Pathway Exhibition 12th February

Pathway Exhibition

With everything sorted and everyone's work in place, the exhibition was ready to begin. I got there at six and could watch the people arrive. I could finally get some feed back on my work. The first thing that I noticed about my bracelet was that it shined a lot more under the spotlight. With only the spotlight on, and no daylight, gave a different feel to the piece. I thought it looked a lot better. It seemed more professional and suited the acrylic as it gave it a better 'shine'. It also made some very dramatic shadows on the plinth. This made the 'confident' top part of the bracelet stand out and seem more prominent.

After the room had filled, I could stand by my piece and talk to people about my work. Once I had explained a little of what my concept was, most made the comment that they could see the transition from the 'less confident' cage over the hand to the 'confident' strands winding round the arm. I was happy that people were able to see this in my work. The change from a plain strip to more bold shapes had made an impact. Once I told people about this change in design, they to seem to agree that I had made the right decision.

Once the concept and shape was discussed, the subject of colour came into the conversation. I would of liked to have dyed the acrylic different colours. I asked people if they thought that colour would make much of an impact on the jewellery, or if it would change the way they would see it. The response was that most would have liked to have seen some of my bracelet with colour on it. People thought that the top 'confident' strands should have had some sort of colour. I think that it would of helped show the transition of confidence. While the topic of colour was being discussed, I asked what would be the best colours for my bracelet; a lot of people thought that bright colours for the strands, such as yellow, red and purple, would help. While the cage over the hand could be gray, dark blue, or left clear.

With a lot of comments to improve my piece, I had some good ideas on how I could take this into my next project. Colour and shape have a big impact on the way people see an object. It is worth careful consideration when next I'm designing.

Pathway Evaluation

Growth and Evolution

From the start of the project I had various ideas what I wanted this project to be. I wanted my piece to be about how jewellery can communicate something about the wearer. I have always been interested in this idea and wanted to explore it further. With my starting point established I made a mind map to focus my thoughts on what jewellery could communicate. This initially helped me organise my thoughts as well as which designers to research. After a discussion with the tutors, and questions on what I wanted to communicate through my work, I decided to research some statement jewellery.

Through the research I did in the first couple of weeks, I covered a range of designer made jewellery. They were all trying to communicate an idea, concept or feeling to the person viewing it. From the more sculptural view of Alexander Calder to the very conceptual pieces by Naomi Filmer, these artists helped me develop a better understanding of what I wanted my work to be about and how to present it. Alongside my research I was having regular group critiques. This was an extremely helpful aspect to the development stage. The ability to discuss my ideas with a group was very good. It was the idea of looking at ways other cultures communicate things through the jewellery they wear. Once I started researching I found that a lot of cultural jewellery had symbolic meaning, or 'story telling' aspects about it. I would of liked to have researched a little more on this subject as it is interesting to learn about other cultures. With the inspiration of Naomi Filmer's conceptual side, and story telling aspects of the cultural jewellery, I knew that I wanted to make a statement piece about an aspect of my personality that had a story running through it.

With my concept idea planned, I then made a survey to find out what part of my personality to do my jewellery on. I handed out my survey and the information I got back was very helpful. I asked them to list words that describe my personality. I then asked if any part of my personality had changed as they got to know me. The results of the survey were interesting: 50% of the people said that my confidence had increased as they got to know me. This information was a vital part of my research and with it I made the decision of designing my piece around 'confidence'.

Having my concept, I could then move onto the design and sampling part of the project. After brainstorming my ideas of the bracelet, I wanted to incorporate Naomi Filmer's idea of constriction and how that relates to someone who had little confidence. After much designing, and with more group discussions, the design had changed from something smaller to a bigger bolder piece. One of the many aspects of the design I had changed was the shape of the 'confidence' upper part of the bracelet. I had asked groups of people about shape that they associate with a bold confident personality and a lot of them said that a dramatic sharp shape first came to mind.

With the design done, I could them move onto creating my piece. I started with a couple of test pieces, then quickly moved onto the final bracelet. With the pieces throwing up some mechanical problems with the fit of the bracelet around the arm, I was glad I left myself time to test and sample pieces. This was an important lesson I learnt. Having enough time to make sure everything fits together and works is vital. I would of liked to have a bit more time to make one more final piece. I would use clean gloves as the ones I did use made the acrylic I was moulding a little marked.

While I was making my final piece I was constantly asking myself how I would like to present it at the exhibition. I had seen how jewellery shops present their work and my first thoughts were to have it on a plinth and the piece on a little stand. I wasn't really happy with that idea. After the PowerPoint presentation, the group asked the question how I would present my work. After I told them, they suggested having it displayed on a manikin's arm. Taking their advice on board, I knew that this was how I wanted my jewellery to be displayed. It would give my work more professional look.

At the exhibition I could stand by my piece and talk to people about my work. Once I had explained a little of what my concept was, most made the comment that they could see the transition from the 'less confident' cage over the hand to the 'confident' strands winding round the arm. I was happy that people were able to see this in my work. The change from a plain strip to more bold shapes had made an impact. Once I told people about this change in design, they to seem to agree that I had made the right decision.

Once the concept and shape was discussed, the subject of colour came into the conversation. I would of liked to have dyed the acrylic different colours. I asked people if they thought that colour would make much of an impact on the jewellery, or if it would change the way they would see it? The response was that most would have liked to have seen some of my bracelet with colour on it. People thought that the top 'confident' strands should have had some sort of colour. I think that it would of helped show the transition of confidence. While the topic of colour was being discussed, I asked what would be the best colours for my bracelet. A lot of people thought that bright colours for the strands, such as yellow, red and purple, would help. While the cage over the hand could be gray, dark blue, or left clear.