Good design must suit the material used
Good dressing adds to a person’s personality. When an ordinary man goes in for something costly, people think that he is in borrowed glories even though he may have bought those things out of his own hard earned money. The opposite is also true. When a rich man appears in really borrowed garb or ordinary clothes people think highly of him. We have a certain measure of standard by which we appraise things.
So too in the case of designs. Its value is enhanced when it is transposed on to a good base. A statuette of fine workmanship in clay may not be so much appreciated as one done in ivory. The value of the design appears more because of the material used. In the same way an idol in bronze or alloy may be valued more than if it is done in stone. Even there we apply a different scale. If the stone is marble instead of granite, the statue is highly valued. This is only to show that the same design in different materials has different values.
Now let us take the case of jewelry. Many kinds of materials are used and the value varies from a few cents to a few thousands of dollars. In making a jewel the artist uses the material according to the price he can get. Thus the costume jewelry used by cine artists is cheap. In front of foot-lights they glitter like expensive jewelry. Cheap metals and polished glass are used in them. Beautiful items like necklaces, bangles, pendants and so on are made like the original pieces but their value is very low. On the other hand, we see beautiful and magnificent designs in gold and silver but because of the material used the design is appreciated.
This has a moral. One is known by the company he keeps. If he is found among ruffians, scoundrels and villains he is also one of them, though he may be different and may be a good one. There is a saying, ‘If one drinks milk under the plamyra tree, he is taken to drink toddy’. So too in the case of designs. Good design and good material should go together.
