Orkney Musum

The brief: Orkney Museum wanted to refresh their retail offering with a bespoke product range that would stand out on the shelves and better reflect their collection.

I developed a cohesive range of designs drawing on key objects and patterns from the museum's collection, applied across tea towels, t-shirts, notebooks, mugs, bags, lens cloths, stickers and magnets.

Since launching, the range has become a genuine point of interest in the shop — with staff and visitors alike responding to the colour and character of the designs, and a noticeable lift in engagement and sales.

Retail Merchandise Range

This shows the pattern I created from an equal-armed brooch (pictured top left), one of the highlights of the Orkney Museum. Considered one of the finest pieces of Scandinavian metalwork found in a Scottish grave, it was recovered from the late 9th-century Scar boat burial on Sanday and can be seen in the Viking gallery .

I applied it as a repeating pattern in various colours on notebooks, tea towels and lens cloths and as a wrap on the mugs.

"I have worked with Ruth on many different projects and knew to expect that the whole process will be easy and enjoyable from start to finish. Ruth is approachable, responsive, and always really takes the time to understand what we wanted. Even the suppliers were blown away with the results and praise the design.

The final merchandise have been so well received in the shop. Staff have praised the colour, design and how it makes the retail space more attractive and brighter. Customers regularly comment on how lovely and different they are, and they’ve quickly become a real point of interest. We’ve definitely seen a positive impact on engagement and sales since launching them. I have enjoyed seeing customers try and decide between designs and end up buying both!

What we’re most proud of is how perfectly Ruth’s designs reflect the museum collection on which the gift shop merchandise is based. They feel cohesive, high quality, and exactly right for our space."

Ann Cockerton, Orkney Museum