Our artistic mastery comprises of innovative use of
colors and colored gemstones to produce a captivating piece of jewelry. Our
designs feature rare skills of adding fabulous splash of color to jewelry with
fine quality gemstones, enamels, beads, patinas, resins and much more. Mixing
colors is an art. You are sure to be dazzled by the ingenious use of color
contrasts- contrasts of pure color, bright- dark contrast, warm-cool contrasts,
contrasts between complementary colors, simultaneous
contrasts, quantitative contrasts and qualitative contrast , depicted in our
various ring designs that are an epitome of expression, eloquence,
coherence and rhythm. Every design is well considered to take advantage of
texture, transparency, shine, size, shapes and colors of gemstones to construct
a radiant and resonating jewelry that is an icon of beauty for your eyes. Our
compositions encompass various colors that are carefully picked keeping in mind
the color harmony using the schemes of complementary colors, split-
complementary colors, triad colors. square tetrad color harmony and rectangular
tetrad color harmony.
Understand Color to create an “Absolutely Thrilling” Jewelry Composition.
Color is
intimately related to the psychological visual phenomenon that takes place in
our eyes. In jewelry design we use it as an expressive vehicle for symbolic
imagery. Color sensations or the subjective dimensional qualities of color
include the following:
Hue- It is the pure color. There are three primary
hues: Red, blue and yellow. Yellow is the color considered closest to light and
warmth; red the most emotional and active while blue is passive and soft. Yellow
and red tend to expand, blue to contract. In association with each other they
may take new meanings
Value- It is the
degree of lightness or darkness. It is the relative brightness, from light to
dark, of value or tonal gradations. The amount of light reflected from any color
strongly affects how colors are seen. A lower value is darker, though not
necessarily duller (intensity). Pink has a higher value than maroon, because it
is lighter. In other words higher values are lighter and lower values are
darker. Yellow is the lightest color and violet is the darkest. Yellow has a
higher value than violet.
Saturation- It is also
know as chroma or intensity. It is the measure of the purity and brightness, or
grayness, of a color. Low intensity is duller and high intensity is brighter. A
high saturated color will appear almost as pure as transparent gemstones with
light passing through them. On the contrary, colors with low saturation appear
dull, as if thin layers of grayed paint had been painted on top of purer hues.
Less saturated colors reach toward neutrality of color and are subtle and
restful. The more intense or saturated colors are highly charged with expression
and emotion.
Tint, shade and tone are similar to values and
intensities. They are another way of saying similar things
about manipulating color hues
Tints are colors
with white added to them
Shades are colors with black or gray added to them
and
Tones define the
relative darkness of a color. For example violet has a dark tone and yellow has
a light tone. Red and green have the same tonal value
At sndgems.com we use high quality natural colored
gemstones with metals to bring out the tantalizing beauty, character and
personality of colors in our sensational designs/ compositions with due
consideration to all color details like, hues, values, saturation, luminosity,
contrast and more.
Basic Popular Colors and what they
Convey
Colors have strong
affinity with emotions. They are a crucial source for visual communication. Our
designers make the best use of the creative potential of colors and colored
gemstones to create a captivating and emotionally charging piece of jewelry.
Explore below some of the meanings and
Red is emotionally
intense, full of itself, causing the heart to beat faster and the lungs to
breathe faster, as well. Red can be an extreme color. The ancient Egyptians
wrote their curse-words in red ink. I guess now we know that ancient Egyptians
had curse-words. Red can evoke love, and anger. Red can indicate a person is in
control, and challenge others to question that control. Red can be destructive,
as well as signify re-birth. Red stimulates appetite. Red does a lot – a lot of
extreme things. Red gemstones can be used to strengthen the body, promote
will power and courage, add vitality, overcome sexual
dysfunctions.
Blue is the most popular color for fashion. It shows
loyalty, honesty, calmness, reliability. It should come as no surprise that
people are most productive in rooms that are painted blue. Even weight lifters
can lift heavier weights in blue settings, than in non-blue settings. Blue
gemstones promote peace and are used to calm ragged emotions. They are used to
provide relief to people who have difficulty sleeping or who have nightmares.
They offer inspiration and enhance the quality of communication.
Yellow is full of
creative and intellectual energy. Yellow symbolizes wisdom. Yellow means joy and
happiness. People of high intellect favor yellow. It is believed that Carrying
or wearing yellow gemstones promotes the ability to express. They are excellent
stones for writers and public speakers to increase eloquence. The yellow stones
stimulate movement and mental awareness. They are used to enhance decision
making skills. The jewelry designers
at http://www.sndgems.com/ strategically place colors within a
piece. The designer achieves balance and harmony, partly through the placement
of colors. He determines how colors are distributed within the piece, and what
movement and rhythm and effect result. And the designer also determines what
proportions of each color are used, where in the piece, and
how.
Green was once the
preferred color choice for wedding gowns and veils. I wonder at what point
brides-to-be decided that looking like a tree was no longer a positive thing.
They jumped ship and went to white. Green has so many good feelings going with
it. It brings you closer to nature. It refreshes you. It has a sense of renewal.
So it always seems so out of place to go from saying someone has a Green Thumb,
to saying someone is Green With Envy or Green With Jealousy. If you lay a green
transparent piece of plastic over a page in a book, you can read more
attentively, and retain more of what you read? Green gemstones are used to
attract money, prosperity and wealth. They are balancing stones that promote
growth and fertility. Carry, wear or place green gemstones around your home or
office to promote balance, change and growth.
Yellow is full of creative and intellectual energy.
Yellow symbolizes wisdom. Yellow means joy and happiness. People of high
intellect favor yellow. It is believed that Carrying or wearing yellow gemstones
promotes the ability to express. They are excellent stones for writers and
public speakers to increase eloquence. The yellow stones stimulate movement and
mental awareness. They are used to enhance decision making
skills.
Orange is another color,
like Yellow, that is difficult to work with. As a warm color orange is a
stimulant — stimulating the emotions and even the appetite. Orange can be found
in nature in the changing leaves of fall, the setting sun, and the skin and meat
of citrus fruit. If you want to get noticed without screaming, consider the
color orange — it demands attention. The softer oranges such as peaches are
friendlier and more soothing. Peachy oranges are less flamboyant than their
redder cousins but still energetic. Shades of orange can be used to indicate
transition or a bridge between two opposing factors. Orange is often synonymous
with autumn yet the brighter oranges are a summer color. Use shades of orange
for seasonal-themed fall or summer materials. Orange gemstones contain some of
the fiery energies of red, but are gentler with a more creative spirit. They are
used to promote personal power and are useful for people who could use more self
esteem. Carry or place orange gemstones around your home or office to stimulate
creativity, mental quickness, ability to adjust to changes.
Being the combination of red and blue, the
warmest and coolest colors, purple is believed to be the ideal color.
Purple has always been the color of royalty. Purple is the color of good judgment. It is the
color of people seeking spiritual fulfillment. It is said if you surround
yourself with purple you will have peace of mind. Purple is a good color to use
in meditation and is associated with spirituality, psychic powers, and
healing. There are many famous purple stories in literature. Violet gemstones are associated with mysticism
and purification
Black can convey an inner
strength and control. About Black some fashion experts say a woman wearing black
implies submission to men. Wearing black with another color can enhance that
color’s energy, just like wearing black can enhance your body’s energy. We use
black to create shadows, to frame things, to back up things, to create borders,
to create a sense of negative spaces. Black is a great non-color color. Some
Research History on Color Color research over the past 100 years or so suggests
that there are many universals in how people perceive and respond to colors.
Black gemstones symbolize self control and resilience. Black stones have
protective energies in the sense that black is the absence of light, and
therefore, can be used to create invisibility.
White is neutral. It goes
with everything. White can be extended to the idea of Clear, Crystal , and
Transparent. White can also be used to frame and boundary. It can be used to
fill negative space. White gemstones are ruled by the Moon and are associated
with sleep and psychic energy. They are often used for good fortune, protection
after dark. The crystal amplifies the powers of other stones. Some say that
because white stones contain all the colors, they can act as substitutes for
stones of any color.
Gray always picks up some of the color characteristics of
other colors around it. It is the true neutral color. Its energy imparts void,
emptiness, lack of movement, emotion, warmth and identifying characteristics.
Gray can have a cooling effect when placed next to other more vibrant colors. It
has a stabilizing effect, making vibrant colors stand out while muting their
vibration. Gray gemstones are healing stones and can assist in improving
relationships toward more stability.
The first had to do with After Images. When viewer stares at a particular color long enough, and then close eyes, viewer begins to see the color on the opposite side of the color wheel. So, if viewer stares at red, then close eyes, and viewer will see green. Everyone seems to see after images, and see the same after images. It seems that the viewer eye/brain wants somehow to neutralize the energy in color to achieve some balance or 0.0 point.
And we can continue to speculate that your eye/brain does not want you the designer to clarify and intensify. This takes you too far away from 0.0, and starts to become threatening. It might excite you. It might revolt you. In either case you would react, feel, sense the power of color. Your eye/brain does Not want you to push yourself and your jewelry to the edge with color. The eye/brain wants balance, harmony, monotony.
And that is how we perceive them. And cognate them. We see red and green as the same. As the same color black. And if we assign red a 10 score, and green a -10 score, the eye/brain is happy to end up with a 0.0 score.
How far the jewelry designer should fight this universal tendency is up for debate. However, when initially picking colors to combine in a piece, we might try to achieve this 0.0 balance score, and then, by clarifying and intensifying, deviate from it a little bit, but always with an eye on that 0.0 – what anyone’s eye/brain is driving it to do. We want the eye/brain to feel satisfied and “safe”, but as a designer, we also want to give the jewelry a punch, a wow, and edge. There are many color tricks and techniques that the designer can apply here.
The second part of history dealt with Simultaneity Effects. Colors in the presence of other colors get perceived differently, depending on the color combination. Gray always picks up some of the color characteristics of other colors around it. Existence of these simultaneity effects is a great piece of information for the designer. There will be gaps of color and light between stones. Many stone colors are imperfect, particularly in combination. Playing with what I call “grays” gives the designer tools to overcome some of the color limitations associated with the stone.
Again, simultaneity effects give tools to the jewelry designer for intensifying and clarifying the design, without disturbing the eye/brain pre-wired fear and anxiety responses. These allow you to “blend” and build “bridges” and create “transitions.” You have a lot of tricks to use here which enable you to push the envelop with your designs. And still have your piece be judged as beautiful and appealing.
The last part of history on color focused on balance and harmony by proportion of color use. These scientifically derived proportions show the joint effect of 2 or more colors, if the brain is to score their sum a 0.0. (Again, I’ve made up this scoring, but you get the point about reaching equilibrium).
Some other harmonious proportional relationships:
Orange to blue, 1:3
Red to green, 1:2
Yellow to orange: 1:1.3
The Color Wheel
The Color Wheel, ais a tool and a guide. It’s not an absolute. A rainbow bent into a circle is a color wheel. This curtain of color provides the insights for selecting and arranging colors that might go together well. But stones don’t always conform to the colors on the wheel; nor do they reflect light and color in ways consistent with how these colors appear on the wheel. A complete range of color effects is found in jewelry pieces from dazzling
to subdued. With a little knowledge of classic color theory, creations can be
naturally pleasing, bringing rave reviews for their harmony.
Creative use of color has always been a hallmark of artists and skilled
craftspeople. Our interactive Color Wheel lets you use basic color theory by
quickly and easily determining each type of color relationship. Just follow the
easy-to-understand instructions below and add to your repertoire of creative
techniques! We've also included a brief history of contemporary Color Theory and
of the man who invented it, Johannes Itten. Itten developed the perfect visual
tool: a 12-color wheel. With his color wheel, it is fun and easy to develop
color schemes that work.
Here are four basic color schemes: monochromatic, analogous, complementary
and split-complementary.
Monochromatic Scheme: The most
simple way to create a beautiful piece is to use the same color throughout, but
by using lighter and darker elements. Shown are various shades and tints of
green.
The Primary Color family includes three colors: yellow, blue and red. These colors present the world as Absolutes. They are definitive, certain, and steady. They convey intelligence, security, and clarity.
The Secondary Color family includes those colors you can make by mixing any two primary colors. These three colors are: green, orange and violet. These colors present the world as Contingencies. They are situational, dependent on something, and questioning. They convey questioning, inquiry, risks assessed against benefits.
The Tertiary Color family includes six colors. Each of these colors is a mix of one of the primary colors and one of the secondary colors. These include: red-violet, yellow-orange, blue-green, blue-violet, yellow-green, red-orange. These colors show Transitions. These colors are useful for transitioning from one primary or secondary color to the next. They bridge, integrate, tie things together, stretch things out. They give a sense of before and after, lower then higher, inside and outside.
Or perhaps your Color Wheel should show Earth, Wind, Fire and Water quadrants of colors and transitional colors. Take Water, for example, what colors would be Fish (water) or Mermaids (water-air) or Flying Birds (air-water) or Turtles (water-land)? How would you color-illustrate a Surf N’ Turf necklace? Or, Fire and Ice? Our color and design choices are so often influenced by our experiences of nature and natural phenomenon, why not Earth, Wind, Fire and Water?
Whatever your take on The Color Wheel, the wheel provides you some ways to view and interrelate colors. But remember the power to pick colors is in your hands – you have the power. The Wheel is not the power.
As you begin to pick colors, you will also want to manipulate them – make them lighter or darker, brighter or duller, more forward projecting or more receding, and the like. These are the ways you use color as building blocks in design. So, here are some important building block/color terms and vocabulary.
Each color on the wheel is called a HUE. Hues are pure colors – any color except black or white. And if you look again, there is no black or white on the Color Wheel.
BLACK is the absence of color. We consider black to be opaque. Usually, when people see black, they tend to see shadows. With black, designs tend to feel older, more antique’y, richer, more traditional and solid, and seem to have a patina around them.
WHITE is all the colors merged together. When all colors in “light” merge, you get White. When all the colors in paints or pigments are merged, you get a neutral gray-black or beige. With White, designs tend to feel sharper, brighter, more contemporary.
Better jewelry designers are those who master how to play with INTENSITIES and play with VALUES. This means they know and are comfortable with manipulating bright and dull, and light and dark. They know the subtle differences among red, pink and maroon, and how viewers react to these. They know how to punctuate – BAM! – with Yellow and EASE… with purple and CALM… with blue.
The contrasts between Bright and Dull or Light and Dark are not quite the same. Bright and Dull (intensity) has to do with how much white, gray or black underlay the Hue or pure color. Low intensity is duller; high intensity is brighter. Think of a Stop Sign. It could have just as easily been Red, Pink or Maroon. Red is the most intense – the brightest of the 3 – and hence the sign is Red. You can see red from the farthest distance away. Red is “Bright (intensity)”, but not necessarily “Lighter (values)” than the other colors.
Intensity Exercise: Use your Blue Pencil, as well as your White, Gray and Black Pencils, to color in the 2nd column. Vary the darkness of the blue to approximate the darkness of the grays in the 1st column. You might first color in all Blue, and then using the white, gray and black, lighten up or darken up the cell.
The contrasts between Light and Dark are called VALUES. A lower value is darker, though not necessarily duller (intensity).
Pink has a higher value than maroon, because it is lighter. Yellow is the lightest color; violet is the darkest. Yellow has a higher value than violet.
So, as you work with people to create jewelry for them, you make choices about, and then manipulate: - colors - simultaneity effects - balance and harmony (distribution, placement, and proportions) - intensities - values
Let’s continue with some more important color building blocks or concepts.
TINT, SHADE and TONE are similar to values and intensities. They are another way of saying similar things about manipulating color Hues. TINTS are colors with white added to them. Pink is a tint of Red. SHADES are colors with black or gray added to them. Maroon is a shade of Red. And TONES define the relative darkness of a color. Violet is a dark tone and yellow is a light tone. Red and green have the same tonal value. “Tones” are what copy machines pick up, and the depth of the black on a photocopy relates to the tonal value of the colors on the original paper you are copying. Red and green photocopy the same black color.
Colors also have Temperature. Some colors are WARM. The addition of black tends to warm colors up. Warm colors are usually based in Red. Red-Orange is considered the warmest color. Warm colors tend to project forward.
COOL colors are usually based in Blue. Green-blue is the coldest color. Addition of white often cools colors. Cool colors tend to recede.
Juxtaposing colors creates MOVEMENT and RHYTHM. By creating patterns, you guide the brain/eye in its circuitous route around the piece, as it tries to make sense of it. Juxtaposing Warm with Cool colors increases the speed or sense of movement.
Some colors tend to PROJECT FORWARD and others tend to RECEDE. Yellow is an advancing color. Black recedes. You can play with this effect to trick the viewer into seeing a more MULTI-DIMENSIONAL piece of jewelry before her. By mixing different colors and different finishes, you can create a marvelous sense of dimensionality.
Faceted, Glossy stones will tend to look closer and capture the foreground
Smooth, Glossy stones will tend to capture the middle ground
Matte, Dull, Frosted, or Muted stones will tend to fall into the background
Color names have always fascinated me, but they are a bit quirky. When I started in the stone business, many colors went by names I had never heard of before – like Smaragd (Kelly green) or Chroust (a brown tiger eye looking color), or were colors that I did not associate with the color name, like Hyacinth (which was orange) and Amber (which was a bright yellow). There are over 3,000 named colors in the store. When people start to work here, we give them a lot of color tests and play fun color games, to help them begin to learn all the colors.
So, the least technologically developed cultures have two names – Black and White. Again, they can see and describe all colors, but only have the need for two color names. The next color to be named is Red. Red, then, is the first true Hue or color that people recognize and want the kind of control over it, that giving a name to it would provide. After Red comes Yellow. Then it’s a toss up. Some groups go with Green, then Blue. Other groups go with Blue, then Green. Then comes Orange, and last Purple.
As a jewelry designer, your choice of colors might mimic some of this naming behavior. If you wanted to do a more primitive look, you might emphasize Black, White and Red. An ancient Egyptian piece might emphasis White, Red, Yellow and Blue. A contemporary piece might emphasize Green, Orange and Purple.
Color Schemes – Rules of Composition
Color schemes are different, proven ways to use and combine colors, in order to achieve a pleasing or satisfying result. You can place geometric shapes inside the Color Wheel, and rotate them, and where the points hit the wheel, you have a good color combination. For example, if you place an equilateral triangle (all sides are equal length) within the circle, as in the diagram below, the points touch Yellow, Red and Blue. If you rotate it two colors to the right, it touches Orange, Violet and Green. Different color schemes are associated with different geometric shapes that you can overlay within the wheel, and rotate, thus helping you select colors that work well together.
With any Color Scheme, you not only pick particular colors to play with, but you also must decide if one is to be Predominant, and the others Subordinate, or not. Some Color Schemes work best if one color is dominant; others work best where all the colors are co-equal. With some Color Schemes, symmetrical arrangements are more satisfying and asymmetrical ones are less. When you select a Color Scheme, sometimes tweaking the intensities and/or values of some of the colors you’ve chosen, will end up with a more satisfying outcome. In a similar way, when you select a Color Scheme, sometimes tweaking the proportions or placement of colors will end up with a more satisfying outcome.
Does jewelry need the equivalent of that Splash of Color? If so, how does this relate to choosing colors on the Color Wheel? Or is it to be some afterthought – some fourth color from the fourth dimension? Is there a science here, or some intuitive emotional irrational choice? So let’s look at the three most popular, often-used Color Schemes – Analogous, Complementary, and Split Complementary.
Analogous: The analogous color scheme is where you pick any 3 hues which are adjacent to one another on the color wheel. For example, you might pick yellow-green, yellow, and yellow-orange. This scheme is a little trickier than it seems. It works best when no color predominates. Where the intensity of each color is similar. And the design is symmetrical.
Complementary (also known as “true complementary” or “dyadic”): The complementary color scheme is where you pick any 2 colors which are the direct opposite on the color wheel. For example, you might pick yellow and violet. To use this color scheme effectively, you would balance the contrast of the colors by value (lightness/darkness) and/or intensity (brightness/dullness). In this color scheme, one color has to predominate.
Split Complementary: This is the most popular color scheme. Here you choose a hue and the hues on either side of its complement. For example, you might choose yellow and blue-violet and red-violet. In this scheme, one color needs to predominate. This scheme works well with both symmetrical and asymmetrical designs. You can use an isosceles triangle within the Color Wheel to pick colors.
There are many other color schemes:
Analogous Complementary.(3 analogous colors, and one complement of one of these 3). Example: blue-violet, violet, red-violet with yellow-green.
Triadic: (3 tertiary hues equidistant on the color wheel.) Example: red-violet, yellow-orange, and blue-green. You can use an equilateral triangle within the color wheel to help you pick choices.
Tetradic: (Using 4 colors, a double complementary scheme). Example: Yellow-green, orange, red-violet, and blue. You can use a square or rectangle within the color wheel to help you pick choices.
Hexadic: (Using 5 colors). Can use a pentagon within the color wheel to select your colors.
Monochromatic: (A single hue, though with different intensities, tints and shades)
Achromatic: (black and white and gray (without color))
Neutrals: (mixes of hues to get browns (or grays))
Clash: (combines a color hue with a color on either side of its complement).
Stones and Color
The stone presents greater complexity and depth, in terms of color, than any flat surface, like paint. We need to know how the stone asserts its need for color.
As you string or weave more stones together, the developing composition provides more intellectual challenges and stimulations to your mind and eye. stones demand much more commitment, they are much more assertive, they require much more attention, than paint. And you are there to provide it. Stone shapes create shadows and highlights. They force you to perceive and have to interpret your perceptions. They offer many plays on light, reflections and refractions, some anticipated, others not.
The stone has many levels upon which to target your eye. There is the surface. There are the outer edges. There are the inner edges that come with faceting, and texturing, and crevicing. There are the layered inner spaces you see in opalescents and micas and color lined and quartzes and Picassos and hurricanes and tortoises and cubas and comglomerations. And there is the hole, its rim, its recesses, and its channel through the object we call stone. And as the eye and brain try to target the eye on the stone, it is important to realize that some materials of stones restrict the eye to its surface colors; other materials bring the eye into the stone to different levels or layers within the stone itself.
Although many people try to “paint” with stones, you really can’t. stones don’t come in every color, and they don’t “blend” like paints. Often, you have to make work the limited color palette you have with stones on hand.
Each stone already presents some color variation in terms of intensity and value, as the viewer experiences the stone in its entirety, examining the stone over and around each curve and surface. Sometimes this works to the artist’s advantage, in that the color as experienced on, with, within, through and around the stone might be more “forgiving” than picking a paint color. On some stones, you find color effects fired on to one side, but not the other, and this affects intensity and value, as well. Color must “jump a cliff” in the spaces between any two stones. The smaller the stone, the less “gap” created between stones, and the more intense and sharper the colors. A composition with 15/0 seed stones would be viewed more favorably, than if the same piece had been done with 11/0 seed stones or 8/0 seed stones. Smaller gaps. The color and its effects with a stone, as you hold it in the air, may vary considerably than when you place it over cloth. In a similar way, the color of stones on hanks or in tubes or on strands, may be very different than when used within a particular composition.
COLOR MATCHING
With stones, to understand color combination, you must also understand the materials the stones are made of, and how the materials contribute to or work against such combinations. Whether the material is of the stone itself, or of the stringing material, the light-conveying and light-inhibiting qualities of these materials will also be critical, when choosing color combinations.
It’s very difficult to mix materials within the same piece of jewelry. The eye/brain interacts differently with different materials. When you mix materials, it can get awkward for the eye/brain to perceive and interpret what it’s seeing. When this happens, you begin to trigger our pre-wired fear and anxiety response. And things start to get translated as ugly, boring, monotonous, unsatisfying and the like.
Color Blending
Everyso often, you might want to create a rainbow, or some sequencing of colors, say from light to dark, where all the colors seem to emerge from the last, and bleed into the next. This is much more difficult with stones than with paints for all the usual reasons discussed above.
A “Random” selection or placement of colors doesn’t usually work. “Alternating” or “graduating” colors doesn’t always work well. You must create a more complex, involved patterning. You must choreograph the layout of colors, so that, from a short distance, they look like they are blending, and gradually changing across the length of your piece. One way to choreograph things, is to play with color proportions. Go line by line, and begin with the ideal proportionate relationship between two colors. Gradually manipulate this down the line by anticipating the next ideal proportionate relationship between the next two colors that need to follow.
DESIGNING JEWELRY WITH COLOR
When we study color from a design standpoint, we think of color as part of the jewelry’s structure. That means, color is not merely a decorative effect. It is more like a building component.
We use color to express elements of the materials used, like glass or gemstone.
We use color to express or emphasize elements of the forms we are creating.
We use color to enhance a sense of movement We use color to express moods and emotions
Often, the first problem in design is the distribution of lights and darks. Using the same colors, you can get very different results, based on how the colors are arranged. When you have questions, it is useful to take a black and white photocopy of the different patterns, and to choose, based on the black and white image.
The second problem is creating a focal point with color.
The third problem is creating a rhythmic feeling, using the distribution of colors and their proportions.
Better pieces are either
(a) those with a dominant color, and some variation in values or intensities, or
(b) those that are dominant in 1 or 2 complementary or analogous colors, with some change in values and/or intensities
Good Jewelry Design has:
1. Resonance: Resonance is the energy the jewelry exudes. Without resonance, jewelry is lifeless and listless. Resonance reflects the jewelry designer’s control of light and shadow, warm and cold, receding and extending out. Resonance doesn’t mean “sparkle.” It doesn’t mean “bright”. It means the mood, the rhythm, the tonality. It means that the piece of jewelry reflects a sense of design, and a sense of the designer. Not just art. And definitely not just craft. Resonance is the reason why some jewelry gets your attention, and others do not. Pick up a fashion magazine or a stone magazine, and page through it. Which pieces catch your eye, and which ones do not? The jewelry designer is responsible for creating jewelry that resonates. That is, the jewelry reflects the artist’s intentions, and fully utilizes the powers of color, their combinations, their variations, their arrangements, and distributions with their pieces.
2. Strategic Use of Line
A second aspect of good jewelry design is the strategic use of line. First off, most jewelry is, in essence, a line. Things are lined up. They are organized into a line. They are worn as a line. You don’t necessarily want that line to be creepy or disjointed or disconnected. The line has many points along it. It outlines things. It sets boundaries. It separates things which are above it from things which are below it. The line can come to a point. It can curve. It can undulate. It can snake in and around things. It can be very long. Or it can be short. It can serve alone, or be joined by other lines in sequence or opposition.
The use of line accomplishes two goals.
First, the use of line creates an outline or a shape or boundary. We call this “silhouette”. Usually the silhouette identifies for the viewer, where the wearer feels comfortable to accept the viewer’s gaze, and where she does not. Can/Should the viewer gaze upon the wearer’s face, neck, breasts, belly button, wrist, elbow, upper arm, ankle, knee, thigh, groin? The line demarks the acceptable paths for gazing.
Second, the use of line creates a contour, as the eye moves all around the piece as it is worn; the line and the use of color choreographs the sense and direction and speed of movement that the viewer’s eye follows. This choreography reveals part of the wearer’s personality, moods, and aspirations. It can excite the viewer, or bore her. It can resonate power, or be demure. It can command the viewer to step forward, follow, hesitate, wait, or turn around.
Many women are afraid to wear jewelry which does not conform to a straight line. They don’t know how to wear it. They seek the simple straight line, over the multiple straight lines. They seek the simple straight line, over non-straight lines. They seek the stone-strung piece, over the stone woven piece.
It’s the jewelry designer’s duty to make the wearer comfortable with whatever line(s) the jewelry embodies. Often this is done with the use of color.
Lines that make up
figures
A point can take any shape you want; it can be circular, triangular, oval or
even irregular.
However, to take advantage of the visual message that a point can
convey, its size should be small. If a point starts to grow big, it will
become a plane.
Use a point to position something, to make a statement, to add a focal
point to your project ideas.
Lines have huge expressive qualities. In jewelry it is very easy to use lines
because of its wearable characteristic.
Jewelry wraps itself around the wearer’s body so there are infinite
possibilities to entrench lines in your jewelry ideas.
A line is usually recognizable by its length and by its narrowness. However,
these visual properties are not absolute. The way a line is conceived gives it a
distinctive and expressive quality.
Three aspects of lines may be distinguished:
- Its overall form can be straight, curved, broken, irregular,
etc.
- Its width can change the characteristics of the boundaries or edges
of the line and its thickness.
- The ends of the line can become prominent or not and gain any
shape.
You can also use repeating points to make up a visual line. Lines direct the
viewer’s eyes and also tend to evoke emotional responses.
Lines that rise and fall sharply may suggest danger; curves can connote
gentleness, soft feelings; horizontal lines may be read as stability and
calmness; lines that go about in any fashion may evoke a sense of chaos.
Planes can be modeled into two-dimensional shapes. These shapes in turn can
be transformed into a variety of figures. Designers have lots of resources to
make up ideas of
shapes and figures.
For example, you can take a picture, a photo or a painting and isolate the
figures that are implicit in each of them.
Children’s drawings are the best example because they intuitively synthesize
the world around them into basic shapes. That’s why a house painted by a child
can be easily read as a square with a triangle on top and some smaller
rectangles spread inside the square.
The design of
figures
You can choose among these different kinds of figures:
- Geometric, mathematically constructed,
- Organic, following natural, curvy lines,
- Regular, with straight lines but not governed by mathematical rules,
- Irregular, limited by undetermined straight or curvy lines,
- Calligraphic, created by hand in a free way,
- Accidental, product of chance and an emotional attitude.
Geometric
shapes are the most familiar and can be easily recognized as
abstractions. You can use them to depict a series of complex visual
interpretations.
Organic shapes result familiar and are linked with the viewer’s innate
experience. They can be literal interpretations of nature or a synthesis of
its abstract structures.
Regular figures tend to be related to order and rhythm. They rely
basically on angles and symmetry to represent a regular and stable visual
interpretation.
Irregular figures are perceived by means of imbalance and asymmetry.
They are portrayed usually in an uneven and contrasting fashion.
Calligraphic figures convey a graphical language that has the power to
directly deliver a message. These calligraphic shapes can be exaggerated or
altered to change the perception of typography to something totally different.
POINT Even if there is only one point, on a blank page, the brain will
attempt to make meaning for it. It looks for a relationship or order, even only
to use it as a point of orientation in relation to the outline of the page.
When there are two points on a page, the eye will make a connection and "see"
a line. Remember those dot-to-dot workbooks you used to do as a child?
Think about this idea when creating your jewelry sketches when you design
your own jewelry. Sometimes connecting dots is helpful to test the functionality
of a piece.
This process to connect parts is described as grouping, or gestalt.
LINE: is a mark made by a moving point. It can have great
psychological impact according to its direction, weight, and the variations in
its direction and weight.
It is a helpful in both visual and verbal ways. It is a symbolic language, as
well as it communicates emotion through its character and direction. It
incorporates feelings into your jewelry.
Horizontal lines suggest a sense of rest or repose as beautifully portrayed
in this painting by Nicholas Poussin, 1650–1651
Vertical lines communicate a sense of spirituality as seen in the great
cathedrals. This is a photograph of Glasgow cathedral, one of the few that
survive the reformation.
Diagonal lines suggest a feeling of movement or direction. In two dimensional
work they are used to indicate depth or illusion. The photo of this dancers
shows a sense of movement. You do not know if she is suspended or about to
fall.
Learn how to incorporate
design elements into sketching
Curved lines send different meanings; Soft, shallow curves suggest
comfort, safety, familiarity, relaxation. They recall the curves of the human
body, and therefore have a pleasing, sensual quality.
3. Strategic Placement of Colors and Proportions of Colors
A third aspect of good design is the placement and proportions of colors. Colors and their placement work best when they appear to have been coordinated, not necessarily matched perfectly, but neither as afterthoughts. Everything must feel balanced and harmonious, even when the piece is asymmetrical. Placement shows purpose. It reflects choice. It provides a mechanism for the viewer to evaluate the success of the piece, therefore, the success of the wearer. It is very signifying.
4. The Use of Shapes, Forms and Themes
Interpretations and experiences with colors may change, when the color is presented within a shape, or is part of a form or theme within your piece. Shape is an important design element, different than lines and different than points. Shapes serve to provide positioning, direction and orientation to the pieces, often better than lines and points. This is an important psychological function. Shapes serve to provide positioning, direction and orientation to the pieces, often better than lines and points. This is an important psychological function.
Shapes provide more dimensionality to pieces. Greater dimensionality is often perceived as more contemporary, smarter, wealthier, higher status, more creative, more beautiful.
Shapes convey symbolic meanings. Triangles suggest action. They are dynamic. They are directional. They seem purposeful and strong. They have a power over the viewer, in that they can control the viewer’s process of perception. Triangles can be made into pyramids, flags, arrows, beacons. They are often used as elements in religious symbols.
Square shapes denote honesty and stability. They are trusted, familiar, safe, comfortable. Most shapes we encounter are squares and rectangles. Squares could also symbolize rigidity and uniformity. [An unexpected placement of squares within a piece, could evoke the opposite feelings and symbols.]
Circle shapes suggest infinity. They are associated with protection (you’re inside the circle or outside). They are associated with movement and freedom. They suggest completeness.
Accidental shapes have the quality of generating spontaneous reactions
because its perception has no previous experience.
The unrecognizable nature of accidental or invented shapes provokes fantasy
and invention.
Have in mind that these figures and
shapes occur somewhere. There is a surface that holds the figures, that
grounds them. Every time you portray a figure the surrounding area leaps
forward. Unfilled areas are also shapes. These areas are known as the
background or as negative space. They can even become more important than
the figure itself, which depends on the message you want to get through.
The power of visual arts also resides in the ambiguous nature of optical
responses.
You can steer the
viewer’s attention from the figure to the background, letting them see
completely different shapes.
For example, when the background of a design can be seen in itself as a
figure or shape, a figure-ground reversal may occur.
You would normally understand positive shape as the figure that occupies a
space and is readily perceived, while negative shape as the surrounding space
around the figure.
This is particularly the case in bold design exercises, but that doesn’t
describe reality very well when relationships start occurring between figures.
Arranging lines and figures in space
Figures and shapes can be arranged together in various fashions.
These arrangements tend to be defined as formal ones.
You can learn the basic properties of visual form below, but by no
means limit yourself to them; they are just the essence in design terminology.
Centralized
Centralized forms have the visual dominance of a regular and centrally
located shape. They have a geometric order that structures them. Because of its
central nature, they have the qualities of a focal point.
They are best
used in free forms, isolated structures, prevailing over a shape or occupying
the center of a regular figure.
Their dominant characteristic fills them with meaning.
They can also act as a centripetal force or as an organizing point for other
grouped geometric elements.
Linear
Linear forms arise from proportional variations in shape size or from the
disposition of figures along an axis. A linear form may be fragmented or
curved.
It is best used as an
organizing element for other figures.
Vertically oriented may signal a point in space and can be horizontally
shaped to enclose a space or other figures.
Radial
Radial forms are composed of linear elements radiating from a center.
It has the quality of visually combining centrality and linearity. Usually, the
center is perceived as the symbolic nucleus or as the organizing point.
This center can acquire visual and formal importance, or on the contrary,
become residual with respect to the linear arms. Radial forms are best used by
themselves or combined to form network structures.
Grouped
Grouped forms do not require a geometric layout; it’s more of an
organized arrangement of forms taking into account dimension, shape or
proximity. This type of form is flexible enough to incorporate different
elements in shape, size and direction.
Grouped
forms are best used when arranged around space or a shape of greater
size, when arranged tangentially with each other revealing each figure’s
individual identity from the group and when they are tightly grouped together
showing various types of contours.
Reticular
Reticular forms are an assembly of parallel lines separated in a regular
pattern that intersect with each other. The reticule produced is a geometric
model that can be used as a structure to visually organize various typesHaving all this in mind, you have the basic knowledge of the visual
properties of form.
Applying all this in your jewelry project ideas will help you to start
seeing the world around you with the eyes of a designer.
5. The Power To Affect the Viewer’s Emotions, Moods and Understandings of the Situations Around Her
Color affects the viewer. It affects the viewer’s perceptions about reality. If affects the viewer’s understandings of social relationships, power relationships, sexual relationships. It orients the viewer to what is up and down, and left and right, and skews the viewer’s interpretations about right and wrong, beautiful and ugly, satisfying and unsatisfying, that which is to be feared and that which is to be approached.
Some colors get very associated with certain moods. These include,
1. Power/Highly Emotional (red)
2. Rich (burgundy; red with black)
3. Romantic (pink, red with white)
4. Vital (red-orange)
5. Earthy (red-orange with black)
6. Friendly (orange-yellow)
7. Soft (peach)
8. Welcoming (amber)
9. Moving (yellow)
10. Elegant (pale yellow)
11. Fresh (green)
12. Traditional (green with black)
13. Refreshing (blue-green, teal, aqua)
14. Tropical (blue-green or teal or aqua with white)
15. Classic (royal blue)
16. Dependable (navy Blue)
17. Calm (pale blue, blue with white)
18. Regal (deep blue-violet)
19. Magical (deep red-violet
20. Energetic (fuchsia)
21. Subdued (any color with gray, like mauve)
22. Professional/Corporate (gray)
But it is so easy to make a misstep with color. The choice of the wrong color, or wrong intensity or wrong value can lead to misunderstanding, anxiety, stress, avoidance, diminished social status, destroyed relationships, and the like. So, if you have the time, you might want to practice a little with color and evoking moods and emotions.
How well have you retained that “Mood” in your design? Can you make your necklace more satisfying? What would make it less satisfying?
Analogous Color Scheme
Complementary Color Scheme
Split Complementary Color Scheme
Experiment with different colors. Force yourself to use colors you usually do not use or avoid. If it’s too psychologically painful, make a game of it.
The color in the “tube” or on the “hank” might seem stronger, more intense, brighter, than actual color, if laid stone by stone on a thread or string.
Color Terms:
Transparent – see through.
Translucent – milky
Opaque – cannot see through
Silver-lined – transparent stone (any color) with silver paint in center of stone. Over time, the paint fades or chips away.
Color-lined – transparent stone (any color) with a colored paint in the center of the stone. Over time, the paint fades or chips away.
Galvanized – a process of baking a color coating over a stone. (Very unstable coating)
Metallized – another process of firing, rather than baking, a color coating over a stone . (Unstable coating, with some metallic colors.)
Matte or Frosted – a dull finish. Glossy finish glass is put into an etching solution to produce a matte effect
Luster – a plated finish on a glass stone
Ceylon, Pearlized: a baked on pearl effect
Effects - Aurora Borealis (AB), iris, vitrail, azuro, amesit, valentinit, zairit, celsian, clairit, etc. – a fired on chemical effect producing a unique colorization on the glass, such as a rainbow effect. This effect usually appears only on one side of the glass stone, not all around it.
Supra (or Aluminum): stone put through aluminum oxide bath, so that color is made permanent; done with a lot of metallics and some pearlized. The supra finish tends to create a semi-matte finish.
Fumed: glass is held near a torch. A piece of metal is burned in the torch, and the “smoke” fumes it. This leaves an ultrathin layer of that metal on the glass
Coated: A dipped or sprayed on coating, like nail polish, to create colors and effects. Can chip off or peel off.
Cuba – a two toned stone, where one half is one color, and the other half is another color.
Dyed – glass looks like a sponge and will absorb things into it, like a dye. The dye may bleed out when the glass gets wet, through washing or sweating.
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