ON-LIFE
Swarovski Gemstones
The ON-LIFE
Jewellery collection
Her kan du se den færdige smykkekollektion, bestående af en halskæde, et armbånd & en ørering. Smykkerne er håndlavede af 925 sterling sølv, og mundblæst glas.
Structure
We wanted our pieces to engage the user by the first touch. We also wanted the user to be drawn to the jewellery, and give the user an urge to touch it.
This was done by giving the jewellery a certain surface, which was unusual, interesting and addictive. The element of each piece, which resembles a rhombus, has been made from several pieces of silver, and, combined, they have a surface with varying height and sharpness, which is fascinating to the touch of the hand, and supplies the user with a need to touch it again and again. This is mostly concerning the earring.
Then we have the glass element, which is also seen in all of our pieces, and which has a smooth, transparent surface. This should supply the user with a sense of calm.
The Active Element
We decided that it should be possible to twist, turn or rotate certain elements of our jewellery in your own hands, as this would add a touch of activation, and engage the user in the ‘On-Life’ experience.
This was made possible by attaching the glass elements in our design to the others through a mechanism that rotates when you move. This also adds the dynamic aspect we wished to obtain.
Selection/De-selection
During the process of designing our collection we’ve made a lot of choices, and some of them we’ve had to de-select, for various reasons.
One of the first things we changed our minds about, were the colour and size of the stones we were to receive from Swarovski Gemstones. At first, we wanted our stones to be rather large, as we thought it would look nice. The more we thought about it though, we reached the conclusion that it would be too extreme, and that it would take the focus from the rest of the jewellery. We then found that it could be fun to have several, but smaller stones, that, combined could give the effect of stardust. Because of this, we decided to use small white stones, and few, slightly bigger, green stones.
The same went for the actual pieces – we initially wanted each piece of jewellery to be smaller, as we thought it would make it more wearable, and thus, able to reach a larger customer base.
After some debate, we reached the conclusion that it had to have a certain size, for the rhombus and stones to be able to fit inside the glass.
We considered drawing our pieces in Rhino 3D and then printing them, but ended up making them by hand. This was a great result, and was the thing that made the most sense, when making jewellery for the ‘On-Life’ aspect.
We initially thought we would fill each glass element with water, but when we received the finished glass elements, it was obvious that this would not be feasible as the elements were not completely closed.
Why is it ON-LIFE? Why is it a talisman?
The calm elements in our design are the organic shapes, because they’re recognizable shapes which the brain easily decodes. The transparent materials we’ve chosen to use are calm as well, as the transparent facade gives the brain security and nothing is left unseen.
Furthermore, we’ve chosen to work with green tones that are often associated with nature – this is a calm element, and a place where one is often more present. The green element symbolises the calmness of nature, the crisp, wavering leaves in the wind, the running water in the stream. The green tones have an effect on the sense of sight and supply a calming effect.
All of this engages the user to commit to something bigger than the shuffle of the tedious everyday life, and to delve into the depths of being ’On-Life’. Our wish is that our user will, through the inspiration/motivation of our collection, try to enjoy and experience life to the fullest. This, to us, is the very definition of what a talisman should be able to do, and much more. This, to us, means having a reason to connect with life, and to truly be ’On-Life’.