In the Intro, we talked about the various tools and supplies used to professionally design jewelry.
Last week we took an in depth look at Drawing Boards and other surfaces, used by professional designers to create renderings and technical drawings of their work.
We reviewed features and functions, and how to choose a board for your needs.
Today, we are exploring templates you can use to design beautiful and professional jewelry.
A template is a form, mold, or pattern used as a guide to making something. Here are some examples: A ruler is a template when used to draw a straight line.
Templates can be used to create your initial artistic renderings, but are vital when you are laying the technical specifications of your design.
The use of templates allow you to scale the size your project up or down with ease. Think of architectural drawings and how templates are used to create a builder’s blueprints.
Unless you are making one of a kind pieces, you need a way to guide your process and make your designs repeatable for general sale and consumption .
In the modern world of jewelry design, much of the work see, has been rendered digitally.
Designers today use programs such as Auto cad or similar pieces of software to create perfect designs.
The technical drawing is the stage between the artistic rendering and the CAD drawing.
The technical drawing provides the formal view details and measurements of the piece which is then entered into the software.
Once you have mastered these skills, your work can be modeled and cast by outside companies who provide these services.
Many of these companies also provide CAD/CAM services, which turn your drawings into computer models, which can be sent to manufacturing companies for mass production.
At this point, you are probably asking yourself, what is Dee getting herself into?
Not to worry, this series is for those of us who are complete novices.
But is always good to know the possibilities and that we can develop the skills to make our dreams come true as a jewelry designer.
If you start looking around for jewelry templates, you will find a variety of types and manufacturers.
How can you determine which templates are right for your designs and budget?
Here are a few things you will want to consider beforehand.
- Techniques
- Materials
- Shapes and Sizes
- Styles
- Types
The templates you choose should be transparent so you can see your work underneath.
Good templates be scaled and have markings to aid you in your design.
Your templates should offer you many size options for the most popular jewelry shapes. For example, a wide range of circle sizes.
Your templates need to accurately reflect the materials and styles of your work.
But you also need to consider templates for the type of items you make, such as rings, bracelets, pendants, chains and earrings.
There are templates available for ring bands, bails and much much more to choose from.
However, if you can learn to draw artistically with primary shapes templates and rulers, you will be able to save a lot of cash in the long run.
Those of you, who are familiar with my work, know that I like to work in multiple techniques with lots of materials.
I needed a good set of basic templates to get started on my new Jewelry Design goals for 2020. The item I chose is the SIQUK 11 Pieces Geometric Drawings Templates set from Amazon. This is my affiliate link.
I chose this particular set for many reasons. This set has nearly all the basic jewelry shapes for a lot less money than many of those being sold by jewelry suppliers.
This set also offers a wide range of sizes for each particular shape.
The SIQUK pack also included several templates with atypical shapes and formations.
These templates offer you a way to add more artistic elements to your designs, while maintaining a professional level of drawing to your designs.
There are even a few templates for domed cabochons and faceted gemstone top views.
All of the templates are scaled, and include handy hatch marks to aid you in finding your center points.
And a French Curve template was included with the set.
The templates come packaged and include a nylon zip bag for storage.
The plastic is very good quality and these templates should last a very long time.
With high end templates coming in at an average of $8.00 to $18.00 each, this set is a great starter pack at $12.48.
It is a Prime item too so shipping and delivery is super fast.
You can then add any other specialty templates as you need them.
- Marquis Cut
- Teardrop or Pear
- Emerald Cut
- Baguette
The only disappointment I had with my purchase was that there were no shapes for the very common jewelry elements listed here.
However, it will be much more affordable to add those individual templates to my kit now that I have a great base set.
I will keep you updated as I add more templates to my studio.
There are several drawing and drafting tools that can aid you in your design process. A precision compass and transparent protractors and rulers will make many aspects of your design much faster and easier.
I like the Mr. Pen- 15 Piece Compass Set.
This set includes the items listed below and a reusable storage case.
Package Includes:
- 2 Metal Compasses (1 Study Compass & 1 Graphic Compass)
- 1 Extra Lead for Graphic Compass
- 1 Metal Divider
- 2 Pencils for Compass
- 1 Mechanical Pencil (0.5 mm) for Compass
- 1 Pack of 0.5 mm Lead for Mechanical Pencil
- 1 Eraser
- 1 Metal Pencil Sharpener
- 1 Ruler (6”)
- 1 Set Square (30°/60°)
- 1 Set Square (45°), 1 Protractor
- 1 Protractor with Swing Arm (6”)
I hope have found some useful information in this post and that you stay tuned for more Jewelry Design Basics this year.
In my next post, we will begin to explore the various drawing and design media, such a pencils, paper choices and much more.
And as always……