Why was the protector a winning submission?
And what takeaways can you draw from the 2021 Winner, by Justion D’Souza.
This submission is actually the perfect juxtaposition from the previous year's winner, Prosperity.
Again, I don’t want to disregard the clear display of artistic talent from Conor Jon in his koi fish design. However, there was a certain level of ‘back of the sketch book’ style to it. Something that was roughly put together with a strong concept and vision, but less focus on the final delivery.
The Protector on the other hand, delivers hard on the final design submission aesthetic. Not essential of course, however a great way to package the final concept.
Here are some elements that we felt got Justin’s submission over the line;
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TEXTURE
The snake scales that occupied such a large area of the signet face, was such an important detail. Scales or any texture that has a repeating nature, provides a level of depth to any sculptural element that wouldn’t exist if the entire surface was a high polish. Silver has a way of all forming into itself, looking ‘blobby’, especially on a high polish - unless you can distinguish the details with texture, which Justin did well here.
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SHANK DETAIL
The feature of the snake and lamb on the top would be a very powerful motif regardless of incorporating the side detail, however this final touch really took the piece to new levels.
Having the snake tail flow into the shank, creates purpose for the entire signet. Rather than having a design simply slapped onto a standard signet. This way, the piece feels together as one.
An added value touch to the design was having inner shank detail of the scales, which further ties in all design aspects throughout the piece. Inner detail is also such a great way to build value for the wearer beyond the surface aesthetic, as it is a feature that only they know exists.
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CONCEPT
If there was any element to this design that you felt could have been executed slightly better and you were on the fence… Then the concept was the thing that gave you that final nudge.
The idea of protection and more specifically, coming from ‘unlikely sources’ - was a message that we felt would land with a lot of our audience. Further solidifying this component of a submission being such a heavy lifter and allowing other areas to ‘lack’ if you will. By which I mean, after the initial intrigue of the design wears thin, the concept is what is going to carry the significance of your signet for years to come.
Alright now… For those of you who read the previous article on what made Prosperity a game winning submission… Did you notice anything?
Yep. Same three elements. Take what you will from that.
