Warren Feld Jewelry

Taking Jewelry Making Beyond Craft

Archive for December 17th, 2024

PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES: Craft A Compelling Biographical Sketch

Posted by learntobead on December 17, 2024

Guiding Questions?
1. How do I write a Biographical Sketch or Profile?
2. Does a biographical sketch replace or compliment a person’s resume?

Keywords:
biographical sketch
profile
resume
connection
avatar
1st person vs. 3rd person voice

The Biographical Sketch or Profile

Your customers, your sales venues, your clients all love stories, and they want to know yours. Your story might be a profile on a social media site. It might be a synopsis on the back of your portfolio or print book on demand. It might be part of a grant or art show application.

You will want to create several versions of varying lengths, but all basically highlighting the same information. I suggest creating versions which are 25 words, 50 words, 100 words, 250 words, 500 words. Your first 25 words should sound fun, intriguing, exciting, enticing, creating wonder and curiosity … you get the point.

Do not follow a template. You want your bio or profile to feel authentically your own.

Write your bio for a portfolio in the 3rd person. Write your profile for a social media site (think Facebook) targeted at family and friends in the 1st person. Write your profile for a social media site (think LinkedIn) targeted at potential employers in the 3rd person.

Within your Sketch or Profile, you will want to anticipate what people will be curious about. When someone first sees your jewelry, they will try to understand it, categorize it, emotionally connect to it. The greater the connection, the more likely the sale. How well has your bio helped them?

Your bio or profile is not your resume. It is not a listing of things. It will only touch on some things, and not all things, you might include in a resume. It is a story about you and your work. You might highlight a particular product, achievement or contribution as a way of illustrating the points you are making in your bio or profile.

Things to help people make that connection will include,

· Your name

· How you got started

· Where you are from

· How long you have been making jewelry

· Your style preferences

· Where can they find and buy your work

· Your inspirations and aspirations

· Techniques and technologies

· Materials used

· Who taught you; where did you learn your craft?

· Your career development

· Awards won, certifications, exhibitions, where to find your work

· Reviews, testimonials, what others think about your work, collectors

Avoid vague statements like “innovative approach” or “original” without context — use specific influences, techniques, and themes instead.

An Avatar

An Avatar is a digital image that represents you. Avatars are relatively small and usually are placed at the top left or right corner of web pages which represent your work, such as an article you have written or a video tutorial you offer.

The Avatar may be an image of yourself, typically a head shot. It might be an image of a favorite piece of jewelry. It might be your logo. It might be an animation representative of you and your business.

Remember that the space is limited in size. It may be a circle or an oval, rather than a square or rectangle. This means you will need to center the image to its advantage.

There are avatar generators online. Or you can make your own from scratch.

_________________

FOOTNOTES

Patkar, Mihir. The 8 Best Avatar Maker Sites for Profile Pictures. 4/27/22.

As referenced in:
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/make-cool-avatars-profile-pictures-easiest-sites/

For more articles about CONQUERING THE CREATIVE MARKETPLACE, click over to our Jewelry Designers’ Hub

Get more from Warren Feld Jewelry on Patreon
Taking Jewelry Beyond Craftwww.patreon.com

_______________________________________________________

Thanks for being here. I look forward to sharing more resources, tips,
sources of inspiration and insights with you.

WarrenFeldJewelry.com
Shop.warrenfeldjewelry.com
School.warrenfeldjewelry.com
Coaching by Warren Feld

Add your name to my email list.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CONQUERING THE CREATIVE MARKETPLACE:
Between the Fickleness of Business and the Pursuit of Design

548pp, many images and diagrams
Kindle or Ebook or Print

This guidebook is a must-have for anyone serious about making money selling jewelry. I focus on straightforward, workable strategies for integrating business practices with the creative design process. These strategies make balancing your creative self with your productive self easier and more fluid.

Based both on the creation and development of my own jewelry design business, as well as teaching countless students over the past 35+ years about business and craft, I address what should be some of your key concerns and uncertainties. I help you plan your road map. Whether you are a hobbyist or a self-supporting business, success as a jewelry designer involves many things to think about, know and do. I share with you the kinds of things it takes to start your own jewelry business, run it, anticipate risks and rewards, and lead it to a level of success you feel is right for you, including

• Getting Started: Naming business, identifying resources, protecting intellectual property
• Financial Management: basic accounting, break even analysis, understanding risk-reward-return on investment, inventory management
• Product Development: identifying target market, specifying product attributes, developing jewelry line, production, distribution, pricing, launching
• Marketing, Promoting, Branding: competitor analysis, developing message, establishing emotional connections to your products, social media marketing
• Selling: linking product to buyer among many venues, such as store, department store, online, trunk show, home show, trade show, sales reps and showrooms, catalogs, TV shopping, galleries, advertising, cold calling, making the pitch
• Resiliency: building business, professional and psychological resiliency
• Professional Responsibilities: preparing artist statement, portfolio, look book, resume, biographical sketch, profile, FAQ, self-care

Posted in architecture, Art or Craft?, art theory, bead stringing, bead weaving, beads, business of craft, color, Contests, craft, craft shows, creativity, design management, design theory, design thinking, enrichment travel, Entrepreneurship, jewelry, jewelry collecting, jewelry design, jewelry making, Learn To Bead, pearl knotting, professional development, Resources, Stitch 'n Bitch, Travel Opportunities, wire and metal, Workshops, Classes, Exhibits | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a Comment »

When You Need A Letter Of Recommendation…

Posted by learntobead on December 17, 2024

 
There will be occasions where you might need a letter of recommendation. You might be applying for a grant or some other source of funding. You might be trying to get your pieces into a gallery or high-end boutique. You might be submitting a piece to a juried competition. You might be searching for a partnership or collaboration or guidance.

You might request this letter from a mentor, a colleague, someone familiar with your work, or a gallery or boutique owner.

You want that person, in the context of that letter, to refer to your competitive advantage. That is how you differentiate yourself from other jewelry designers. It suggests that taking a risk on showing/selling your works is worthwhile. Some examples of describing your competitive advantages:

1. innovative, originality, differentiation

2. sells well, clear and predictable client base

3. experimenting with new materials, techniques or technologies

4. responsible, always timely, communicates well with client during process

5. open and willing to learn, adaptable, flexible

You want to clearly explain to that person, before they write that letter of recommendation, what you personally want to get from the opportunity. It might include such things as new clients, more sales, representation, becoming a part of an agency, test out new ideas, and such.

If the person you are requesting your letter from has never written one before, feel free to show them this template👇

I am very familiar with [your name’s] jewelry design pieces, and I know you will be as excited with them as I am. In discussions over the years with [your name], I have seen (her/him) grow and develop as a designer. I have watched (her/him) explore, investigate and experiment with colors, compositions and techniques. We have discussed various opportunities and their pros and cons for [sales, exhibits, demonstrations, whatever you want to happen at the other end.]

[Your name’s] pieces generate a great interest among [her/his] clients. [She/he] shows an intuitive sense of color and composition, meeting goals both of appeal as well as functionality. [Her/his pieces sell well / are original / other competitive advantage]. [Her/his] workmanship is impeccable. [She or he seeks from the target audience what outcome.] [Working with you / achieving funding / other outcome] would be incredibly beneficial to [her/him], and make a great different in [her/his] continued development as a jewelry designer.

For more articles about CONQUERING THE CREATIVE MARKETPLACE, click over to our Jewelry Designers’ Hub

Get more from Warren Feld Jewelry on Patreon
Taking Jewelry Beyond Craftwww.patreon.com

_______________________________________________________

Thanks for being here. I look forward to sharing more resources, tips,
sources of inspiration and insights with you.

WarrenFeldJewelry.com
Shop.warrenfeldjewelry.com
School.warrenfeldjewelry.com
Coaching by Warren Feld

Add your name to my email list.

Posted in architecture, Art or Craft?, art theory, bead stringing, bead weaving, beads, beadwork, business of craft, color, Contests, craft, craft shows, creativity, design management, design theory, design thinking, enrichment travel, Entrepreneurship, handmade jewelry, jewelry, jewelry collecting, jewelry design, jewelry making, Learn To Bead, pearl knotting, professional development, Resources, Stitch 'n Bitch, Travel Opportunities, wire and metal, Workshops, Classes, Exhibits | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

FLUENCY IN DESIGN: I Am A Jewelry Designer

Posted by learntobead on December 17, 2024

I am a Jewelry Designer.

I have been designing jewelry and teaching classes for over 38 years now.

What excites me is finding answers to such questions as:

  • What does it mean to be fluent and literate in design?
  • What are the implications for defining jewelry as an “object” versus as an “intent”?
  • Why does some jewelry draw your attention, and others do not?
  • How does jewelry design take you beyond art or craft?
  • How do you judge a piece as finished and successful?
  • Why is disciplinary literacy in design important for introducing your works publicly, as well as selling your works in the creative marketplace?

My ideas have developed and evolved over time. These are ideas about jewelry, its design, and the necessary tradeoffs between appeal and functionality. These are ideas which express the why and the how jewelry design differs from art or craft. These are ideas which are embedded in and emerge from the special disciplinary and literacy requirements all jewelry designers need to learn so that they can think and speak and work like designers. These are ideas about how to introduce jewelry into the creative marketplace. These ideas center on fluency, flexibility and originality. And that’s what you want to be as a jewelry designer: fluent, flexible and original.

I teach classes in jewelry design and applications.

I want my students to learn the mechanics of various techniques. This is obvious. But I want them to go beyond the basic mechanics. I want them to be able to have a great degree of management control over the interplay of aesthetic elements. I also want them to have a great degree of insight, strategy and “smartness” in how things get constructed architecturally. Last, I want them, and this is important, to understand and recognize and incorporate into their designs how and why people desire things — why they want to wear things and why they want to buy things and why they want to tell all their friends about the things they are wearing and buying.

Literacy involves all these things: craft, art, design, context. Teaching a disciplinary literacy specific to jewelry design is a lot like teaching literacy in reading and writing. We want our students to comprehend. We want them to be able to be self-directed in organizing and implementing their basic tasks. We want them to be able to function in unfamiliar situations and respond when problems arise. We want them to develop an originality in their work — originality in the sense that they can differentiate themselves from other jewelry designers. We want them to anticipate the shared understandings their various audiences have about whether a piece is inhabitable — that is, finished and successful for them. We want them to think like designers. And, we want a high level of automaticity in all this. The basic jewelry design curriculum does not accomplish this. There is an absence of strategy and strategic thinking.

Hence this book and guide for anyone who wants to become a successful jewelry designer. This book is for someone who wants to develop that strategic kind of thinking and speaking and doing which underly their discipline we call Jewelry Design.

For more articles about Fluency in Design, click over to our Jewelry Designers’ Hub

Get more from Warren Feld Jewelry on Patreon
Taking Jewelry Beyond Craftwww.patreon.com

_______________________________________________________

Thanks for being here. I look forward to sharing more resources, tips,
sources of inspiration and insights with you.

WarrenFeldJewelry.com
Shop.warrenfeldjewelry.com
School.warrenfeldjewelry.com
Coaching by Warren Feld

Add your name to my email list.

SO YOU WANT TO BE A JEWELRY DESIGNER
Merging Your Voice With Form

So You Want To Be A Jewelry Designer reinterprets how to apply techniques and modify art theories from the Jewelry Designer’s perspective. To go beyond craft, the jewelry designer needs to become literate in this discipline called Jewelry Design. Literacy means understanding how to answer the question: Why do some pieces of jewelry draw your attention, and others do not? How to develop the authentic, creative self, someone who is fluent, flexible and original. How to gain the necessary design skills and be able to apply them, whether the situation is familiar or not.

588pp, many images and diagrams Ebook , Kindle or Print formats

The Jewelry Journey Podcast
“Building Jewelry That Works: Why Jewelry Design Is Like Architecture”
Podcast, Part 1
Podcast, Part 2

Posted in architecture, Art or Craft?, art theory, bead stringing, bead weaving, beads, beadwork, business of craft, color, Contests, craft, craft shows, creativity, cruises, design management, design theory, design thinking, enrichment travel, Entrepreneurship, handmade jewelry, jewelry, jewelry collecting, jewelry design, jewelry making, Learn To Bead, pearl knotting, professional development, Resources, Stitch 'n Bitch, Travel Opportunities, wire and metal, Workshops, Classes, Exhibits | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a Comment »