You never really know what a good designer is capable of until you actually hire one.

I remember joining this luxury jewellery company where the MD hired me directly, on a recommendation from my previous marketing manager. It was the first time they'd ever brought a designer in-house. At the time, the business had two flagship showrooms in Sri Lanka with multiple boutique stalls, one store in London, and nearly 25 boutique showrooms across resorts in the Maldives. They were one of the leading jewellers in the region, serving both local and international clients, known for handcrafted pieces set with precious natural gemstones, all produced in their own factory.

The organisation had a very flat structure, with no clearly divided departments. For a while, no one assigned me any work. A few people, from senior positions down, told me plainly they don't think they needed a designer full-time. They said they only needed a handful of design pieces a month and had always outsourced that.

So I started by looking at what already existed: their branding, past campaigns, magazine ads to understand their current brand position. I gathered everything: ads, old photoshoots, pieces that could be reused or reworked. I spoke with the sales team and learned about their pain points and where they need support.

Their social media was handled by a solid external agency, but the company wasn't giving them direction or fresh visuals to work with. Most of what they had featured pieces that were already sold, since much of the inventory was one-off.

There was a limited budget for photography. One professional shoot happened each year, done by a professional photographer, but it wasn't enough to cover new collections and the full inventory throughout the rest of the year. The rest of the time, I had just a basic point-and-shoot camera to work with. So I enrolled in a photography course, built a makeshift photo booth to shoot the product myself, and leaned on retouching skills I already had.

They didn't have an Instagram account, so I started one. I ran two separate content lineups across Facebook and Instagram, with a fresh concept every month, reintroducing the same breathtaking pieces under different angles, by colour, by style, by occasion. More inquiries came in, and turned into real sales, because for the first time, what we showed actually reflected what was available.

Piece of work done for one of their sub-brands.

A social media line-up done the sea collection.

Another social media line-up.

By the time I left, I was handling everything, showroom backdrops, brochures, flyers, social media, and website maintenance, across their entire footprint.

Visual done for a Christmas promotion.

Backdrop done for the sea creature collection.

By the time I left, I was handling everything, showroom backdrops, brochures, flyers, social media, and website maintenance, across that entire footprint.

None of this happened alone. I had a marketing manager who backed the work and an MD who trusted it.

This isn't really about what I did. It's about what a good designer can actually do for a brand, and it's a lot more than making things look beautiful.

They still make amazing jewellery: https://sifani.com/

(Images and brand assets featured in this article are shown for portfolio, commentary, and reference purposes only. All rights, trademarks, and intellectual property remain the property of their respective brand owners.)

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