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A Guide to Choosing Color in Jewelry Design

By NYIAD Jewelry Mentor on January 06, 2015

NYIAD offers a jewelry making class, and because we do, we often write fun and useful tips for jewelry designers. Please enjoy!

If you’re drawn to designing your own jewelry or making a commercial jewelry line of your own, you may be hesitant about picking colors for the elements you’ll use in your designs. Surprisingly, many creative people are a bit intimidated by color. These tips may help you overcome your fears and boldly make color selections!

  • Most people have favorite colors. The woman in this photo may be crazy about turquoise blue, and that’s influenced the color choice of the materials she’s used in her necklace. One rule of color selection in jewelry is simple: If you like it and it works, use it! So see how your favorite color(s) work into your next piece.
  • Decide on the mood of the piece you’d like to work on. Select cool colors like blues and greens to convey a mood of serenity, calm, nature, and peace. Or choose warm colors like yellows and reds to convey energy, excitement, passion, and fire.
  • Look for inspiration in color blogs where the bloggers post their favorite color schemes. If you see something you like, adopt it to your next piece. We recommend these inspirational color sites: For the Love of Color, Kristina Klarin, and Color Collective.
  • Look for geographical locations to inspire your color choices, such as a sunny beachside cabana, the bright primary colors of a children’s bedroom décor, or a woodsy cabin retreat. A specific location can help you tell a story behind your jewelry, and even give you a theme idea for a complete jewelry line.
  • Other everyday objects may contain color scheme inspiration for your next jewelry masterpiece: a candy wrapper, a fashion shoot in a magazine, a painting in a local museum, or a piece of clothing like a tie, dress, or scarf. Color is all around you. Be observant, and color ideas will come to you aplenty.

Good wedding planners are flexible, diplomatic, calm under pressure, and very detail oriented. They help a diverse mix of couples realize the wedding of their dreams by assisting them in each stage of the planning process.

Want to learn more? Learn how to design jewelry and learn all about color theory with NYIAD’s Jewelry Design Course.