Lettering Works Designs Collection of Souvenirs for National Geographic’s Museum of Exploration

Jul 28

I recently visited National Geographic’s new Museum of Exploration to see the custom souvenirs that I designed for their Museum Store in person. The MOE opened on June 26th, 2026 and is located at 1600 M Street NW in Washington, D.C. and I had the opportunity to visit just a few weeks later in July.

All photos shared in this blog post were taken by myself or my partner, Daniel Hart.

Museum of Exploration in Washington, D.C. — The iconic yellow border is a popular photo op outside of the museum’s entrance.

The 25+ custom designs I created take inspiration from many unique artifacts and replicas that the museum displays, a love for the planet, the National Geographic brand, as well as Washington, D.C. itself. Many designs were sketched out and conceptualized by hand using old fashioned paper and markers. All designs were custom lettered and illustrated using Adobe programs like Fresco (on my iPad) and Illustrator (on my MacBook Pro). No AI was used in the creation of this artwork.

Custom Souvenir Stickers by Chelsie Tamms of Lettering Works for the Museum of Exploration — We created quite the vibrant collection of stickers so patrons can take a piece of the museum home with them.

To start off our visit, I enjoyed taking pictures of the stickers and enamel pins in the Museum Store as well as meeting with my wonderful client, Lisa, and others who work at the museum.

Artist Chelsie Tamms holds her custom-designed stickers in the Museum of Exploration gift shop — Souvenir stickers in the Museum Store

Artist Chelsie Tamms holds her custom-designed enamel pins in the Museum of Exploration gift shop — Souvenir enamel pins in the Museum Store

After throughly browsing and admiring the contents of the Museum Store, we explored the museum and found the artifacts that matched some of the designs I created. While most people exit through the gift shop, I had to start my visit where all my work was featured. Any products that I’ve designed have my information printed on the back, so if you are shopping and curious if it’s something I worked on, keep an eye out for “Artwork by Chelsie Tamms” and “@letteringworks.”

Enamel pin and Soucoupe two-person diving saucer at the MOE — Enamel pin + Soucoupe two-person diving saucer

Sticker and Spinosaurus Cover Installation at the MOE — Sticker + Spinosaurus installation that takes up an entire hallway

Enamel pin and JIM Suit used by Sylvia Earle at the MOE — Enamel Pin + JIM Suit used by Sylvia Earle for atmospheric diving

National Geographic Explorers Flag Sticker against the Gondola II at the MOE — Sticker of the Explorers Flag on the Gondola II

The MOE building facade sticker — There is an immersive experience projected onto the building at night, which inspired this sticker

Custom Mission Hands sticker for the MOE — This sticker was inspired by hands forming the iconic Nat Geo border and features hand-lettering of National Geographic’s mission statement

Custom Ballard Bell sticker at the MOE — The Ballard Bar features the Ballard Bell and is part of the Explorers Eatery which offers a variety of global-inspired food and drinks

There were too many good photo opportunities - I’m sharing many of my favorites!

Artist Chelsie Tamms in front of the Magazine Gallery at the MOE — Magazine Gallery

The MOE Gift Shop has custom stickers — Stickers in the Museum Store

In the Field Cover Sticker at the MOE — In The Field Cover Sticker

Artist Chelsie Tamms in front of the Spinosaurus Cover Installation at the MOE with matching souvenirs she designed — Spinosaurus Installation

We really enjoyed the interactive wall of magazine covers and that you could find the cover from your birth month and year.

National Geographic Cover from October 1993 — Cover from Chelsie’s birth month and year.

National Geographic Cover from July 1988 — Cover from Daniel’s birth month and year.

We also spent time enjoying all that the museum had to offer across its 100,000 square feet of interactive space and media. While it was especially fun to see my work next to the artifacts they represent, we also really enjoyed all of the permanent and rotating exhibitions.

This is what was included with admission during our visit:

In Focus (a permanent exhibition of celebrated National Geographic photographs)
Rolex Explorers Landing (tracing explorers journey from curiosity to impact)
The Archives (showcases National Geographic’s legacy)
Photo Ark: Animals of Earth (visual journey that showcases the world’s species by Joel Sartore)
Red, White & Blue (a photography exhibition celebrating America 250)
Geoverse (an interactive geography experience), National Geographic
Learning Launchpad (interactive exhibit geared towards students),
Courtyard (showcase of six global interactive ecosystems)
Pavilion (the entryway with immersive storytelling)
Magazine Gallery (large-scale digital installation of magazine covers).

Stickers for those who love the planet at the MOE — Stickers for those who love our planet. Fun fact, these were some of the very first designs I sketched out for this project.

Artist Chelsie Tamms in front of the iconic Yellow Border at the MOE gift shop — The Museum Store is so beautifully designed, this yellow border was one of my favorite elements.

The majority of our quick trip to Washington, D.C. was spent at the Museum of Exploration, but we did get to grab a few photos of my transit-inspired Washington, D.C. designs in context at a nearby bus stop and train station on our way to grab dinner with a client-turned-friend from Adobe before heading back to the airport.

Next time I’m back in Washington, D.C. I am going to make a point to catch the Wonders of Our World: Oceans, which is projected on the MOE building facade at night and take advantage of the Big Bus Shuttle that is free for ticket holders. We only got to spend about 30 minutes in the Smithsonian Art Museum, which was not enough time (although we enjoyed seeing Nick Cave’s work!) Washington, D.C. is home to so many incredible museums, and I need to visit for more than 24 hours to take advantage of them all.

Artist Chelsie Tamms holds Washington, D.C. stickers in front of the MOE — Washington, D.C. inspired stickers

Custom Drawn D60 Bus Sticker in Washington, D.C. — DC D60 Bus Sticker

Custom Drawn Metro Red Line Train Sticker in Washington, D.C. — DC Metro Red Line Train Sticker

I hope you’ll consider visiting the Museum of Exploration next time you are in Washington, D.C. and be sure to stop in the Museum Store if you’d like to see all of my hard work in person.

If you are interested in visiting, you can learn more on the MOE website and purchase your tickets here.

All stickers and enamel pins shown throughout this post are available exclusively at the Museum of Exploration with the exception of the Washington, D.C. designs which are also available directly via Lettering Works shop and in a wholesale capacity on Faire.

If you are a museum looking for a custom collection of handcrafted designs so your visitors can take home a unique and high-quality souvenir to represent their experience and you’d like to work with an independent artist, reach out to Chelsie here.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Chelsie Tamms is an artist and educator with a current focus on souvenir design. She founded Lettering Works in 2016, combining her love of hand-lettering with her expertise in marketing. Since then, she’s grown her business to offer custom branding packages, courses for artists, and wholesale products and merchandise—all with the mission to bring more creativity into her community and beyond.

SouvenirsArtMuseumsLettering Works