Four Tenets of Great Oblik Atelier Design
Fundamentals parsed over the years
By Mia Hebib of Oblik Atelier
Wear Your Own Work
For years, I designed jewelry but never wore any. At every event, people would ask about my work, then notice my bare neck and wrists. Their surprise was my wake-up call: I needed to be my own best advocate, and every piece had to pass the wear test—weight, comfort, how it moves with your body through an entire day. Now I rotate between four pieces that feel synonymous with who I am. They taught me what I'm really designing for: not display cases, but real life.
Design for No One (and Everyone)
Unless it's a custom piece, I never imagine who will wear my jewelry. Instead, I scan the world constantly—architectural details, organic curves, plays of light—asking if they could become interesting shapes.
The magic happens later. When I see my completed piece on someone for the first time, there's this moment of recognition, like the jewelry was always meant for that person. When you design authentically from your own vision rather than trying to please an imagined audience, pieces somehow find their perfect match.
Trust Your Gut, Even When It Costs You
I recently shipped a complex ring that didn't feel quite right, but I was against a deadline. It came back, of course.
I've learned that when something feels off to me, it rarely feels right to anyone else. That uncomfortable feeling has become my most reliable quality control. Sometimes my flow state creates a perfect test piece, but when I try to deliberately recreate it in precious materials, I can't capture the same magic. There's no perfect recipe—it's intuitive and unpredictable.
Limitations Fuel Creativity
Boundaries aren't obstacles—they're creative fuel. Self-imposed constraints like "no color" or "single wire only" give me a playground to explore within. But I also love breaking my own rules, taking color and making it central when the piece demands it.
Think of constraints like deadlines for creativity. They eliminate infinite possibilities and push you toward solutions you'd never find in complete freedom.
The real test of jewelry isn't whether it looks impressive in photos. It's whether someone keeps coming back to it, whether it becomes part of their daily ritual, whether they feel more themselves wearing it. You can't force that connection—you can only create with honesty and hope that somewhere is the person who's been waiting for exactly what you've made.