A few summers ago I came across a box of jewelry I made in college including the first thing I ever made in silver. At the time I was a budding graphic design major, living in the computer lab obsessing over words and the minute details of typography, so perhaps it is not a surprise that many of those first projects included text and punctuation as design elements.
One part an experiment with typography, one part practice of my new-found metalsmithing skills and, of course, one part an attempt to be clever (it was art school after all!) resulted in this cuff I called my Magic Bracelet.
To celebrate its many years of existence, I polished it up and wore it pretty much every time I went out that summer. I don't know if it was the luscious high polished silver reflecting in the sun or the curiosity of "what does that say?" that drew people in, but I received so many compliments, I started to wonder whether I should have just stopped making new designs after that first piece!
Just kidding! It's not that I don't like text anymore, I still really love language. In fact, I have way too many books about grammar on the shelves, have spent countless hours studying foreign languages, and have even dabbled in inventing my own. And, of course, I know very well the power words can have on us. An inspirational quote, a daily mantra, a kind compliment from a friend that brightens our mood. Um, hello? Did someone say experiencing a confidence boost and feeling like you have magical powers just because you're wearing a bracelet?! This is the power words have people!
It's just, as far as designing jewelry goes, I've moved on to expressing these ideas with images. Because what happens when you don't know what a word means? A visual representation is universal. People can connect with that more easily. And these days that's what I'm interested in: connecting people with jewelry that represents their memories.
Besides we don't need magic to feel like we've got superpowers, we just need our own stories!
Are you looking to tell a story? Maybe you'll find one here.