Jenni Rutonen Design

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Tripple Parade Exhibition and seminar

The exhibition is now open at the Kuopio Cultural History Museum in Kuopio Finland to the end of this month. JRD´s jewelry is also presented at the exhibition. I also want to share my seminar speech with you guys. So here is the text part of my presentation. Enjoy!

You’re the Jewelry

Jewelery has always been associated with a lot of meanings. They have been these physical charms and amulets up to being kind of protectors. They are believed to have a lot of magic powers. Jewelry has a lot of magic, but not in the same way. It´s not the object itself that has magic, the magic is in us humans. It is in all the meanings of what we give to jewelery and at it´s best wearing jewelry can be empowering experience to the user. Empowerment is perhaps the best thing that jewelry can do to a person. This lifeless object takes away the fear and helps people cope with situations in which, without the security of the jewelry they wouldn´t perhaps even dare to be in. They help people to access their own potential despite the fear which often prevents them from the taking action.

A concrete example, I have a piece of jewelry that was passed down to me from my grandma, it’s not valuable, or any precious metal and the stone is glass. But it is very important to me, it brings security if there is a difficult moment in life, it reminds me of sense of safety being close to my grandmam and the fear eases. Like she is present and it is comforting. It gives me strength to move on from that situation. Many people have the same kind of experiences and probably have same kind of jewelry. In such situation the jewelry is almost alive, it brings security and empowerment to the user. This is something which I aim for as creating a brand and it is something that should be taken into account. The process itself is unattended and many do not even necessarily be aware of doing it. Perhaps it has been learned from childhood. You´re favorite toy has just been replaced by jewelry, but it gives us the same sense of security what a sleeping toy would. Connects us with our inner child.

Many can relate with the feeling when you get a piece of jewelry as a gift from someone that is important to you, it can be a godfather or godmother maybe your parent. Perhaps a spouse or a friend. Maybe it’s your boss, who thank´s you for a job well done. Maybe you bought something for yourself to some important life event. Maybe you combine the feeling to a piece of jewelry your child has made for you or perhaps the feeling is the memory of a deceased friend or a relative. Maybe you can relate now to what I´m saying. Do you have these kind of jewelry and experiences?
No object itself can make this feeling come to life, a human interaction is always needed. without it the user jewelry is just the material it is made, spiritless, unnecessary. It comes to life only as a part of the bearer, at use. Well, how is this meaning and feeling transferred to a piece of jewelry? That’s the hard part, because the experience is every subjective experience to everyone. Fortunately we have stories! Ever since people descended from the trees, we have been telling stories. Storytelling is a typical human behavior, we will tell a story about everything. On how was our day, fishing trips, etc., etc. That is how we past knowledge. We make stories about everything. Stories connect us and also helps us to remember things, events, and the emotions linked to those events.

Granny’s Lace Story: Trip to grandma´s always seemed too far and long, but when we arrived the smell of fresh sweet buns greeted us and sun calmly shined rays through lace curtains. At The window geranium glowed and outdoors you could see butterflies flying around in a sea of flowers at the flowerbeds in front of the red barn building. Attic was the real treasure room of old belongings and you could get lost there for hours to explore the old widgets until you got called in. Oh, how warm buns and cold milk tasted good!

All of us have has had a grandma. Memories of childhood might not be exactly the same, but are relatable. Did I raise any feelings? Do you have similar experiences?

One product and one story itself is still not enough, but it is a good start. We need the support of a brand and what and how it speaks to the customer or a person. if the brand, the products, and the message don’t align with each other you don´t get a desirable result. It is the human touch (again) that is required. Person behind the jewelery, not just a faceless corporation. An actual living human being, you a designer.
Being personally visible is really important in this era of global social media. Especially for small brands, but increasingly also for large and multi-national companies.People are interested of us and they want to get to know us. People want in some way to take part in our lives and if they like what they see then possibly also buy the product. Through social media we can easily reach our customers directly in real time, instead of being hidden at your office all day long. I have also noticed how hugely important it is to face the people yourself, whether it is online or at some event you are taking part in. It is the best marketing to a small company and brand a genuine interaction. Then you become the face of the brand. Remember you´ll always be representing the brand. it binds you closely to the brand and the values that you represent. If you don’t agree with the brand values you are in a wrong company or your brand has been built incorrectly. You have made a trap for yourself. Everything is linked to everything: The company, designer, brand, products, communications, and customers are all like a miniature version of the world wide web. Everything is linked to everything. From these small pieces of information a person forms an idea of you, your brand and products, in his/hers mind they usually are one and the same thing. If an element in values, behavior or communication conflicts with each other, you´ll get unclear message and people are the masters of seeing if something is wrong there. This organic and variable network is hi maintenance job and for all of us there is still a huge amount to be learned. Social media is constantly evolving and remains to be seen what kind of forms it takes in the future. I’m currently on Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. To the end of this year I`ll join Instagram too.

About a brand. It starts with who and what kind of person you are and what you want to do and also what affects who you are as a person? What is this ultimate epic core that gets you moving and also gets the other people to act? This is the thing what gets the followers and the whole tribe start. What makes you tick and get others tiked too?

For me personally, it’s “You’re the jewlery” The realization that you’re good just the way you are. A good person and that you are enough. When you dare to let your potential out you reach to be more than you believed you ever could. Instead of victimization you are empowered. So my goal isn’t just to produce more stuff. It is to influence to the person/customer at positive way. To make a difference at personal level.

Core Message: You’re the star dust, the manifestation of Divine energy. Traveler of the universe. Your feelings are the road signs – release your senses. You can see the path, scream it to the world and shine as a beacon to the lost. You’re the jewelry!

The core message is that the service promise, what do you deliver what it is all about. In addition, the brand / company is good to have a manifesto, which refers to the change that we do in the world.

Manifesto:_ You´re the jewelry
You are more valuable than any diamond, Your glow outshines the shimmer of gold. You are the sum of unique coincidence and wonders and you shine for us.
You stand with your own feet and do not just accept yourself – you love your own unique personality.
Your clothes, hair color, your past and your future is only a shadow of what you are today. Genuine and pure, strong and original.
Jewelery does´t make you you who you are – You make it yourself and your jewelry will shout it to the world._

These things are the foundation of the brand and all the action and communication of the brand is linked to these. Often, however, one can see that these things remain in the background and do not exist or appear in the company’s operations. It doesn´t work if you do not share them with anyone! There will be no followers and tribes aren’t merged if people do not know what it is about. Tell it forward, spread the word and people will come. Of course not everyone can like what you do or who you are, but don’t worry it’s a pretty good reaction too. The most important thing is that you get a reaction, it means that you have got their attention to yourself and you are likely to be remembered. Your action, even though it is not always to the liking of all, if it comes from the positive motivation and no one intentionally offended or harmed then you´re ok and it´s always better than to get no reaction at all. Being “odorless and tasteless”.(have no idea how to translate it correctly)

A lot of talk about feelings and how to awake emotions in people/ clients/assosiates and loved ones. It is very important in business, because although shopping is justified rationally the decision of to purchase it is still made with emotion. And it is a studied fact. You can see it in car sales for example and I believe most jewelry is also sold like this. So, I also sell the feeling, permission to like yourself and to appreciate who you are. The jewelry is only a link, it is a physical manifesto and more than just a beautiful object. Jewelry is no longer mere objects such as industrial serial mass production of the era, they have become a lot more.

The beauty and richness of jewelry lies in how much meanings a person can create to it. They connect us to our own culture and family history and ancestors. They embody one´s personalities and act as statements. They are ideas, memories, experiences, love, emotion and life. We are the jewelry. You´re the jewelry, just how you are.

-Jenni Rutonen Designer entrepreneur JRD

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