Nissen Richards Studio created the permanent exhibition and graphic design, branding, wayfinding and shop design for Shoemakers Museum, a brand-new visitor destination in the heart of Somerset. The practice was also the museum’s interpretation specialist, creating the text for the exhibition’s content, in close collaboration with the curatorial team. The museum was created to celebrate 200 years of shoemaking by Clarks and is located in Street, the village where the company was first formed.

The ambitious visitor centre project was initiated in 2022 by the Alfred Gillett Trust with the aim of creating a destination attraction whose opening would coincide with the bicentenary of Clarks and tell the fascinating story of the company’s Quaker founding brothers Cyrus and James Clark, as well as highlighting the ongoing relationship between the company, the village and its people. Shoemakers Museum also recounts the rich industrial history of shoemaking itself, displaying for the first time many of the amazing archive artefacts held by the company which illustrate the manufacturing and global retail / marketing story behind the Clarks brand, the company which helped shape how Britain – and the world – walks.

Designed by Purcell Architects, the new museum building is rooted in place through locally quarried stone and enriched with playful references to Clarks’ design language. It includes a striking double-height contemporary extension which houses the museum and is connected to The Grange, a Grade II listed 16th-century manor house long associated with shoemaking.

As the interpretation specialists and text writers, Nissen Richards Studio worked with the museum’s curatorial team to craft a family-friendly narrative which would pique the curiosity of visitors and encourage them to look at the craft of shoemaking in a new light. Bringing forth stories of manufacture and innovation, the interpretation aimed to spark nostalgia and memories for older visitors, whilst exciting interactives enlivened the experience for younger visitors.

For the permanent exhibition, Nissen Richards Studio responded to the brief to create a colourful, highly graphic and vibrant exhibition environment through the imaginative communication of stories and immersive experiences which speak engagingly to many different audiences. Visitors arrive at Shoemakers Museum into a dramatic double-height space, with their journey starting in the Arrival area before moving through three main exhibition spaces: Welcome to Street / Making Gallery / Buying and Selling. The Arrival area also instantly offers visitors two ‘wow’ moments: the first a wall display featuring neon shoe outlines and the second a bespoke welcome desk clad in vegan leather and featuring embroidered shoe outlines.