AU Blogspot

I’d like to take this opportunity to summarize some points of extreme importance for you as a beginning designer.  I have followed these principles throughout my career and have used them to guide me in the development of your graphic design program.  I call this methodology the Michael R. Nelson “12-Point Program for Successful Designers.”

1. Be humble and ready to learn. Even after you complete your program, there is still a vast world of design out there for you to learn, experience, and absorb.

2. Always enter into a design project with clear objectives and criteria.

3. Establish a clear design process with a methodical intent of reducing possible solutions until a clear solution rises to the top.

4. Don’t be afraid to revisit parts of the design process as many times as needed to get it right.

5. Have a clear hierarchy of information in the graphics you design.

6. Respect typography.

7. Make your imagery meaningful. Don’t be overly simplistic with your imagery. Make sure it’s appropriate and communicates your core message.

8. Always push your designs for a higher level of excellence.

9. A successful designer must be willing to self-educate. Never stop learning about design and exposing yourself to creative outlets.

10. Make your own opportunities. Designers do not have the luxury of sitting back and waiting for prospective clients and employers to come to them.

11. Be discriminating in defining what good and bad design is. Whether you are critiquing yourself or work you randomly run across, or you are participating in a formal group critique, hold the work to a high standard and have the confidence to declare it successful or unsuccessful. Allow proven, high-quality work like we cover on this blog define your standards of good work.

12. Don’t let computer programs “own” your designs.

If you can excel at these 12 points, you will be well on your way to becoming a good designer.  Let me know how you are progressing through your program and please reach out to me through this blog if you need any direct assistance.  All you have to do is leave me a comment and I’ll follow up with you right away.  I’m here to do whatever I can to make this learning experience a successful one for you!

Michael R. Nelson
Graphic Design Instructor
Ashworth University

              Thanks to liz_com1981 for permission to use this Photo. 

Chain making is an exciting endeavor.  There are so many variations of links that can be made from ordinary wire that you probably could think of a new pattern every day.  No introduction to chain making would be complete without mentioning the basic component of all chains, the link.   

Links come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but the most common is a plain circular ring known as a jump ring.  As a jeweler, you will make and use jump rings for a variety of repairs as well as custom design work.  Let’s take a moment and discuss how jump rings can be made efficiently. 

To truly be efficient in the shop, wire, plate, and findings such as jump rings should be made in quantity so that a large supply of a wide assortment is always available.  Sometimes a jump ring of a special size is needed, in which case you can simply make one in the following manner.    

Start with a piece of round wire of the desired gauge.  Use round-nose pliers to bend the wire until the wire overlaps, forming a ring.  Cut the wire with end-cutters at the point of overlap.  You now have a jump ring.  Notice that the area that has been cut is slightly jagged.  This should be filed flat with a barrette file or a sanding disk on a flexible shaft machine.  If the jump ring is left with a rough edge, it will not butt up evenly and will be very difficult to solder closed cleanly.  In addition to making soldering difficult, rough edges on jump rings can pull apart and snag clothing. 

You can eliminate filing by cutting the jump ring with a saw.  You will find this method fairly time consuming for just one jump ring, but when making several of them at once, it is much more efficient to eliminate filing by using the saw.  In order to make multiple jump rings, you will need a rod of some sort as a mold.  In the shop, there are many such small steel tools you can use. (more…)

The Mana Collection by TOUCH features one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces that cleverly string together social design and environmental responsibility, not to mention recycled treasures from the streets of Brazil. This LA based art/design collective recently introduced a stunning line of artisan made products including furniture, home décor items, ceramics, tableware, jewelry, and limited edition items.

They wisely brought on board Mana Bernardes, a young jewelry designer, poet, and visual artist from Rio de Janeiro, to oversee their hip jewelry creations. Detritus and discarded plastics never looked so good, as the Mana Collection is proof that one (wo)man’s trash is another (wo)man’s treasure. These are, for sure, the eco-sparkly jewels of creative re-use.

Multimedia artist and designer Mana Bernardes finds pure poetry in the flotsam of our lives and consequently is able to incorporate seemingly unusable materials such as PET bottles, phone cards, toothpicks, hair clips, plastic netting, pearls, silver, and gold into Mana’s handcrafted collection.

(more…)