The Faces Behind Skye Candles: Caroline McQuistin and Caitlin Ferguson

Caroline celebrated two years with Skye Candles just this month, and what a two years it has been!  As a professional photographer, Caroline's time is split between managing our social media channels, and creating all of the imagery used online and in our shops. Caroline knows all of our products and our island's best angles, and her image of Portree that greets our customers as they enter our visitor centre has generated a lot of attention. 

Caroline also dedicates her energy to social media and photography outside of the Isle of Skye Candle Company. Caroline's journey as a photographer has taken her all over the world, from being the official photographer in the Sydney Tower Eye, to a summer camp photographer in Massachusetts.  These days, Caroline is taking on board projects through her company Isle of Skye Media established in August 2021, connecting with others in the island community through social media. 

Caroline mentioned that back at the start of her professional journey, she thought she would become a fashion photographer in the city, but considers her actual position nowadays way cooler, living in the highlands, working for Skye Candles, with ongoing collaborations with companies such as the Raasay distillery and Sabhal Mòr Ostaig. Caroline tells us there have been many moments in her career that have caused her to pinch herself, but nothing quite tops getting to photograph the ceilidh king, Fergie MacDonald. 

We asked Caroline if she had any dream projects, and although her yearbook entry says a front cover on Vogue, these days a collaboration with the Isle of Skye Paint Company would be much more her scene, as it would combine beautifully her professional skills with the ongoing house renovations. 

The other part of our creative core is Caitlin, our graphic designer, who plays an invaluable creative role in our company. Now based in our Visitor Centre, Caitlin has been our in-house graphic designer since 2015. Shaping the look of our brand and products, online and in stores, for the Isle of Skye Candle Co. Caitlin is also the talent behind the incredibly detailed and eye catching map that turns many heads in our visitor centre.

 

 

Caitlin works full time for us at Skye Candles but also runs her own Gaelic clothing brand and design company, called Sona Design. Caitlin is a sought after designer, creating art for film & TV, Scottish music festivals, album artwork, eateries, businesses and various other brand designs throughout the UK. 

 

 

Caitlin didn't always plan on becoming a designer; after creating a poster while studying at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig she was offered a placement as a graphic designer in the marketing agency and started pursuing her career in graphic design from there, studying at City of Glasgow College.

 

Caitlin considers her Sona clothing an outlet, where she can express her own vision and be creative for fun while promoting the Gaelic language, any commercial success is an added bonus. 

 

 

‘Sona’ the Gaelic for ‘happy’, comes from Caitlin’s family nickname, Sonachan, where she was brought up on the Ardnamurchan peninsula. 

 

Not only are we so fortunate to have two talented individuals to bring our brand visual identity to life, but to have two creatives whose work compliments each other so wonderfully is just the icing on the cake. Happy female entrepreneur day ladies!