High School Studio Lesson
Jewelry
BY EXAMPLE
DESIGN
Ameet Stuhl,
Warming.
Presidential campaigns bring out the expression of strong political sentiments in the jewelry and pins that people
wear to declare their allegiances.
Images, flags, symbols, and words are
all elements that are incorporated
into designs that make decisive visual
statements. To capture the political
spirit of a presidential campaign, I
asked my high-school metals class
Ellen Mahoney
students to design a pin that expressed
their feelings about a cause.
Leading by Example
To begin the lesson, I showed images
of historical political pins and the pins
being worn by both political parties.
I also showed the steps that I went
through to design and make my own
pin. Students often become impa-
tient when they’re trying to develop
a concept from initial sketch to final
design that is worth investing an
extended period of time in creating.
I wanted them to see that, similar to
writing, where one does research and
several drafts, visual work also ben-
efits from exploration of the idea and
the investigation of variations.
