Jewellery Design
Experience creativity through a hands-on approach by studying jewellery and object design. Learn to explore concepts and develop your own individual ideas and bring them to life. Create designs through practical jewellery fabrication skills, accompanied with complementary skills in digital design, drawing and professional presentation.
CERTIFICATE IV DESIGN (JEWELLERY STUDIO) The Certificate IV in Design (Jewellery Studio) will provide you with the core skills and knowledge you’ll need in jewellery design and fabrication. This course is taught in extensive purpose-built facilities and specialised studios at North Metropolitan TAFE’s Northbridge Campus, offering the most in-depth and contemporary studio-based experience in the state.
DIPLOMA OF VISUAL ART (JEWELLERY DESIGN) The Diploma of Visual Arts (Jewellery Design) will enhance your existing design and fabrication skills. Taught in TAFE’s jewellery-specific workshops in the creative and cultural heart of the city, you will benefit from their proximity to the Art Gallery of WA, PICA and other small galleries. There is a concentration on computer aided design and digital techniques as well as studio time and bench skills to further develop your design practice. On completion you will be well equipped to undertake further studies, or you could also find work as a high end Jewellery Designer both locally and overseas, or set up your own design studio.
- Learn to explore concepts and develop your own individual ideas and bring them to life. -
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Julie Holmes Jewellery Designer & Maker Perth Western Australia
2014 GRADUATE
My journey as a designer and maker has been a long one and started before I attended North Metropolitan TAFE. I had been attending many different creative classes wanting to learn as much as I could about different art and craft forms. I spent most of the time in various ceramic classes which I loved but wanted to understand more about art and design practice. Enrolling into Jewellery Design at TAFE brought together the design principles that I needed to be able to move forward to creating my creative life!
Over the last twelve months I have been working on my business fulltime. It is forever evolving and changing. I think that is the nature of working in a creative industry. My biggest lesson has been the benefit of collaboration. Coming together with your peers and opening yourself up to possibilities that can be shared with others around you is a huge benefit to who you are as a designer and maker. It has been where I have gained the most growth within my practice and myself as a designer.
Naively I thought it would be a lot easier than it has been but at the same time it has always been extremely rewarding.
Recently I have started to move away from Jewellery design into creating various objects for interiors. What I have learnt is that the foundation I was given at TAFE
– TAFE brought together the design principles that I needed to be able to move forward! – Straight after graduating in 2014, my graduate collection was taken by a major contemporary jewellery gallery in Melbourne. This was a huge boost for my ego. My first reaction was that this would be the launch of my career that would propel me out into the world of design and making, and all of my creative desires would start to be fulfilled. The reality however was very different. My goal to be a fulltime designer/maker was slipping away pretty quickly as life responsibilities had started to get in the way and I had put aside the skills that I had been taught. I had forgotten that the process of design was the foundation for not only creating a beautiful piece of jewellery or object, but also the process for how I should approach working and creating a viable business out of what I had chosen to do.
by all the lecturers I was lucky to have whilst there and the support I still receive from them has set me up for the creative future that I had imagined many years before. I feel I have a strong skill set and knowledge that will take me through to the rest of my career. This is the second career in my life and one that gives me the most joy. I believe in the importance of what we are doing as creatives in society in whatever form it takes. We are contributing to the story of who we are as West Australians and the importance of art and design in human life. Without it our communities are unable to grow. We create beauty, life, conversation, memories, stories, critical thinking and culture. This is important and should always be celebrated, taught, loved and fiercely defended.
– Julie Holmes
2017 GRADUATE
All of us enrolled in TAFE for different reasons, each with different expectations of the course, but whatever those reasons were, it seemed we had all felt the pull to jewellery and wanted to see where it could take us. Happily, we found ourselves surrounded by others who felt the same way, and spoke the same ‘language’. It sparked a sense of freedom, creatively speaking, which evolved into an environment that fostered the sharing of ideas, as well as mutual support and motivation. By the end, we had found a place where we belonged, even as our time at TAFE was finishing, we knew we had become committed to this jewellery world.
jewellery world really is. It is a craft that crosses the borders of fashion, sculpture, fine arts, public art, even technology and engineering. The delight and attraction of it all was that it felt like we could take any path we wanted, and it could essentially be tailor made to suit us and our own passions. Studying at TAFE was a perfect time for us to really discover those passions, and while our practices are still evolving, we definitely had the opporunity to cultivate our individual styles that have since been the basis for our ongoing work. Within our class it was clear we were all different and yet
– Whatever you want to achieve, be proactive and be present. – We were fortunate enough to be in an environment with access to mentors and facilities that allowed us to explore almost any idea, design or process we could think of. However, what we had to realise and accept was that we were never going to learn absolutely everything in these three years, no course could give us that. The most important thing was to focus our energies on a few select areas while keeping our ears and eyes open for tips, contacts and resources that could help us build our skills beyond class time. This practical way of thinking helped reduce the stress somewhat, and allowed us to make the most of what we were doing. Our lecturers shared their professional experiences and insider advice regarding funding applications, competition entries, public art proposals, exhibitions and installations, and also advertising and selfpromotion. It was quite an eye-opener when we learned just how broad and interesting the
we complemented each other perfectly. We had established a mini melting pot of creativity, being able to bounce ideas around and help each other grow. A lot of art practices can be a solitary, even lonely, pursuit, and even more so since leaving TAFE have we really understood the importance of that creative network for keeping the brain active and ideas fresh. It was this sense of community that emerged as a main inspiration for starting up the Wayward Jewellers Society. The five of us provide each other with inspiration, reassurance and confidence at a time that can be quite difficult for emerging artists as they start to get their careers off the ground. While we have worked hard to get where we are, our TAFE lecturers were instrumental in helping set up the Wayward Jewellers, and it just reinforced the importance of having a decent support system around you.
– Wayward Jewellers Society
L-R: Susannah Kings-Lynne, Devan Job, Anna Pesti, Claire Greyson & Molly Tylor Jewellery Designers & Makers, Fremantle Western Australia
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