The Signature Leaf
16 June 2015 // By Kat Atkins
~The Creation of the Signature Leaf~
Designing and creating one of a kind pieces keeps my job interesting and challenging.
It inspires me to get creative instead of replicating the same pieces over and over again and following the trends.
My philosophy to remain true and transparent lives throughout my brand and is honoured even in the finest of details.
Even down to the sterling silver signature leaf finishing every One Leaf jewellery piece.
Follow my journey in creating the symbol that embodies One Leaf…
I knew creating a symbol to represent my brand was important so I set out on a creative journey to find that perfect representation.
I originally had a few ideas in mind – even made up some sketches but then thought about my product and how majority of my individual jewellery pieces just occur organically and evolve on the studio table.
I picked a couple of random leaves off trees and plants in my front yard and stared at them for a while.
I wanted to test different styles and make multiple leaves, so I drew an outline on wax and began to cut. Using wax allowed for a quick and smooth gliding action with the handsaw when creating these fine pieces by hand.
This wax is hardened but can be melted, cut and filed into shape – a lot more cost effective and easy to work with when making samples.
I already had a plan on how I wanted the leaves to be attached and sit nicely on the jewellery but this required the holes to be drilled in different ways.
I also wanted the finishing leaf to be neat and elegant – not to ‘dangly’ getting in the way so making a few different leaves gave me options to play with.
However I couldn’t be too hasty on my final choice – these little wax carvings had to be sent to a caster, sprues attached, moulds made, silver poured and then the silver leaves sent back to me.
The silver castings arrived raw and ready for me to file down nicely into shape and put the finishing touches on it – Including the engraving of ‘One Leaf’ underneath.
I decided on two main styles as my jewellery pieces are so diverse and unique. This allows flexibility for a smaller or larger leaf to feature on each piece depending on the style of jewellery made.
Doing it this way also helps keeps my pieces unique and authentic.
Once the chosen pieces were selected, the Caster attaches sprues, moulds are created and sterling silver is hand poured to make each individual leaf.
The silver sets in a kiln, the moulds are opened, castings removed, ready for the next pour.
The sprues are cut off and each leaf individually filed neatly and then polished.
They may look identical to the human eye but due to this process they all have very micro variations.
This is all exclusive to One Leaf and these designs cannot be seen elsewhere.
“A mentor empowers a person to see a possible future & believe it can be obtained” ~ Shaun Hitchcock.
*I would like to also pass on credit to Susie Posa from The Jewellery Studio for her guidance through this process in the early stages of One Leaf. x
What to learn how to build a brand? Check out my latest blog to learn what steps I took to become an entrepreneur.
