DESIGN PRACTICE: COLLECTION 100 - Product and Promotion of Jewerly

I initially researched product and packaging of jewerly as I love the simlplicity and class of the packaging of it. My idea was to use the research of the different types/makes/origins of jewellery and divide them into a number of sections, possibly 5 or 10. Then from this I wanted to design a series of different packaging for the pieces of jewellery.

I developed this idea; it became more complicated when thinking about splitting the 100 pieces of jewellery in to categories according to their material/colour/origin as there would then have to be sub categories of the different TYPES of jewellery e.g. rings, necklaces, earrings, bracelets and facial piercings/studs.

As you can see in the top right corner I brainstormed ideas on way I could incorporate the 'packaging' side of the brief. One idea I had was to research 100 different brands of jewellery and to maybe concentrate on one type e.g. earrings/necklaces. However upon doing secondary research; I felt that this did not provide enough depth for me to explore and expand and twist the project in such a way.

My second idea which I explored was to look at 100 different types of materials that jewellery were made out of; and divide them into two categories; man made and natural. I felt that this would provide an interesting angle however when focusing back onto the packing I really feel that it would be sufficient.

Continuing along the route of dividing the jewellery in to 10 SECTIONS I then wanted to rename these categories with a label which was both catchy and clever/play on words and may have some reference to the material or style e.g. diamonds - would have a reference to 'big fat carrots'.

Along side all this, another intererest of mine is in sayings/beliefs about life/objects so I began to search into meanings, beliefs and sayings relating to jewellery, precious stones, metals and materials. (see design context for sayings/beliefs)

My idea from here was to select a number of these sayings per category and have the packaging more about TYPE than IMAGE; the aim of this was that a person would read and remember what is being said.

I came up with a number of packaging ideas for; earrings, necklaces and bracelets - I wanted to en script the tags (folded plastic part which holds the jewellery on the stands)

Having done the questionnaire I then set about finding 100 pieces of jewellery. Primarily I wanted to ask 100 different random people to have a picture of their favourite pieces of jewellery - however after some thought I wanted my photographs to look more of an actually COLLECTION - so have similar styles/materials. This is when my project started to steer more towards PRODUCT AND PROMOTION - so having looked at packaging I then changed to wanting to present a collection of 100 pieces of jewellery in such as way that it could sell it.

I categorised my research into different types of matereals that jewerly is made from e.g. gold, silver, bronze, gemstones, glass and took photographs of 100 pieces of jewerly which ranged from studs, small and large earrings, necklaces, bracelets and rings.

Using the DESATURATE and the HISTORY tool on photoshop, I made the photographs black and white but kept the colour of the earring so that it would stand out - allowing the viewer to concentrate on the piece of jewellery rather than the image as a whole.

I chose the format of the photographs to be like this; showing each piece on a model and from a slight angle as I felt that this would do justice to the collection as well as make the jewellery appear more elegant. One factor which Irritates me when trying to buy jewellery from a catalogue or the internet is that they are shown loose on a white/black background so you don't know the size/weight/true appearance of what your buying. Presenting the jewellery on a model I believe to be a more effective way of selling the collection.

PHOTOGRAPHS BEFORE EDITING