Vaarhus Ceramics
A visual identity strong enough to hold one-of-a-kind pottery together — and a shop that sells made-to-order
- Role
- Visual Identity & Shopify Storefront
- Year
- 2024
- Client
- Vaarhus Ceramics
- product design
- e-commerce
- B2C
- Shopify
Pro bono work for a local Aarhus ceramicist: a visual identity that makes wildly different handmade pieces read as one collection, and a Shopify storefront where customers configure their own glazes and stamped text instead of negotiating it over DMs.
01
My role
- Visual Identity
- Art Direction
- UX Design
- Shopify Storefront
02
The problem
Vaarhus is a one-person ceramics studio in Aarhus, and the work that means the most to customers is the work that is hardest to sell online: a tumbler stamped FAR, a bowl that says FARMOR, a cup reading FARS KAFFE — a gift that only works because it carries someone's own words. Those orders were being negotiated one message at a time, with glaze choices described in writing and delivery times explained by hand. On top of that, no two pieces look alike by design: crystal glazes break differently in every firing, so a shelf of genuine one-offs can easily photograph as a jumble rather than a brand. A small studio can't out-produce that problem — it has to out-design it.
03
The process
I did this pro bono for a local entrepreneur, and started with the identity rather than the shop, because the identity was doing the harder job. A tight system — a warm dusty-pink backdrop for every product shot, an editorial serif, generous white space, and the same framing on every piece — lets the glazes be the only thing that varies, so a hundred unique cups still read as one collection. On top of that I built the Shopify storefront around two honest paths, side by side on the homepage: buy what is already on the shelf, or order a piece made for you. The made-to-order flow turns the DM negotiation into a normal product page — pick the top glaze, pick the bottom glaze from eleven swatches, type the text to be stamped into the clay, add to cart — and states real delivery expectations up front rather than apologising for them later: 3–5 days from stock, about 3–4 weeks made to order, 5–6 weeks when the text is truly personal.
04
The outcome
Vaarhus now runs its own shop. Customised orders — the highest-value, most personal part of the business — are self-service, configured and paid for without a single message thread, while the studio keeps its time for the wheel and the kiln. The visual system holds across products that are, by nature, never identical, so the shop looks composed no matter what comes out of the firing. It cost the founder nothing, and it is still live and selling today.
- Pro bono for a local Aarhus entrepreneur
- Custom orders configured and paid for online, not negotiated over DMs
- Two glazes from 11 swatches plus free-text stamping, chosen at checkout
- Honest delivery expectations: 3–5 days from stock, 3–6 weeks made to order