Does Design Reflect Character?

I saw that question in The New York Times a few months ago, and of course it caught my attention. How could it not, being what I do? I also love museums and have studied art and design. I think of the great works I have looked at studied and learned from and it seems almost a silly, banal question, when the answer to me is so evident . When I think of work created by Da Vinci, Praxitales, Pollock, Shakespeare, Wagner or Frost I know that their art affected and changed me. Their passion, vision and expression of the world, of life, as they saw it affected and changed me as well as thousands more. Just to mention those names is to have an immediate impression of how their works have rippled through the ages showing us themselves as well as ourselves.

 In my opinion then art is a Rorschach Blot Test. We are voyeurs when we walk through museum halls and corridors and look at a painting on a living room wall. Why we will criticise some art as bad art...lacking character, insight, originality whether the medium is writing or the painting of a vase of flowers. A vase of flowers by Picasso is a discovery, and by another painter , most probably an object to fill a blank wall. Every sculpture, painting, inscription of written word, shares the world we experience through the artist's eyes and so we see the world anew through their personal lens. That is character. That is a character filter honed to use a certain medium to show not just the object created and now observable but the artist's interpretation of the object, space or moment, their vision and that vision which is art has the art reveals the artist's character.

Steve Jobs once said that design is assumed to be about how a product looks but in reality is about how a product works .I would further say that design is what an object can do, the effect it has when beautifully designed so that it becomes a joy to use. Therefore the character and intelligence of the designer is revealed in their very thoughtfulness. Their ability to make a functional object beautiful, as in a Micheal Grave's tea kettle, speaks volumes of the creator and earns its place on a museum shelf.

If you haven't studied art and learned to decode it, let me do some of the work for you and why it is impossible in my opinion to separate art from the character of the artist. Let's look back to the first pieces I created and why some jewelry would be bought by collectors and others sold at a Five and Dime after its been copied. Why most people could see a piece of my jewelry and know it is Mahlia Collection by Konstantina Mahlia just as they recognize a Picasso, Mozart or a Rodin.

The ring above is one of my first pieces and belongs to a collector in Los Angeles.I mention who owns it as the reference of a person who collects art and lives surrounded by beautiful things. I believe though that anyone can appreciate art, which is why museums are open to everyone. There are layers to a work that some who have studied art will see that others miss and so here I will 'decode ' one of my pieces. The decoding will show my values as well as how the object reveals my sense of proportion, scale, symmetry story and color.

I believe, and have been told, that I am a person of integrity. I mention this because this is where it becomes clear that the work becomes indivisible from the artist. I sought and learned a language unfamiliar to most which is symbolism. The study of symbolism was important to me because I grew up in a very muticultural envelope where as a child, it seemed quite obvious we needed a language everyone could easily understand and share without years of study. A picture book of values embedded into visually digestible codes. I wanted to share the codes. How was I going to inspire others to reach high, if I could not show it to them and give them talismans with with to ornament themselves where the codes showed they belonged to the same tribe of believers? This tribe of believers believed in honesty, integrity, loyalty, hard work, courage, love, strength and that all these 'good' things would have their just rewards. Fruitful endeavor would result from their belief system of good things they adhered to.

So, the ring above is an object with inherent good character. The metal is fine gold which will not tarnish or change with time. It will remain the same for aeons which is why the ancients chose it to make jewelry thousands of years ago. Look in a museum case; the gold jewelry is still unchanged in color. Form a pragmatic point of view, the two tones of the gold, white and yellow gave me contrast which is essential to an an object of rich detail , but it also gave a modern woman a piece of jewelry that would always go with any other piece she might wear, or accessory that might need its compliment, therefore it was a fashion statement that was very wearable. Its design has an essence of subtle opulence, Again, my time, our times called for something to be enjoyed that was not an obvious , ostentatious statement of wealth, but an object of taste which did not draw attention. The design of the shank is very comfortable. It will not swing on the finger, it will not cut into the finger. It is not delicate...the stones will not come loose, chip, wear because the bezels protect them. The ring shank will never have to be rebuilt as it wears thin. It will never need to be polished because the dimpled texture of the gold will always look the same after years of wear and use.

There is a row of laurel leaves which encircle the bezel.The laurel leaf has been used to represent loyalty and triumph since the times of the ancient Greeks. That detail alone speaks of my beliefs, heritage, sense of aesthetics and values. There is a warrior engraved in the honed surface of the amethyst. A female warrior. The lavender color of the stone too, is feminine. Again - here I am.

I am of pure cultural descent. My bloodlines are old and my crest, stamp, stories and belief in objects that will outlive me all derive from that very ancient heritage and culture I carry in my genes, veins, persona and work.

Does design reflect character?

There is no other answer. Yes.

We Can

I have always believed that we have a choice to do something for a greater and better good. We can choose to doing something with far reaching consequence or just look out for ourselves. Of course there is a middle ground but the two extremes seem to be what prevail - to see the world we live in as a collective - or to be self-serving. I believe that living with consciousness makes our lives richer.

I have had the privilege to work with some amazing retailers, some of the best in the world. To be the best is an investment. The design of the stores, the personnel, marketing and traveling the world to find the best of the best is its own art. These retailers have shown themselves to be very generous in their contributions to the society within which they live. As they should be. We are all trying to be more aware, involved and proactive in doing our best for a number of social and environmental issues that are local, national and global. We are all complicit in the outcome of the society and world we live in.

I have decided that I can do more. My website is not the mainstay of my company but it has an important role to play, therefore, I have decided that I can participate proactively while simultaneously respecting the investment and support of the retailers who represent me. I have decided to give a portion of my share to some wonderful institutions doing some fantastic work for all of us as a national and global society. So Mahlia Collection will give 10% of the retail price of her online assortment to the charity of choice you can select at checkout.

I have always dreamt of creating a company and brand that did more than follow the status quo. It has become evident that we all must take action in our way within our own capabilities and support what we believe in.

Those that have worked with me at Mahlia Collection have come from France, China, Nigeria, Hong Kong, Isreal, Persia, the United States and Mexico. I was born in Canada to Greek immigrants and the team built here is included for their abilities and integrity. We work as a family and most of my relationships go back to when I began the company in 2005. It seems that in many aspects, Mahlia Collection is about longevity. 

My clients are incredibly loyal, and that is the best reason to do what I do. The jewelry I create, which will be part of your life, will outlast both of us. That’s an incredible  legacy which I’m proud to create

Konstantina Mahlia

Words of Wisdom?

I was asked by one of my FACEBOOK friends to write an article for HIS readers in London,England.About what? I asked."Career advice and how hard it is." Wow...well...... I certainly don't feel that I am anyone to be giving advice. I have a voice, and I speak as truthfully as I know how, but to give advice would feel like I know something that others don't.... and that isn't true. So I thought that I would at least do as asked, in writing to speak of what I have experienced, and what I have seen through those experiences to be what is coming , or what MAY be coming when one chooses to be an entrepreneur and follow a rocky path; a rocky path with a few boulders thrown in! When I graduated from business school in 2004, like all graduates, we felt like we could conquer the world! Our group especially- we were graduating from one of the top entrepreneurship programs in the world, which meant that our ethnically diverse group of 36, truly saw the world as their oyster, even though most, like myself, were going to stay stateside to get started.But even within that small elite group of 36 graduates, we all sort of knew who had something special be it smarts, talent, drive or charisma; and we all assumed that those ones would make it. I can say, that I was amongst that group, and in addition to that, had a true sense that I was doing what I was supposed to do- that I passionately believed in following my dreams. What I did not have was the support of my parents.My fiends were my support team. I went to a girl's private school for elementary and high school and was fortunate to be very well educated and a pretty bright student. I was elected several times to student government all the way from grade school through high school( a big honor, and a big advantage when you were learning from an older peer group as well as working closely with the teachers and nuns all the time)So , I was the "good child," the one that never got into trouble, read a lot, was very thoughtful and saw things that many adults didn't.I was always seeing..."observing."But high school got a lot more fun and I was able to be both popular and respected.I was 'cool':)Being in a school that had such rigorous academics, and being such a good student, meant that things were expected of you...I was supposed to be a 'lawyer', PHD, architect or SOMETHING that proved I was smart to the world. Creativity was not endorsed, and especially not at home where that was unfamiliar to my educated, but quite Greek parents who saw such careers as unstable and a n unacceptable choice.Marriage was better than that. SO I started my business with very limited resources and lots of plans as well as dreams. I knew that setting up my business as a company was a priority, so that got paid for; that registering my logo " owning "my brand", was a priority, and that keeping my overhead as low as possible to get through the first tough years was an indisputable fact.And Tucson was going to keep my overhead as low as I could go without going south of the border!So I hunkered down and found a warehouse that would rent me a room for 150 dollars a month, and that's where I stayed for the first two years, and those first two years were spent almost constantly on a plane, making my mark, building relationships, selling jewelry, meeting clients and understanding the retail world and the jewelry world from the ground up.I was working almost exclusively with SAKS and learnt so much from the other design houses such as Roberto Coin, Damiani, Graff,Cartier...these were great and generous teachers as were many of the SAKS jewelry managers. Some were not so great, but the majority were, and all of that began with a small collection of about 30 pieces of jewelry, built one by one when I got started as I could afford them. By the third year, I was carrying about 80 pieces of inventory at any given time, and that is still not a lot in this business.I learned about being safe, insurance, retail relationships, sales relationships, creating my marketing strategy and always knew that the photography was a necessary and important investment. I needed a record of my creations, I needed to be front and center for my brand, and if I wanted to reach the world outside of Tucson...those images were going to share my brand with the world and specifically, buyers, clients, retailers and editors.I learned to deal with megalomania, cronyism, unfairness, sexual harassment and sexism up the WAZOO as well as making friendships and creating a professional support system that is still an integral part of my world. Now, today, people still constantly say that I should be in New York, Paris...even Las Vegas has been suggested, Dallas...but honestly... as long as I can get on a plane and go and do what I need to do...I never saw that rational. With the amount of time people spend traveling and with the internet..it seems less and less relevant to have to "BE" somewhere, unless I want to be there, and to me, the cost and quality of life will always be an important part of the equation . What was hard, what is hard, is that I always stood out. Now most would see that as a positive thing...but most people are most comfortable with what's familiar.Think about it...even you, will tend to go towards a label, a name that you know, and even if it's not as good, will buy it because you 'know it'. Which is where advertising and celebrity endorsements come into play. Millions are spent on these endorsements, so the people will start to buy a product or brand.Awards help within an industry to create brand recognition, and I went after and won those from the get go...but the industry doesn't help with name recognition to the consumer.That takes enormous amounts of money. Social media erupted around 2008, but nobody has seen a proven connection between social media and sales - that I know of anyway.So...in terms of buying /building, market share...it is a quagmire right now. Nothing is'the sure thing'.People don't believe in editorial, they believe in word of mouth and bloggers. People don't trust advertising, they watch social media. It is QUICKSAND under your feet...that's how fast it's changing every day. I can't say HOW many retailers want the product on 'memo', which mean that the product is given to them to sell... and I am paid when the product is sold. Now, I went to business school and I wasn't raised in the jewelry world, so when people told me that I was expected to GIVE them my jewelry and hope that they would pay me when it sold seemed ludicrous. And people would be adamant, SERIOUS that I had to do this to survive. A TOTAL trust system.AND I would reply with , "ARE YOU CRAZY?"!!!! You want me to GIVE stores thousands of dollars of my jewelry on TRUST that they will pay me when it sells? ARE YOU CRAZY?!!"And people would look at me like I was the crazy one...because that's what they expected from me.So I did trunk shows. I sold the product. The product was with me, was MINE and sold when I sold it. Which worked out fin,and that way I got to know all of my customers. But there is only sooo much of me to get around, so you can see where this would start to get difficult. So I designed a new division, and then another one that were not expected to be 'memoed"...the silver and The Silk Road. If they wanted it, they had to pay for it.Period.Place an order and wait for your delivery of beautiful jewelry. There are so many WAR stories...about the sexual harassment... and from both men and women, so many stories of arriving in a city with no sense of where I was( remember GPS wasn't prevalent when I started in 2005)fighting with unfair managers, and yes, "family", entitled clients and fighting just plain exhaustion and the loneliness everyones knows comes with the travel. But here are the great stories of looking out the window of the Place Vendome in Paris, knowing that you deserve and have earned the right to be there...amongst the best...in five years; of meeting some really great and important people who are gracious and self effacing who respect me and my work, whom I would NEVER have met without taking this chance on being all that I can be and following my dream.Of fighting for my rights... and winning...;of friends and family who unconditionally support and cheer me on...that have always believe and still believe that I was meant to do great things and who are my cheering squad.Of the MANY, many people who have connected with my life...great, generous, supportive and kind people...who love my work and see me in my work... and who I have been privileged to meet in real life after a connection on the internet. Which is where many, many, of you met me too. Miraculous.

The Ring

This piece is titled, "The RIng'. Quite simple and absolutely non-expalnatory.

"What ring?"

"Whose ring?"

"Which ring?"

It would seem that for a lot of people, "THE RING" is, the ring with which two lives are promised to become as one.The engagement ring which most girls dream of that marks the day when their lives change forever and which most men see as a benchmark for their manhood. How many pictures did we see of Diana's ring, now Kate Middelton's ring- most prominent in every engagement picture. The first question asked when a couple become engaged- "Where's the ring?"

I have never designed or made an engagement ring.I objected to them on principle, the principle being, why girls wear engagement rings and guys don't,or why is a girl a "Miss" or a "Mrs" and men just "Mr" forever and ever? But I was told this guy needed a diamond, and when I got him the diamond, then had a job to make him the ring.Just like that.

But I already had a sense of him ( I didn't know her) and had seen how much he cared about what this ring would mean to her. We had so many conversations just to get through the process of selecting and buying the stone. He wanted it to be EXACTLY what she wanted. Budget was a factor, but really, really, truly...what worried him and worried him and had him calling me, was whether SHE would like the stone. If it was going to be what she wanted.

I was involved. I was involved because now I was partly responsible for her getting THE RING that she dreamt of, the stone that she had imagined a hundred times on her finger. It was a great part of my responsibility- to find him the stone and make the ring she wanted...that he was describing to me; that he was pretty sure she wanted, but not positively sure. There was some murkiness.What was not murky- was how much he cared.

He cared so much...I started to view the whole process and the end of my part in the story of "The Ring" differently too.

When I knew he wanted a stone , I had three sent to me, that were my preferred cuts sent out. All were just under 2 carats, to fit into his budget and all had a squared or slightly squared cut, since I don't like brilliants- they are just not interesting to me in a large stone.The three stones came"on memo" which meant he had to make up his mind and then the other 2 were going back. I only needed ONE stone and if I kept them too long, I was going to have a HUGE bill to pay!He couldn't make it the first day, he came the second and spent a good hour looking the three over. He said he would give me his decision the next day. The next day passed and he didn't call. I called him in the evening. "I have to send the stones back if yo haven't chosen something." "Can't you keep them longer?"

"No.I can't. That's not how these guys work. They brought these stones in just for me. These are small stones for them and not the merchandise they would usually carry. They are MAJOR diamond dealers and this was a "favor". They have to go back tomorrow."

"I can't decide. I think that she will like the more elongated stone better. I'm pretty sure. But the other stone is brighter.I wanted to talk to her sister again. they'r e really close and she says that she definitely wants a round stone. You don't like round stones. "

"It's not my ring. It's your ring, or 'her' ring, but "no", I don't like round stones. But you need to decide. This industry is based on reputation. I have an impeccable reputation as do these guys, and when we make a deal, that's the deal. The stones have to go back if you don't want one of them."

In the mean time, I was on the phone twice a day with the diamond dealers as the pressure mounted and the deadline approached with no resolution in sight. They too had to return the stones to whom had sent them onto them, since they didn't typically carry this type of merchandise ( as a point of reference ...they sold one of the biggest diamonds in the world last summer. These under 2 carat stones were chump change to them) It was Thursday, and I called my guys and said " Look. I'm pretty sure he's going to take the cushion cut 1.7 stone. Pretty sure but not positive. Can I please keep it until Monday and send the rest back today?"

"Okay. Deal. Let's do it."

Monday came and he called." I've decided that I do want the cushion cut, 1.7 carat stone. Her sister says she wants a brilliant cut, but I'm going to go for it. You gave me a really good price, and I'm going to go for it."

"Thank god!!! I think that you made the right choice, I hoped that you would, and I kept it here. Congratulations! You are the proud new owner of a stunning diamond!"

When he came to pick it up...I thought that was it. He had never said anything about me designing the ring, or that he even needed the ring soon. I had assumed that he was going to keep it for a while and get engaged ...I don't know...next year? So I was really surprised when he asked me, "How long would the ring take to make? I want to give it to her by the end of the month."

"Wel...I can't turn a ring like this around in a week, or even two. We would need to still buy the smaller stones, the smaller stones need another setter, the engraving...I need a month."

"A month!"

"Yes. I'm not going to promise you less and then you won't be happy. I need a month."

"O.k" I'm going to send you some ideas of what I want, or what 'she wants'. I have to talk to her sister too,"

I was a little ambivalent then. I don't usually have ANY constraints. Most of my clients want me to design what I come up with freely for them. I don't like to follow another design, just as I wouldn't like someone to use mine without using "me". but this was an engagement ring, and almost more hers/ theirs than mine in many ways.They had been thinking about this a lot longer than I had!

Many more conversations and phone calls ensued. the image of the closest design he thought she wanted , which we tweaked.and then I suggested," You know my work is not minimalist, nor usually about the stones. My work is usually about the story in the metal work, so, after getting to know you a bit through this process, may I suggest adding some details in the shank that represent"your" story, since that's the only place we can fit it."

"Like what?"

"Well, the honeycomb, and the bee, represent fidelity.The heart is of course "love". What if I made the bottom of the shank a honeycomb pattern with a small bee as your promise to be true to her and a heart on the outside of the shank to show her your promise of love and devotion?"

"I love it!That's a great idea.I love symbolism. But I really want the ring in rose gold."

"Yes. The body of the ring will be rose gold but the diamonds will be set in white and the details will be in white. "

"Hmmm..No. I want all of the ring rose gold. Just the details for the symbolism in white."

"It's your ring. We'll do it as you like."

I then had to get the ring and the stones to my goldsmith, who is extraordinarily precise.I can be more flexible.

He looked over the project and said,"You know, it's going to 'kill' these stones, and they're beautiful, to set them in rose gold."

"I know. But that's what he wants. Let me talk to him again and repeat what you said. He might be more convinced if both of us are telling him the same thing."

"And this detail that you want of the honeycomb and the bee...do you understand just how small I have to make these to fit on the width of this narrow shank?"

"But you can and you will. I know you. When you're challenged , you will find a way."

Well, when I got back to my 'romeo', he wasn't totally convinced in his heart about the combined metals, but he went with my directions and gave the go ahead for the stones AND details to be set with white gold against the rose/pink, gold.

We needed a size.He lived in Arizona and she was living in San Diego, so again, the sister was called in for 'tech support'.

"I got a call a week later. "Size 5 1/2. " Are you sure?" That's VERY tiny.Is she super tiny?"

"She's very small. Yes."

The order was sent in and that was an important number, because all of the ring had to be scaled to that diameter.The ring was underway.

I got a call from him a week later. "You were right. The ring's going to be too small.Can we change the size? It needs to be a 6 1/2."

Panic! Call to my goldsmith and "whew" under the wire but we were not in a mess.

After that I got a few calls to check on it's progress but it was out of my hands.and then, four days ago, I got the images as the ring was shipped to me.So beautiful. The details of the honeycomb, were miniature...and perfect.this tiny little bee was executed perfectly, as were the honeycomb and the heart. SOOO perfect.and the diamond was big, but as I had told him, was going to look twice as big surrounded by the other stones. It was stunning.I couldn't imagine that both he, and she weren't going to be thrilled.

He came and picked up his ring tonight, and she will have it on her hand on Saturday.I told him when he came. "You know, this has been a really special project for me...and that had a lot to do with you. This is the first engagement ring I've done, and you did it right. You are giving it to her for the right reasons, you thought it through, all of it was important to you, but what was MOST touching, was how important it was to you, that it be everything that she wanted.How much you worried and worried, that it was going to be exactly what SHE wanted. It was really, really sweet of you."

There were so many friends that knew about 'the ring' and wanted to know bits and parts of the story, and it was actually surprising to me, just how involved everyone was by it. I said to someone yesterday, how surprised I was, that so many people were curious about this engagement ring. "Of course they would be. It's very emotional."

And that's the capstone. Not just ,"The Ring"....this should be titled , "The Story of Heart". this story is about her heart, his heart..... and how they are starting a new chapter that so many can relate to.

Congratulations are in order!

Break out the champagne!