Peyman Bahrami
Around a decade ago, a fashion trend of historic and Persian symbols started to rise in Iran (Persia). While being around twenty years old at the time, I saw an opportunity to ride on this wave and start a Jewelry-design startup.
I recognized the competitors in the market and sorted out their customer groups and their price ranges. I focused on students and teenagers as the core customers, firstly because I could understand their taste and secondly because I had access to a great social circle in this scope, which was very helpful for advertising and marketing among them.
Because I wanted to evaluate our design and concepts from all major viewpoints in the society, I picked up the references from religious motifs (the photo on the right), well-known Persian relicts (the photo below), cultural symbols, and patriotic names.
The next step was to research the methods and process of producing jewelry. From high-end handcrafting and molding to the cheapest possible ways to produce some prototypes, I concluded with Laser machinery on Stainless steel as the material. Considering my budget, this was the most efficient way with a satisfying product quality, which helped me to test my ideas in a short period.
I had already drawn the sketches and went to my friend because he had some extraordinary skills in design and prototyping. Also, we had already done a few hobby projects together, and we had a good harmony for working as a team. We started on paper and ended up with the CAD files, ready to get produced by Laser or CNC machines.
A few years before, I had gathered some experiences from photography, which at this point, it came to be very handy. With an amateur lighting setup, I got some satisfying shots, which you see some of them here, to present the necklaces.
Back then Facebook was the major social media in Iran, and I had a considerably vast network on it. I was also one of the administrators of one of the most famous and most followed pages among the Iranian community. Good to mention that some of the page's content later got printed and published as a comic book. So I started a Facebook page and took advantage of the opportunity to sell directly to customers.
I started wearing my products and carrying them around with me, presenting them to my friends and family at every opportunity and at university, where I was studying. I also rented a stall on the weekly art market and visited the jewelry shops in my city to present the products in person.