooth and rough textures, creates visual interest.
Unity: Ultimately, all the individual elements of a piece of jewelry should work together, which generates a sense of completeness.
Draw Jewelry Designs
For many types of baubles, the jewelry design process starts with a drawing. Just like a fashion designer would first sketch a piece of clothing, a jewelry designer’s first step is to create an initial depiction of each piece.
When drawing jewelry designs, it’s often best to start with a basic sketch, focusing on a general concept, shape, structure, and proportions. Then, you can move to a more complex drawing that includes smaller details, such as prongs or stones. Once finalized, jewelry design drawings can serve as a production guide or be used to create a model or mold for the final piece.
Learning how to draw jewelry designs accurately and realistically requires knowledge of perspective, proportions, and textures. While you can choose to illustrate your designs in black and white using just graphite or ink, it can also be helpful to add details using colored pencils, especially for jewelry that incorporates multicolored elements, such as gemstones or beads.
Model Using Jewelry Design Software
After completing initial jewelry design drawings, many designers move on to creating a 3D model of the piece using jewelry design software. Unlike a drawing, a 3D rendering of a piece of jewelry will allow you to see and evaluate it from every angle. However, creating a 3D rendering isn’t only helpful for the design process; it also opens additional options for bringing the piece to life. If you don’t have the skills or capabilities to produce the piece, there are companies that can take the rendering and complete the printing, casting, and finishing for you.
Some of the best software to design jewelry include Jewelry CAD Dream, Adobe Illustrator, RhinoGold, and 3Design. As a free and open-source option, you can also use Blender for jewelry design. And, there is a specific add-on—JewelCraft—that you can use with Blender that provides jewelry design-specific tools and elements, including a range of stone types and gem cuts.
Produce Jewelry
Bringing jewelry designs to life is a skill in and of itself, and one that can vary greatly depending on the type of bauble you want to produce. Some types of jewelry can be created by hand. Beaded or clay pieces, for example, are more beginner-friendly options that don’t require too many tools or specialized skills. With just a little experimentation—or a few classes—you can learn techniques to produce these types of accessories.
Other types of jewelry design, however, are much more involved. Silver- and goldsmithing, for example, involve shaping precious metals into rings, earrings, and necklaces. Producing these types of pieces requires skills in casting, soldering, riveting, embossing, and more. However, if that’s the type of jewelry design you want to pursue, don’t shy away from it! There are plenty of ways to learn these skills, including online jewelry design classes that can walk you through the process step by step.
Types of Jewelry Design
Think of all the different pieces of jewelry you see on a daily basis. From delicate, thin silver bracelets to bold, beaded statement necklaces, there are many different types of jewelry you can design. While some varieties are more challenging to create than others, they are all interesting, beautiful, and fun to design. Here’s a look at just a few examples.
Beaded Jewelry
Beaded jewelry is made by stringing together beads with thread or thin wire.
Beaded jewelry is created by stringing together beads with thread or thin wire. Even within the category of beaded jewelry, designs can vary widely. Beads can range from tiny to chunky, from round and smooth to ornate and decorative. And, they can be made from a variety of materials, including glass, porcelain, paper, shells, bone, ivory, or wood.
Wire Jewelry
Wire jewelry may incorporate decorative loops and twists, as well as colorful beads.
Unlike silversmithing or goldsmithing, wire jewelry requires no soldering or heat elements. Instead, you create it by wrapping jewelry wire in decorative shapes and then joining components using mechanical connections (e.g., two interlocking loops). Wire jewelry can be made of just wire, or it can contain beads for a more colorful look.
Clay Jewelry
You can create a variety of designs—from speckles to marbling—by blending different colors of clay.
Some jewelry makers prefer to use clay because it can be easily molded into any shape and blended into a variety of colors. Creating clay jewelry is generally very beginner-friendly. You simply roll out the clay, cut out your desired shapes, bake the shapes in your oven, and then add any final details, like jump rings or earring posts.
Silver and Gold Jewelry
This variety of silver and gold rings were made through the process of silver- or goldsmithing.
This category of jewelry design encompasses fine jewelry, such as diamond rings and necklaces, as well as other accessories made from precious metals. To create silver or gold jewelry, you’ll need to develop skills including sawing, filing, and soldering, as well as a range of finishing techniques, including buffing and polishing. The process can be intimidating, and it certainly requires an upfront investment in tools and education, but it can result in beautiful, fine jewelry pieces.
The Jewelry of Your Dreams
Jewelry design is exciting because you can take it in so many different directions. Maybe you want to design big, bold statement pieces, or maybe you’d prefer to create delicate, dainty items. Whatever your vision, learning the process of how to design jewelry opens up the opportunity to bring your exact vision to life—for you and others to enjoy!
The jewelry design process varies based on the type of creation you’d like to make. For example, designing a ring that contains a gemstone or diamond must be meticulously designed to secure the stone within the setting. Other types of jewelry, such as clay or wire-wrapped pieces, require less precision.
Over time, you will learn what works for you. However, as a beginner, consider these key things that can make the jewelry design process easier.
Understand the Principles of Jewelry Design
Jewelry design is part art and part science. While there’s definitely a creative element to it, there are also a few core principles to consider. Understanding and applying these principles can help you create a piece of jewelry that stands out and catches someone’s eye—which is exactly your goal as a jeweler. These principles include:
Balance: Jewelry doesn’t have to be symmetrical, but it should consider physical and visual weight.
Emphasis: PIeces of jewelry often feature some point of contrast, such as a center stone, a particular material or texture, or a change in the piece’s shape.
Proportion: Each element of the piece must make sense with the others. If one component is disproportionately large or small compared to the rest of the piece, the entire accessory will feel off.
Contrast: Contrasting elements, such as complementary colors or smooth and rough textures, creates visual interest.
Unity: Ultimately, all the individual elements of a piece of jewelry should work together, which generates a sense of completeness.
Draw Jewelry Designs
Learning how to draw designs is an essential first step in the process of creating jewelry.
For many types of baubles, the jewelry design process starts with a drawing. Just like a fashion designer would first sketch a piece of clothing, a jewelry designer’s first step is to create an initial depiction of each piece.
When drawing jewelry designs, it’s often best to start with a basic sketch, focusing on a general concept, shape, structure, and proportions. Then, you can move to a more complex drawing that includes smaller details, such as prongs or stones. Once finalized, jewelry design drawings can serve as a production guide or be used to create a model or mold for the final piece.
Learning how to draw jewelry designs accurately and realistically requires knowledge of perspective, proportions, and textures. While you can choose to illustrate your designs in black and white using just graphite or ink, it can also be helpful to add details using colored pencils, especially for jewelry that incorporates multicolored elements, such as gemstones or beads.
A common refrain I hear from clients is that they don’t know anything about jewelry and have no idea where to even begin when it comes to custom design. Whenever I hear this I tell them that they have nothing to worry about – jewelry design can be done by anyone, with the right guidance. The truth is, knowing about jewelry from a technical perspective is only half the picture. Sure, there are limitations on certain elements that only someone with experience can really understand, but the act of drawing inspiration for custom design is a totally separate skill, and it’s one most people truly do possess in some capacity.
While Tim and I do, obviously, design jewelry, we actually don’t think of ourselves as a jewelry designers per se. Rather, I think of myself as someone who knows about design and also considers the mechanical aspects of jewelry. The difference in my mind is that I don’t have a specific creative vision that I want to instill in all of my designs, the way a true Jewelry Designer might. I see my role as being one of a knowledgeable guide that allows clients to express their own aesthetic vision through my work.
When I am working with a client and walking through design objectives, the first place we start is by just… talking. I want to hear about your lifestyle, what you like, what you really don’t like, and what you generally have in mind when you think about jewelry. A lot of times I’ll find that clients actually do have a specific vision, they just might not have the language for it. In order to help define that language a little we then look at photos – lots of them. I usually learn here that a client’s definition of “Art Deco” is usually a bit different from mine, so we parse through what they mean when they say certain things.
A common refrain I hear from clients is that they don’t know anything about jewelry and have no idea where to even begin when it comes to custom design. Whenever I hear this I tell them that they have nothing to worry about – jewelry design can be done by anyone, with the right guidance. The truth is, knowing about jewelry from a technical perspective is only half the picture. Sure, there are limitations on certain elements that only someone with experience can really understand, but the act of drawing inspiration for custom design is a totally separate skill, and it’s one most people truly do possess in some capacity.
While Tim and I do, obviously, design jewelry, we actually don’t think of ourselves as a jewelry designers per se. Rather, I think of myself as someone who knows about design and also considers the mechanical aspects of jewelry. The difference in my mind is that I don’t have a specific creative vision that I want to instill in all of my designs, the way a true Jewelry Designer might. I see my role as being one of a knowledgeable guide that allows clients to express their own aesthetic vision through my work.
When I am working with a client and walking through design objectives, the first place we start is by just… talking. I want to hear about your lifestyle, what you like, what you really don’t like, and what you generally have in mind when you think about jewelry. A lot of times I’ll find that clients actually do have a specific vision, they just might not have the language for it. In order to help define that language a little we then look at photos – lots of them. I usually learn here that a client’s definition of “Art Deco” is usually a bit different from mine, so we parse through what they mean when they say certain things.
Most people are under the impression that it is difficult to design custom jewelry. With our busy schedules the thought of designing anything can seem daunting. Visions of having to sketch and plan the creation of a piece of jewelry can challenge our talents.
The truth is that designing custom jewelry can be lot easier than it sounds. It is not necessary to have special talents or spend precious time obsessing over jewelry and gems. What you need is the ability to separate the elements of design you like from those which are less appealing. Most of our clients never entertained the idea of creating custom jewelry until they became frustrated with the limitations of product designs available in a normal jewelry buying experience.
Unless you are an artist, architect, or engineer you are not likely to arrive in our showroom with a portfolio of drawings and sketches from which to design custom jewelry. Even when people have these talents and capabilities, we still need to work out details and feasibility issues regarding the jewelry design.
For most people, the inspiration to design custom jewelry comes from the lack of options or dissatisfaction with the quality of items available online or in stores. The need to design custom wedding rings can arise when a bride discovers that none of the rings in showrooms fit well alongside her engagement setting. The person for whom we create custom earrings may find that every pair of earrings she likes is too short to be worn with her current hair style. Sometimes, none of the traditional length bracelets in stores will fit a woman’s tiny wrist and custom bracelets become her only choice. We have created custom rings to accommodate gemstones that clients have dreamed of owning since childhood. We have created custom jewelry to replicate sentimental family heirlooms that were worn by a mother, a favorite aunt, or an adored grandmother. Over the years we have also had the privilege of helping to design custom jewelry for many corporate and non-profit organizations. The American Epilepsy Society recently came to us with a project that was personal to their organization. Together we created a personalized jewelry line in an effort to help raise money and awareness towards Epilepsy Research and Education as one example of many.