Guy has years of experience designing jewellery for some of the world’s finest jewellery brands. We were hugely excited when we were asked to work with Guy to create an identity system, along with an online portfolio of his work, for his small independent studio to go up against the big guns.
Guy’s work is heavily Art Deco inspired, so the journey began with an extensive look at Guy's jewellery, as well as architecture and typography from the era. A sense of ownership was established by using Guy's initials within the final badge, framed in a recognisable octagon cut. It was important the final mark was a representation of the jewellery sector, the designer and his inspiration.
A common visual cue in both the art deco era and in a lot of jewellery is the use of symmetry. We noted that quite often the wearer of a piece of jewellery will also have the same visual experience as the admirer despite their differing viewpoints, due to its symmetry. We wanted to reflect this in the badge, using an ambigram of sorts.
There's a challenge within the jewellery industry and that is, if I can't try it on, what is it going to look like? Even more challenging for the likes of Guy who often make one-off pieces. Jewellery is often worn against the skin, so at the heart of Guy's identity, we created a palette that would allow him to showcase his work against an array of colours inspired by a wide range of skin tones. This palette was in support of the core colours, formed of dark blue, rich teal and gold.
A tough aspect of this particular brief was to create something that is timeless, but still feels current. Not governed by styles. Not going to date in a year. We devoted our choice of typography to helping achieve this part of the brief. Cue a trip to the Hoefler&Co. shop.
One of the first major roll-outs of the new identity was to create a digital platform on which Guy could showcase his work. The focus was on delivering a clean, simple, user experience – very visual, allowing the individual pieces to become the focus. The solution was to strip back the written content to the least viable amount, supporting the imagery but not acting as a distraction. We integrated the website with Craft CMS for a simple, clean, manageable experience behind the scenes too.
