Inspiring unique design jewelry ideas for you to cherish

Unique design jewelry can be inspired from the visual, tactile and symbolic appeal of an everyday object as much as from a work of art.

Become an inspired design archeologist.

Your surroundings are full of ideas; learn to read between the lines. Inspirations can pop-up from almost everything.

It can be from something exhilarating, shocking, humorous, poignant or enlightening. Ideas can pop-up from a conversation, something you saw, an experience you remember, a magazine, a shop, etc.

Here, you will learn how to:

Keep your ideas in a sketch diary,

Use models to tweak designs,

Take advantage of technical drawings and notes,

Develop a visual journal for inspiration,

Creatively store special inspirational objects,

Organize your design concepts.

All of the above are just steps for managing your design process.

Your unique jewelry design requires a process that begins with the purpose or intent of your jewelry and then leads to the development of the visual expression you want to achieve.

Open your mind and spark your imagination.

But also, be prepared to carefully collect and store your ideas. By having an organized bank of ideas you will have plenty of sources of inspiration for your jewelry designs.

To do this you naturally gather your sources of inspiration and start designing.

There are loads of other pages in this site devoted completely to giving you tons of jewelry ideas, concepts, themes and more.

But they will be absolutely useless if you don’t capitalize them. Read on to make sure you use them the most.

The sketch diary – your visual memory aid

There’s nothing like a crisp sketch.

Usually, any idea is followed by a cascade of visions, perceptions and interpretations that can become a rich source of inspiration.

I carry a tiny notepad with me everywhere I go. It’s so small it fits into a pocket. Every single time I have any sort of idea or just a glimpse of inspiration I scribble some notes or doodle around in my little notepad.

You can also have a proper sketching pad, as I have too, where all my conceptual impressions are registered and developed.

In my opinion, the best sketch pad is a 8” by 11” size with white fine grain paper (Canson is my all time favorite). You can draw with pencil, charcoal, colors and you can even stick things in it, or try on directly a color scheme with acrylics or Chinese ink.

I stick spontaneous doodles drawn on paper napkins, flyers, commercial cards or any other piece of paper I can get hold of. You’ll also find postcards, pictures, leaves, dry flowers and flat found objects I want to cherish.



Try not to use your sketch book just as a storeroom of ideas.

Use it to actually develop and advance your ideas while designing.

Unique design jewelry doesn’t magically happen from viewing once in a while your sketch pad.

This is where you develop your ideas, drawing all the design possibilities that a single or a group of ideas gives you.

Your sketch pad is a visual record of your design chain of thought.

While drawing a design has many advantages, it also comes with some limitations. Your drawings can express how the final design will look but, unfortunately, not necessarily how it will work.

The drawings can offer you a reasonably accurate representation of appearance but not of the performance. Having this in mind, it’s best to actually “feel” the design by making a model of it, if possible.

Models and prototypes – saving time beforehand

Models don’t have to be very complicated. You don’t necessarily have to do an exact replica of the design you’re at.

Simply make an approximate prototype of the volume or shape of your jewelry to check the scale and proportion, confirm the volume is wearable and functional. Also examine the overall form to see it’s beautiful and visually appealing.

You can use cardboard, paper, plasticine, straws, barbecue sticks, bits of wood or wax; anything. Cut them out and stick them together with tape, glue or staples. Recycle old bits and pieces, we’re talking about working with models not working for models.

Prototypes can also be used as a design research tool. Just as you have your sketch diary you can also build-up a collection of three-dimensional prototypes for any design line.

You can hang these in your workshop or glue them on a simple frame.

The technical diary – your learning file

This is the most important element of all your design process. Do keep a technical diary of your entire jewelry making.

The easiest way to learn from experience and to avoid repetitive mistakes is to have a notepad where you keep all your manufacturing details.

I have been fortunate enough to have been taught that since the beginning. My technical diary is my gold mine. All the tips and tricks I have learned are there, all the mistakes I’ve made are recorded and their solutions written with detail.

It’s packed with illustrations of key movements, positions, angles, grips and infinite crafting techniques.

You can use your technical diary to jot down the following:

• Formulas for making solder, alloys and chemicals,
• The type of flex-shaft tool used in every new trick,
• The technical specifications of materials used in every project,
• Modifications you carve-out of your bench pin to ease manufacture,
• The way to handle mandrels, files and other tools while working specific projects,
• The direction and angle when stretching, forging or shallow forming,
• Detailed drawings and measurements for scoring,
• The best grip and position for you when engraving,
• Write down the times and chemical formulas when etching designs into metal,
• Results of different soldering methods.

After a couple of years, you’ll have a complete metalsmithing book. Put together your personal documentation of manufacturing tips and tricks.

It doesn’t get any better.

The visual journal – your bank of ideas

Visual journals range from concept boxes, collages, found objects mobiles and collections.

It all depends on the type of things that usually get you inspired. Do you fancy little stones or pebbles? Maybe you collect vintage findings, twigs, or just pictures?

There are many ways of organizing and storing your ideas, you can hang them, stick them, file them and even fasten them. I have a home made file-case with 2.5” by 4” cards with all sorts of things glued on them. I also have a rail with alligator pins where I hang the inspiration objects in use for current work.

There’s also my busy corkboard full of business cards, magazine cuts and an insane number of useful and useless stuff. Plus a basket where I stash whatever doesn’t have a place but definitely want to keep with me.

Once in a while I manage to create a collage. This gives me a coherent picture of the visual elements that best portray my design intent. Other designers do the same but in their sketch pad, in a smaller scale.

A colleague came up with a fantastic idea. He’s got an old strip curtain in one of his studio windows and uses one of the sides to stitch all his design inspirations. Whenever he wants, he can always twist it close so that the stuff sits at the back undisclosed or twist it open to see al his collectibles.

And obviously, last but not least, take pictures of your work.

Keep a slide record of all your unique design jewelry.

You can be pressed anytime to make a portfolio of your work and having a record of it will save you lots of working hours.

All the ideas here are meant to aid your decision making process.

Have handy inspiration objects that are useful in your current design purpose and then tuck them away. While designing, remember to start thinking about the functionality and wearability of the design. Assess the manufacturing process you’ll have to perform and the materials and tools needed.

Calculate the total cost and time spent in manufacturing.

The design process is a continual learning curve.

Go from Unique Design Jewelry back to Design Process

References used in this section: Olver (2003)