How to Win Design Awards (for Jewellers)

By Noel J. Nolan

1. Understand the judges.
Take the time to understand the individual judges—their artistic preferences, cultural backgrounds, and the values they bring to the judging process. Every judge has a unique perspective, and recognising this can help you better position your work.

2. Choose your category wisely.
Avoid entering categories where judges may have family members, relatives, or close associates presenting work. Even when judging is fair, it is wise to avoid situations where perceptions of bias could exist.

3. Design with the judges in mind.
Only after considering the above should you begin designing. Create something that is fresh, original, and unexpected, while remaining within the broad boundaries of accepted taste and contemporary fashion. You could describe this balance as working within the ever-shifting pulse of vogue.

4. Develop your ideas thoroughly.
Begin by sketching around 50 rough concepts. Allow yourself three to four months before the final presentation so you have time to refine your thinking without rushing.

Study your sketches at random, then begin a process of elimination. Reduce the collection to about 25 designs, then continue narrowing the field until only three remain. From these three, choose the single design you believe has the greatest potential.

At this stage, you will probably be tempted to ask others for their opinion. My advice is: don't.

If you have honestly followed each of the previous steps, you are, at this point, the person best qualified to judge your own work. Outside opinions are more likely to muddy the waters than improve your decision. Trust your judgement, commit to your choice, and present it with confidence.

The Game of Chess

By Noel J. Nolan — July 2025

The game of chess is one of skill,
Of maneuvers sharp and silent will.
A game of balance — attack, defend,
Where one must fall, and one ascend.

Unless both hearts agree to draw,
The winner stands, the loser saw.
Each move a message, clear or blurred,
Each silence speaks without a word.

If you fail to see your foe’s intent,
Their strike upon your king is meant.
The battle builds, the act now three,
The curtain falls — inevitability.

The final call, a voice that’s late:
Checkmate — the end, the game, the fate.

The Chessboard and the Battlefield

Before a war ignites the land,
Spies creep forth at one command.
Through shadows deep, they seek and pry,
For secrets born where soldiers lie.

When nations sleep, while drums are near,
The price of peace becomes too dear.
Blind to movements at their door,
They wake to find themselves in war.

A tyrant rises, fierce and bold,
His eyes are steel, his heart is cold.
The dove’s soft words, though kindly spun,
Will only feed the tyrant’s gun.

Never yield, not one small part,
To those with war inside their heart.
For when the bombs begin to fall,
No peace remains — no hope at all.

Then tanks will roll where children played,
And boots will march where dreams once stayed.
Among the ruins, ghosts will weep —
The city’s heart no more to keep.

#poetry

The Golden Chords
By Noel J. Nolan – June 2025

Philosophy, music, the arts of the soul,
Each a bright branch from a radiant whole.
Born of the tree where ideas take flight,
Rooted in mystery, reaching toward light.

When music lifts hearts with a magical rise,
Golden chords shimmer, unseen to the eyes.
Maestros can hear them—those seasoned and wise—
In pop songs and ballads, in lows and in highs. 🎶

And just like in music, in thought we can find
Golden keys turning deep in the mind.
They open the gates where the dream rivers run,
Flooding the self with the light of the sun.

This pulse of creation flows steady and true,
A live-stream of wonder, both ancient and new.
The wellspring of insight, where visions ignite,
Where sparks from the darkness leap into light.

This gift, I believe, is our birthright to hold—
Not silver, nor diamonds, but something more bold:
A calling, a rhythm, a fire deep inside,
The golden chords where the muses reside.


#poetry #poem