A ceramics shop that does the answering for its maker.
Online shop
- Status
- Concept / demo: designed and built by the studio to show the process. Not a paid client project.
- Example brand
- Ada Ceramics
- Sector
- Craft & retail
- Services
- Strategy, Brand, Design, Build, Shopify
- Sheet
- PF-27
- Timeline
- 5–6 weeks
How does a one-person studio sell a whole kiln without a weekend of messages?
A kiln sold in a weekend, then two weeks of messages.
/01 The brief
Ada Ceramics is one maker and one kiln on a small island off the coast. Four times a year she opens the kiln and sells it out in a weekend, through Instagram messages she then spends two weeks answering.
The brief asked for a shop that feels like the studio, slow and quiet, and does the answering for her. Not a permanent catalogue: a place built around four openings a year and the people waiting for them.
Six pages, organised around four kiln openings a year.
/02 The first sheet
The sheet named the buyer in one line: people who buy one good bowl rather than a set of twelve. The goal was to sell each kiln opening without the messages, and to keep the work feeling made by hand.
Six pages, Home, Shop, Product, Glazes, The studio and Visit, in two languages, on Shopify. Brand work was on the sheet too, so the wordmark, labels and packaging were drawn in the same weeks as the shop.
PF-27 · Approved
- Type
- Online shop
- Who it’s for
- People who buy one good bowl rather than a set of twelve
- Goal
- Sell each kiln opening without the DMs
- Pages
- Home, Shop, Product, Glazes, The studio, Visit
- Features
- Kiln drops with a waiting list, stock per piece, care guide, gift wrap
- Languages
- The local language and English
- Platform
- Shopify
- Timeline
- 5–6 weeks
Quiet, like the island in winter.
/03 The look
Instrument Serif sets the headings, light and a little old-fashioned, like a name written on a box. Switzer handles everything practical. The colours are the glazes themselves: ash white, iron brown and a sea green from the island.
Each piece is photographed alone on the same table in north light, from the same height. You see the glaze, the foot and the inside of the bowl. No props, no lifestyle staging, nothing between you and the clay.
Each kiln opening gets its own page and a waiting list.
/04 The pages
Before an opening, the drop page shows the date and a waiting list. Subscribers get one email when the kiln opens. On the day, the page turns into the shop, and every piece shows its own stock, often just one.
Glazes explains each finish and how it changes from piece to piece. The care guide answers the questions she used to get by message. The studio page and Visit tell you how to find her on the island.
Opened from Instagram, on a phone, in a hurry.
/05 On the phone
Most buyers arrive from an Instagram post the minute a kiln opens. The phone layout puts the pieces first, two to a row, with sold pieces marked clearly, so nobody falls for a bowl that has already gone.
Checkout stays short: gift wrap is one choice on the product page, not a separate step. The waiting list asks for an email address and nothing else, because the only promise is one message when the kiln opens.
A Shopify store she runs herself, opening by opening.
/06 What was drawn
Ada is built in two languages, with kiln drops, a waiting list, stock per piece, glaze notes, a care guide and gift wrap. The maker’s story was written together with her, in her own words.
She runs the openings herself. She photographs the pieces, adds them to a drop in the editor, sets the date and lets the waiting list know. The care guide now answers what used to arrive as messages.
- Six pages in two languages
- Shopify store built around kiln drops
- Waiting list for each opening
- Stock per piece
- Glaze notes and a care guide
- Gift wrap on the product page
- Wordmark, labels and packaging
A quiet shop is also a light one.
/07 Performance & access
Quiet design helps speed: few fonts, plain colour, and photographs on a pale ground that compress well. Product images load in order down the page, so the first pieces appear while the rest are still arriving.
Before launch we checked that text stays readable at double zoom, that every product photograph has a description, and that the full checkout works with the keyboard alone. The same checks run every Friday during care.
Drawn and built by Paftane: Strategy, Brand, Design, Build, Shopify.
