From Jewellery Design to Life

I’ve been in full-on design mode over the past few weeks, working hard on our upcoming Spring 2013 collection. Although I often sketch out my ideas before I create a new piece, it often takes physically making a design to realize that what looked good in my mind’s eye, doesn’t always translate into a beautiful piece of jewellery; proportions are awkward, components don't logically connect as I imagined, a gemstone dangles unnaturally.

The upside to these frustrations is that out of “failed” design attempts sometimes a new and unexpected creation appears. What doesn’t work as a necklace translates into a unique pair of earrings, or a totally new concept altogether. I thought this quote by James Joyce reflected perfectly how these sorts of experiences make me feel; while I wouldn't exactly call my design miscalculations mistakes (I prefer to think of their unplanned outcomes as happy accidents), I think that a trip down a challenging or unanticipated path can definitely lead to our best discoveries in life.

So let my little design analogy bring this reminder to your week – no matter how large or small a so-called “failure” or challenge may be, it often leads us to a positive outcome that we wouldn’t have necessarily experienced should things have worked out the way we planned.