A well chosen range of retail products can be a great way of enhancing the visitor experience, making treasured memories for your visitors and boosting your sales at the same time – a win win!
That’s exactly what happened when the team at Colour Heroes were commissioned by North Yorkshire Moors Railway to create a series of children’s resources to improve the visitor experience.
The North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) is a renowned heritage railway running through the picturesque North York Moors National Park and covering a distance of 24 miles from Pickering to Whitby. The railway offers a nostalgic journey with steam and heritage diesel trains, passing through charming stations like the 1930s themed Pickering station and the famous Goathland station, known from the Harry Potter films. NYMR is operated largely by volunteers, supported by a charitable trust. This community effort helps to preserve the railway’s historical and cultural significance. It is one of the most popular heritage railways in the UK, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors annually.
NYMR asked Colour Heroes to develop a children’s retail book to sell in their gift shop. The brief was to create an engaging book for kids of all ages, with a focus on wildlife and the unique history of this beloved attraction. It was also crucial to align with their existing brand guidelines.
Kathryn Fairweather from the Colour Heroes team takes up the story:
“Collaborating closely with the vintage railway team, we produced a 28-page activity book filled with educational content, fun facts, and highlights of the stations along the route. The client chose a hand-painted illustration style which brings the characters, wildlife, and puzzles to life, ensuring children are entertained during their train journey and continue to enjoy the book at home. The outcome is a fresh, vibrant, and engaging book for children of all ages (including the young at heart). We strive to bring our clients’ attractions to life for families, transforming visits into memorable experiences and encouraging repeat visits.
“We are incredibly proud of the children’s guidebook created for the North Yorkshire Moors Railway which was shortlisted for a Cultural Enterprises Award in 2023.”
Helen Webb, Senior Shops Manager at North Yorkshire Moors Railway said, “We approached Colour Heroes to produce an activity book for children which is both fun and educational. They have proven fantastic to work with, full of ideas, advice, and they have oodles of patience! The illustrations and activities in the book bring the information to life, and we are thrilled with the result. We highly recommend Colour Heroes.”
This project then led to a series of nature trails, as Kathryn explains:
“We were asked to build on the success of the retail book with a series of nature trails. For this we introduced a hand-painted character ‘Kit’, a junior volunteer on the railway who invites the children to share his knowledge and passion for wildlife. The A5 activity trails are full of educational facts for school groups and educational trips. We also created a large standee of the character ‘Kit’ to greet the children at the station.
“To ensure all visitors can learn about the extensive variety of wildlife that can be found living along the railway line, we designed a series of interpretation boards to show the nature and wildlife that can be found living nearby. To accompany the boards we created an A5 ‘Discover Winter Birds’ activity sheet, a 16-page fold-out ‘Wild Stations Trail’ activity sheet, a ‘Reptiles on the Railway’ activity sheet and a ‘Railway Flowers and Their Visitors’ plants, flowers, and insects activity sheet.”
Macey Palmer, Learning and Interpretations Officer at North Yorkshire Moors Railway said, “Working with the team at Colour Heroes on an exhibition project at the NYMR was an absolute pleasure. Communicating with them was not only easy but they understood the vision completely.”
Colour Heroes offer a full service, developing a concept with you and producing fully bespoke resources. They include everything from research, illustration, puzzles and games design, fulfilling the print and delivery to your door – ready to introduce to your family audience. Find out more
