Product Details
Kilobyte Couture: Geek Chic Jewelry to Make from Easy-to-Find Computer Components

Kilobyte Couture: Geek Chic Jewelry to Make from Easy-to-Find Computer Components
By Brittany Forks

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As Reviewed in Episode #34

Product Description

Increasingly popular among teens and twenty-somethings, the "geek chic" movement embraces techie culture, indie music, Japanese style, and a DIY sensibility. Kilobyte Couture celebrates the very essence of geek chic, with 25 easy-to-do jewelry and accessory projects made from electronic components.
 
Brittany Forks, a university senior and self-confessed geek, starts by introducing the basic "components": resistors, capacitors, and other thingamajigs found in computers and other electronic devices. She then explains the "starting applications"--basic beading and jewelry-making techniques used throughout the book. The projects are then presented by category: earware, neckware and wristware, everyware, and "geekery" for friends and family, including keychains, bookmarks, ID chains, even Wii charms to avoid mixing up your Wiimotes.
 
The parts are all inexpensive and easy to find at your local Radio Shack, or online through parts suppliers or on Brittany's website. The projects also use beads and basic jewelry findings, available at any craft or beading store. 
    
Kilobyte Couture takes technogadgets never intended to be seen and puts them on center stage, "upcycling" them into surprisingly pretty jewelry and reminding us that technology can be beautiful. What better style for the group referred to as "generation tech"? It's enough to make you short circuit.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #646061 in Books
  • Published on: 2009-04-28
  • Released on: 2009-04-14
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Paperback
  • 128 pages

Features

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Brittany Forks is a graphic design senior at Mississippi State University, graduating in May 2008. Her online shop, Kilobyte Couture, launched on Etsy.com in 2006, selling jewelry made from electronic parts. When sales took off, she also launched her own site at www.kilobytecouture.com. Her interests include Japanese culture, DIY, indie music, ironic stuffed animals, knitting, and anything nerdy, geeky, and a little off-center.

Customer Reviews

Ideal for new jewelry makers and of course any "geeks"!5
this is the author's first book, and it shows beginners how to make unique and fun jewelry that celebrates the "geek". Easy to follow instructions and a variety of products to make.

No recyling here1
Going back and looking at the description of this book, I realize I must have missed the full meaning of this line: "The parts are all inexpensive and easy to find at your local Radio Shack." I was assuming I could take apart old computers and other electronics to get components to recycle and repurpose into cool jewelery. You can't use ANY old components as you are warned that they contain lead. Sigh. What a waste this book is for me. I'm not really wowed by the jewelry either.

Nice book for beginners to jewelry-making3
I won a pre-release copy of the book and had a chance to leaf through it. First of all, congrats to the author for her first book. It looks very nice, with bright, clear photographs and nice typesetting.

I've been a jewelry designer for about five years now, so for me, the book was a little too simplistic. I already know how to make earrings and bracelets in general, so beyond the materials used, nothing in it was new to me personally.

That said however, the book would be wonderful for someone who's never made jewelery before. If you are new to the entire idea of making your own custom pieces, and like a geeky chic look, this would be an ideal book for you! The projects are very approachable and would be a great starting place for people interesting in learning how to get started.

3 stars for those with jewelry-making experience.
4 stars to a complete newbie.