When the Portland Museum of Art began preparing for an exhibit celebrating the life and times of American artist Winslow Homer, they turned to Might & Main to develop all the branding for the show, including creating the products that were sold in the visitor’s shop.
“The museum challenged us to produce high-quality products that were unlike those found in other museum stores, but that would appeal to a broad range of visitors,” explains firm principal Arielle Walrath. In creating the products, they sought to include the typical souvenir-shop finds, like tote bags and mugs, alongside more unexpected and customized products that capture the essence of the artist.
It was a task well-suited to the team, who pored over all sorts of artifacts from the artist’s life to develop a visual aesthetic that would not only give context to his rich landscapes but also to Homer the man, who enjoyed spending his time hunting and fishing on the land. They tied those kinds of idiosyncrasies into the more unique products they developed for the exhibit’s shop, such as a map case fashioned from a paint-spattered dropcloth and a rustic camping mug.
Project: Winslow Homer Product Line
Firm: Might & Main, Portland, ME; www.might-main.com
Client: Portland Museum of Art
Creative Team: Graeme Kennedy, production manager; Morgan DiPietro, designer; Arielle Walrath, Sean Wilkinson, Kevin Brooks, principals; Sally Struever, museum store manager/Portland Museum of Art; Elizabeth Jones, director of visitor experience and brand management/Portland Museum of Art
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