Roots of the Jewellery - Earrings

For the last design project I choose earrings. 

I want them to be a reflection of delicacy. The way the cord wrap around the stone and stainless steel accessories is very smooth, like the side of a river. 

At the same time the color I chose for them are very expressive: smoky red and green. Shades of red are associated with the colors that native people chose to pain their faces, Green symbolizes their strong bond with nature.  

Face paint

Another important element is the addition of natural stone. In this case, I chose moss agate. The reason why i do that is because moss agate looks like the green from every place from the whole word was enclosed in it. Like the all the flora was locked in this stone.

References: 

Holmes, J. (2022) Native american face paint: War face paint, PowWows.com. Available at: https://www.powwows.com/native-american-face-paint-war-face-paint/ (Accessed: 21 November 2023).

Sedawie, R. (2023) Black labradorite: Meaning, properties and info, Chroma Gems & Co. Available at: https://chromagems.com/blog/gemstone-information/black-labradorite/ (Accessed: 21 November 2023).

Roots of the Jewellery - Necklace No.3

 In this necklace project, my inspiration was nature. 

The motifs of leaves, vines and toots used are the main outline. 

The idea behind this project was to place a natural stone in the middle of the leaves and vines, as if the stone was coming out from nature. The goal was to show the connection of natural stones with Mother Nature. 

I wanted my works to look the same visually. That's why the next sketch was also transformed in Photoshop into a papyrus background

In this case, I had to use Illustrator to separate the drawings and arrange them on the paper. In this way, I waned to make the design more transparent.

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Here is what this project looks like in the end. 

I used green color stone- because I associate green with nature. And brown color for the leaves and roots as a symbol of the earth. 

Te first stone that come to my mind was labradorite. Personally, it looks to me as if someone closed a forest in it, along with rivers and mountains, The whole nature in one stone. That is why it couldn't be missing in my project about ethnic jewellery. 

Labradorite

References: 

Sedawie, R. (2023) Black labradorite: Meaning, properties and info, Chroma Gems & Co. Available at: https://chromagems.com/blog/gemstone-information/black-labradorite/ (Accessed: 21 November 2023). 

Roots of the Jewellery - Necklace No.2

 This project was inspired by "Princess Mononoke" by Ghibli Studio. 

My inspiration was the mask of the title character- Princess Mononoke. Her mask was combined with animal whitish fur. In my project, I combined the mask pattern with a leaf motif in he color of white-gray animal fur. Whit this treatment, I wanted to combine the fur color, i.e. the original motif from the animation, with the motif of nature- the shape of leaves.  

The sketch was made using the ink pen drawing method. 

Then I edited the sketch using Photoshop. Also in this case I use a ready-made images that resemble papyrus. Then I added my sketch and marge them into one image.

 

As I mentioned above, my motivation was the title character, or more precisely, her face mask. That's why in this project I used the same colors as originally.

"Princess Mononoke" by Ghibli Studio 

The main addition in this pedant is Raw Clear Crystal. According to beliefs, it has a properties cleaning  effect on our mind, body, soul as well as objects and rooms.  Also called a neutralizer due to its ability to store energy.  ( Houston, 2020)

 The Raw Clear Crystal 

In this design, the necklace will be made of high-quality waxed cord and tied using macrame technique to give it an ethnic natural look. 

The final look of the project inspired by Studio Ghibli animation. 

References: 

Houston, D. (2020) Clear crystals: Meanings, properties and powers - the complete guide, CrystalsandJewelry.com. Available at: https://meanings.crystalsandjewelry.com/clear-crystals/ (Accessed: 21 November 2023).

Roots of the Jewellery - Necklace No.1 Part2

 Here is my design for ethnic necklace no.1

I used Photoshop again to apply my watercolor work to the background. 

Multiply

Linear burn

I use two different overlays: Multiply and Linear Burn. The difference may not be very visible, but 

the Linear Burn made the color more expressive and strong. Multiply, on the other hand, gives the work a more delicate color effects. I saved both version so that I could easily decide which one I will available on my website in the Portfolio section.  

Roots of the Jewellery- Necklace No.1

 Here is my first project for the portfolio from an ethnic jewelry store called - Roots Of The Jewelery -

This is a sketch made using the ink pen drawing method. First, I scanned my sketch without filling it in, just in case something went wrong with the paints. When drawing by hand, I do not have a convenient undo option, so I had to protect my work.

I wanted the necklace pendant to resemble something between a totem pole and Native American clothing style. There are feathers/leaves around the face, which are supposed to symbolize the Indian plume.

The face on the pendant has delicate facial decorations, which are also taken from the native American face painting culture (Holmes, October 2022) .

My goal was to give this jewelry the most ethnic look as possible, without exaggerating the form over the content.

The color choice fell on blue and warm brown/caramel. The blue was intended to resemble the color of turquoise howlite. This stone, in turn, was supposed to symbolize the shades of waters and rivers with its color. 

I used a brown caramel color because of the ethnic pattern I found during my research. It was shared in my earlier posts. Also because it reminds me of sand mixed with earth. Such a combination of water and land.

Patern

Due to the fact that it is supposed to be ethnic jewelry also inspired by Native American beliefs, I think it is worth mentioning the current beliefs associated with the stone. For example, turquoise howlite is considered to be a stone that supports the throat chakra and is helpful in stressful situations. According to beliefs, it can calm down tension and help relieve it (navitascentre.co.uk).

Turquoise Howlite

In the next classes, I plan to edit my works in Photoshop to give them a papyrus background similar to the last one. We'll see how it goes for me

References: 

The demographic segment focused by art of jewelry in planderful (no date a) Planderful Shop. Available at: https://www.planderful.com/en-gb/blogs/timeless-art/the-demographic-segment-focused-by-art-of-jewelry-in-planderful (Accessed: 20 November 2023).

Holmes, J. (2022) Native american face paint: War face paint, PowWows.com. Available at: https://www.powwows.com/native-american-face-paint-war-face-paint/#:~:text=It%20was%20believed%20that%20Indians,holy%20person%20or%20medicine%20man. (Accessed: 20 November 2023).

The first portfolio project preparation

 

I started my project with quick sketches of the first pendant for the necklace. I wanted it to look like a totem pole. However, I wasn't sure what it would look like in the end, so I made three versions, of which I will choose one. I also made a sketch of the different looks for the necklace, using the macrame technique knots. My intention is to give it a more ethnic look, closer to the vision of what jewelry used to look like, so I will use waxed string. In the next step, I'm going to check out the color options for my project. However, before I start doing it, I wanted to show you a rough sketch. 

During the classes, the teacher showed us how to use the basic tools in Photoshop and Illustration. So I decided to practice on what I currently had to make my sketch clearer. I used a scanner to get the best quality possible for my sketch.

First, I opened my sketch in Illustrator and using the Copy option, I created 2 additional copies. Then I used the Crop Image tool to cut out one sketch from each version. I placed them next to each other to make them similar in size and then spaced them across the entire page to make them more legible.

Then I open Photoshop to change the background to one that looked like old papyrus. For this purpose, I searched for images resembling such an effect in the graphic and added it as another Layers.

I dragged the image under my sketch, which made it appear on the background. However, it was in its original white background.

From the blending mode option, I chose a shade of black to make my work look like it was sketched on old papyrus. It seems to me that I managed to achieve my intended goal. I did the same for the necklace weave option. It was an interesting experience, using two editing programs that produce really interesting effects. The next step will be to add colors to my work 

Target Audience

From the sources I managed to find, it appears that the main target for my jewelry, due to the materials used in the project, are young people. "The first group comprises younger shoppers, who are more likely to be drawn to modern and trendy options like stainless steel and titanium. " (Planderful,2022). People from the older age group mainly choose silver or gold, which are assumed to be more durable and expensive products.

Material Type Analysis Chart

"Gold holds most of the market share at 70%, Platinum at 17%, Diamond at 8%, and other materials share the remaining 5%." (Planderful,2022). From the diagram presented, it is evident that most customers choose gold as a jewelry material. 

The source also points out the attention to factors such as the most frequently chosen type of jewelry - necklaces, gender division - ladies are definitely the ones who take this analysis seriously.

Coming back to the group that interests me in my project. Further research shows that younger recipients are my potential recipients. Young people focus on trends, and natural stones are very popular now. They (young people) are looking for the meaning of life and significance, and often this is what is attributed to natural stones. For each of them, we can find special properties or purposes.

The store's Planderful (2022) research shows that young people buy jewelry much more often than older people. One of the reasons may be the desire to express oneself, style and origin through the world of fashion, including jewelry. 

Due to the ethnic character of my jewelry project, my next group of recipients will be people who feel a strong need to express their origins through jewelry.

Millennials and Generation Z will be my main type of audience. Gen-Z generation is the age range of young people. People who spend their free time mainly on their phones and that's where they look for inspiration through various types of applications.(Ghidotti). It is mainly in the virtual world that trends and news are communicated. This also applies to natural stones, which can often be found on Instagram or TkikTok now. Either through sellers' accounts or through influencers. 

References: 

The demographic segment focused by art of jewelry in planderful (no date a) Planderful Shop. Available at: https://www.planderful.com/en-gb/blogs/timeless-art/the-demographic-segment-focused-by-art-of-jewelry-in-planderful (Accessed: 20 November 2023).

Federighi, R. (2022) Millennials vs. gen Z - the importance of generational marketing, Ghidotti Communications. Available at: https://ghidotti.com/blog/millennials-vs-gen-z-the-importance-of-generational-marketing/#:~:text=Millennials%20are%20classified%20as%20those,the%2024%20and%20younger%20crowd. (Accessed: 20 November 2023).