The Museum of Wrecks has initiated a creative collaboration with the University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm that it hopes will result in suggestions for products to be sold in the museum’s gift shop. This week, students from the school’s master’s programme in design got acquainted with the museum, the wrecks and maritime archaeology.
Their task now is to develop a proposal that is inspired by the world of wrecks as well as take into account the museum’s sustainability goals. The students will also familiarise themselves with the museum’s target groups, graphic profile and communication strategy.
Patrik Höglund, an archaeologist diver at the museum, showed them around the exhibitions while Hanna Nielsén, project manager for external partnerships, explained her goals for the gift shop.
– Everything we’ve heard here today is important for our conceptual work. We need to understand the background before sitting down to sketch, says Annika Toijanen, one of the art students.
Her classmate Olle Hiort thinks it will be fun, too, to collaborate with a modern museum like the Museum of Wrecks. He wants to focus on physical objects, not digital ones.
– Since jewellery is my main interest, I’m thinking about making a ring that relates to one of the wrecks. A piece of jewellery makes a statement and then becomes indirect marketing for the museum, he says.
Their teacher, Leif Thies, was enthusiastic about the museum introduction the students received, as well as the store’s ambitious aesthetic approach that he believes informs the entire museum.
–The fact that the students will be considering the museum’s sustainability profile will be both challenging and inspiring. And who knows – maybe some of the proposals will get to go into production, he concludes.