Jewellery & Metal Design

Introduction

Jewellery designers are the creators of a universal symbolic language that expresses identity, difference, distinctiveness and shared values. As such it fuses together art, science, fashion, politics, culture and technology. Studying Jewellery & Metal Design at DJCAD begins with material based exploration - learning the characteristics and qualities of a range of materials (wood, metal, plastics etc.). Traditional hand techniques and new technologies such as electroforming, laser cutting, and digital processes including rapid prototyping are thoughtfully integrated. Critical thinking and debate is encouraged, creating a dynamic and vibrant environment in which to generate new ideas and material proceses. You are encouraged to think about your ideas and ways of working in order to push the boundaries of the discipline. Consequently jewellery and metal design if often not worn on the body and does not have to be made of metal!

In addition to creating work for sale within the contemporary craf gallery, our graduates are also creating new markets and arenas for the knowledge and skills they have developed, for example in healthcare (medical alert jewelley) and forensics (disaster victim identification - a jewellery classification system).

Jewellery & Metal Design is one of three courses that forms the Design & Craft programme at DJCAD (Interior Environmental Design, Jewellery & Metal Design and Textile Design). While following your course in Jewellery & Metal Design, you will also gain a broad educational experience by being provided with a wide range of opportunities for you to engage with generic Design & Craft issues as well as your pathway choice in Jewellery & Metal Design.

At the end of the course you will be able to:

• confidently and creatively use a wide variety of materials
• use workshops to design individual jewellery, fashion and small products
• use the skills you have gained throughout the course to develop your own unique style