Poetic dimensions: Jewellery conversations about design process

The decision by the authors, two Australian contemporary designers, to collaborate in a joint exhibition initiates a process of retrospective reflection as a preliminary strategy to identify common interests and to establish conceptual and theoretical frameworks. Underpinning their project is a mutual understanding and passion for contemporary jewellery forged by many years of academic study and teaching experience in the area of jewellery design at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney. This paper signals the first collaborative venture between the two designers who have witnessed the gradual evolution of each other’s distinctive design language over many years. As a means to extrapolate potential frameworks for the exhibition and to highlight the impact of transnational influences in the context of contemporary design practice, two case studies are presented that include personal accounts by the authors of key research experiences in the Netherlands and Japan. Through these design conversations the authors hope new and serendipitous avenues unfold.