British Academy of Jewellery (BAJ) recently teamed up with Marmalade Jewellery to offer Level 3 DJP (CAD Design For Jewellery Production) Diploma students an opportunity to have a design made into reality and displayed in a physical store.
For the collaboration, a DJP diploma group was given four weeks to come up with designs focused around three pear-shaped tanzanites provided as inspiration by Marmalade (one 5.7 carat gem and two smaller gems totalling 3.39 carats). Their designs were then presented directly to the client.
Marmalade then went on to shortlist four pieces, which they presented to the public via Marmalade’s website. The public was then asked to vote for their favourite design.
Senior CAD tutor at BAJ, Jack Meyer, shares: “Every year we run one live final project for each of the Level 3 DJP Diploma cohorts. Each group works with a different high street client or professional jewellery manufacturing house. I feel it’s critical that students get the chance to work with a real client brief from a professional jewellery company. In exchange, these companies get a chance to meet and work with the next generation of professional CAD designers and jewellery production managers.”
In the end, Brogan Lilly North, a jewellery designer who recently graduated from the British Academy of Jewellery, won the competition, just edging out her colleague Millie Freeman in the public vote.
Brogan has spent two years with the BAJ, first studying jewellery design and manufacture, before going on to take the Level 3 CAD Design for Jewellery Production Diploma. She combined this jewellery manufacturing and design training with her past education in Fine Art. Taking inspiration from natural shapes such as thorns and claws, and focusing on a wrapping/hugging motion, she came up with these designs to be presented to Marmalade.
Simon Johnson of Marmalade Jewellery comments: “We had a great response – in total 65 responses from customers. We are delighted with this and we had a stand out winner in Brogan Lilly North. We’ve started making the pieces already and hope to have them here in store in a few weeks”.
North’s designs will be made into a reality in Marmalade’s workshop and displayed in store.
SOURCE:http://www.professionaljeweller.com/baj-partners-marmalade-jewellery-design-contest/
