About
Bio
Studio Gardiner is a design studio working at the intersection of research, narrative and visual communication — helping cultural institutions, research organisations and story-led brands turn complex ideas into design that connects.
Founded by Stuart Gardiner, the studio specialises in transforming collections, archives and deep subject knowledge into clear, commercially successful work. From museum merchandise ranges and exhibition-linked products to knowledge and information design — research toolkits, academic communication and complete brand identities — every project is grounded in structure, meaning and purpose.
Stuart studied Graphic Information Design at Falmouth University. An early career in the music industry — where audiences are hard-won and visual communication has to work fast — shaped an approach to storytelling that remains central to the studio's work today.
Since founding the studio in 2008, Stuart has worked with organisations including Royal Armouries, Wellcome Collection, National Museums Scotland and the University of Edinburgh, helping museums and research institutions turn depth and detail into retail products, toolkits and visual systems that genuinely resonate with audiences.
Stuart has worked as a graphic designer since 1997. The studio brings the same rigour to a brand identity as to an information design toolkit — clarity of thought before clarity of form.
At the heart of Studio Gardiner is a simple belief: complexity is not something to simplify away, but something to understand — and then express with clarity.