Goldenchild

“Ohh so that’s what ‘Hallmark’ means…”

Goldenchild is a passion project for its founder: he wanted to begin a business scouting out quality vintage accessories and accoutrement — mostly jewelry — from antique shops and fairs up and down the East Coast, curating that collection, and then selling his wares online.

In my research for this project, I discovered the existence of "hallmarks" — marks struck onto metal items to to certify their composition and origin:

For some countries and their governments, hallmarks are extremely important and sanctioned ways of marking the legitimate sale of valuable metals.

In the same vein as printers marks, hallmarks are designed by crafters, jewelers, and metalurgists with the personality of the business behind them. Historically, hallmarks could be quite exquisitely designed — perhaps to reflect a time when gold and silver were the greatest symbols of luxury, status, and wealth.

Many hallmarks, perhaps because of how they are stamped into the metal, are framed by a hexagon or multi-sided polygonal shape. This shape — and some of the physics around engraving itself — became the inspiration for Goldenchild.

Originally, I proposed a honey-like gold to the client to be the dominant color for the brand (for obvious reasons). The client pushed back. Could we make it pinker?

I selected this salmon pink because of its warmth and elegance. It is both a natural color, being found in everything from flesh to flowers (and salmon, I suppose!), but also slightly unnatural, with such a bright, almost chemical brilliance to it.

From a technical standpoint: a rich pink hue turned neutral will compliment most of the major jeweler's metals.