Jewelry Designer for Southwestern & Native American-Inspired Silver Jewelry — Ongoing Work Potential

Job Description We are a small jewelry business looking for an experienced jewelry designer to help develop original sterling silver jewelry designs in a Southwestern and Native American-inspired direction. The goal is to create designs with a vintage sterling silver aesthetic, including oxidized details, stone-focused layouts, strong silhouettes, and distinctive silver pattern work. The pieces should feel relevant to customers who like Southwestern and Native American-inspired jewelry, but still be original enough to stand out from common mass-market turquoise/silver products. This project will begin with a paid sample task. If the sample task is successful, we will move forward with a larger assignment to develop 2–3 capsule families, totaling 10 SKU design pages. We are ideally looking for someone we can work with on a regular basis. Designs that show strong commercial potential may lead to additional future assignments and ongoing monthly design work. ________________________________________ Design Goal We are not looking for generic turquoise/silver jewelry concepts. Each concept should include a clear differentiating pattern, motif, silhouette, stone layout, or oxidized silver detail. If a design does not have a recognizable point of difference, there is little value in developing it. The goal is to create original design directions that can later become small capsule families across multiple product types. ________________________________________ Style Direction We are looking for designs that are: • Sterling silver focused • Southwestern and Native American-inspired • Vintage-inspired, with aged/oxidized silver details • Commercial, wearable, and production-minded • Distinctive enough not to be lost among similar mass-market jewelry • Suitable for rings, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and/or cuffs • Built around motifs that can expand into small capsule families • Practical for future CAD development and manufacturing We are especially interested in strong silhouettes, recognizable but original silver pattern work, thoughtful stone placement, and designs that use oxidation or recessed detailing to create depth and a vintage feel. All work must be original. Please do not submit copied designs, direct adaptations of marketplace products, or designs based on protected cultural/sacred motifs. ________________________________________ Stones to Use Designs should work with the following stones: • Stabilized turquoise • Lapis lazuli • Green aventurine • Picture jasper For the sample task, stabilized turquoise should be included in at least one concept. For the larger capsule-family assignment, stabilized turquoise should be included in at least one family. ________________________________________ Project Process Step 1 — Paid Sample Task Budget: $150 fixed price Create 3 different initial jewelry concepts. The sample task is meant to evaluate design direction, originality, taste level, and the ability to create concepts that could later become capsule families. Each of the 3 concepts should represent a different design direction. They should not be three pieces from the same family. Each concept must include a unique differentiating pattern, motif, silhouette, stone layout, or silver detail. The concept should have a clear design idea that could help the final product stand out from common mass-market Southwestern-style jewelry. Each concept only needs: • One clear single-view sketch or digital drawing • Basic stone placement • Rough proportions • A unique silver pattern, motif, or design detail • Suggested areas for oxidation or recessed silver detail • Potential to be expanded into a small family The sample task does not require full technical drawings, multiple views, CAD files, detailed measurements, or revision rounds. Ideally, each of the 3 sample concepts should have the potential to become its own capsule family during the larger assignment. ________________________________________ Step 2 — Full Design Assignment If the sample task is successful, we will continue with a larger assignment based on the strongest sample concepts. The larger assignment will include: • 2–3 capsule families • 10 SKU design pages total • $100 per completed SKU design page Each final SKU design page should include: • 3 views of one SKU from different perspectives • Approximate dimensions and design notes to help a CAD designer develop the model • Stone type, shape, count, and placement • Pattern/detail notes • Oxidation/recessed-detail notes • Practical construction notes where needed Total full assignment budget: 10 pages × $100 = $1,000 Up to 2 revision rounds per SKU page may be requested if needed, as long as the revisions stay within the approved design direction. Major redesigns or new SKU concepts would be treated as separate paid work. ________________________________________ Product Types The 10 SKUs may include a mix of: • Rings • Dangle earrings • Stud earrings • Pendants • Bracelets • Cuffs The final product mix will be agreed upon after the sample task and will depend on which concepts are selected for capsule-family development. ________________________________________ Ongoing Work Potential We are not looking for a one-time sketch only. Our goal is to build a repeatable design pipeline. If the collaboration is successful, future work may include: • Additional capsule families • Expansion of successful designs into related SKUs • Monthly new design assignments • Seasonal or theme-based design batches • Iterations based on customer demand and commercial performance ________________________________________ What to Include in Your Proposal Please include: 1. Your jewelry design portfolio 2. Examples of sterling silver, Southwestern, Native American-inspired, vintage, oxidized, or stone-set jewelry if available 3. Confirmation that you are comfortable with the $150 sample task for 3 initial concepts 4. Confirmation that you are comfortable with $100 per completed SKU design page for the larger assignment 5. Your typical turnaround time for the sample task 6. Whether you provide hand sketches, digital sketches, or technical drawings 7. A short note on how you approach creating jewelry motifs that can expand into a family 8. Whether you are available for future recurring design work if the collaboration is successful ________________________________________ Ownership & Originality All paid designs must be original and created specifically for this project. Final approved paid designs will be owned by us after payment and may be manufactured, modified, advertised, and sold. Please do not submit copied designs, direct adaptations of existing products, or designs based on protected cultural/sacred motifs. ________________________________________ Ideal Fit This project may be a good fit if you have experience with: • Sterling silver jewelry design • Stone-set jewelry • Vintage or oxidized silver aesthetics • Southwestern or Native American-inspired design language • Commercial jewelry design • Creating related designs across rings, earrings, pendants, bracelets, or cuffs • Preparing clear design pages for CAD/modeling handoff Strong communication, reliability, and the ability to follow a defined design direction are important.