Getting started

Last weekend I moved house so a lot of this week has been spent unpacking, however I did manage to find some time for a few jewellery related things.

The builders came at the beginning of the week and finished laying the plywood for the floor in my soon-to-be studio, but they haven't found a suitable sink yet, so that hasn’t been fitted and the vinyl flooring can’t go down until the sink is in. We are expecting them to come tomorrow to finish it all off, so hopefully by the end of this week I will be able to move my desk and other equipment down there. I think once I have my space and I have a place to go to every day to work I will feel much more motivated and really start to kick off setting up my own business.

I also started thinking about branding for my company. I have been doing quite a bit of research into packaging and trying to decide what would work best for me. I also started designing a business card for myself. On the business day during my diploma we talked about the importance of making it easy for people to contact you and have clear information available. I’ve really enjoyed designing it and I know that I shouldn’t get too caught up in the ‘fluffy’ stuff and neglect more important tasks, but it’s quite a fun activity, especially on a rainy afternoon!

Lastly I have made a start on a mood board for my final exhibition collection. I had loads of old magazines lying around and so I have been scouring those for images that reflect my ideas and the kind of feeling I want to portray. The idea for my collection has been developed over the course of my diploma and has mainly been influenced by the Art Deco and Art Nouveau pieces we saw in the Victoria and Albert museum along with architecture in a similar style that I have seen around London. I used similar motifs throughout my designs during the diploma and have been researching patterns and textures and images associated with those eras of design. One of the images I noticed is used quite regularly, particularly in Art Nouveau designs is a peacock. I love the colours you see in the plumage and the shape and flow of the feathers is really beautiful. I’d really like to incorporate these elements into my final project so I'm going to start sketching ideas inspired by this.

Fingers crossed that next week I will be writing this in my new studio!