As we read in www.ganoksin.com, for example the jewellery of Berlin-based designer Carl F. Dau can be described as a synthesis of high aesthetics combined with simplicity and clarity. The photographs with which he communicates his jewellery speak exactly the same language. They are precise and clear and yet full of tension due to the contrast between stillness and movement
We see a strangely ambivalent attitude when jewellery designers are faced with communicating their products. This is especially true for jewelry designers in the early stages of their careers.
There are so many designers capable of achieving the highest standards of precision and perfect craftsmanship in jewellery production. But then they go on to take their inferior photographs, which in no way do justice to their own excellent work.
In contrast, established designers are familiar with trade fairs and media handling. They have usually already discovered or experienced how important it is to define a clear approach to communicating one's own style of jewellery and its particular characteristics.
An idea of what the target of the jewellery is can help the photographer or designer to find the right image format.
However, this does not mean that a product requires a full (and expensive) image campaign immediately after its launch in order to enter the industry market.
A well thought out minimum level of professional communication has never hurt a jewel. However, jewelry designers should not harbor false hopes of success. They should bear in mind that it takes time even with professional help to establish oneself in the market.
Here are some views on the subject by Matthias Hoffmann, in Art + Design. Matthias Hoffmann, is a freelance photographer in Düsseldorf. He has worked with, among others, the H.P. Hoffmann agency in Düsseldorf.
In order for the designer, the creator behind the jewellery, to be able to use the photographs properly, he or she must first of all have clarified the objectives and discussed them with the photographer.
How should we display the jewellery? Who should we attract? In other words, the designer needs to develop clear objectives in terms of the style and form of the work. Depending on this idea, the photographer stylistically complements the jewelry. In this way he depicts it with the full range of his expertise. The whole look will appear more authentic if we harmonize the style of the jewelry and that of the photograph.
The kind of image is actually found in the jewel itself. Its uniqueness and these characteristics will determine how we should photograph it. At best, we adapt the photograph to the needs of the design.
There are jewellery, for example experimental body jewellery, which we really have to photograph worn. Their special way of use and their three-dimensional structure is only really displayed when they are placed in combination with a body. In other jewellery, the focus may be on certain details, a new positioning technique or the use of particularly rare stones and the like.
An authentic photograph must take into account the specific characteristics of the jewelry and the stylistic objectives of the demand. So we can use it for the press and for advertising purposes. This is of course not quite the same for photos that try to create a specific mood, rather than focusing on the product. Such photos are usually difficult to use in jewellery workshops. But as part of the idea of the image, they do support the overall view of the design.
Purchasing is generally driven by the product. You will only buy the proposed jewellery if you feel a preference for it. And no matter how fantastic a photo is, it will never be the determining factor in deciding whether a piece of jewelry is attractive or not.
