Background
Inspired by Lara Croft’s life as an archaeologist and adventurer, the Tomb Raider Ancient Adventures Bag brings the exploration-driven identity of Tomb Raider into a practical everyday accessory.
The design draws inspiration from the bags Lara carries throughout her adventures, with the Atlantean Scion—the ancient artifact at the center of the original Tomb Raider—used as a key visual element. The goal was to create a leather bag that felt connected to Lara’s world while remaining practical enough for everyday use.
Challenge
One challenge was maintaining a consistent gold finish across all of the metal hardware. The bag uses multiple metal components—including buckles, rivets, rings, hooks, and the decorative Scion emblem—and these parts were not necessarily produced through the same process or by the same supplier. Even small differences in plating could make one component appear more yellow, darker, or brighter than the others. Because all of the hardware is visible together on the finished bag, the gold tones needed to look consistent as one complete system.
Another challenge came from a very simple request from the client: Lara Croft’s signature needed to appear on the front of the bag. There were no further instructions about how it should be made, where exactly it should sit, or what process should be used. The challenge was therefore not just reproducing the signature, but deciding how to translate it onto the leather surface in a way that felt natural to the bag—considering its size, placement, contrast, and production method so that it remained recognizable without looking like an element simply added on top of the design.
What I did
To solve the hardware color inconsistency, I first identified the component with the least flexibility for color adjustment and used it as the reference point for the entire hardware set. Once this base color was confirmed, I coordinated the buckles, rivets, rings, hooks, and other metal components to match it. This gave the factory a clear starting point instead of repeatedly adjusting different parts against each other, helping keep all the gold hardware visually consistent.
For Lara Croft’s signature, I explored multiple styles, placements, and presentation options rather than moving directly into production. I used Photoshop to create visual mockups of the different options on the actual bag design, allowing the client to compare how each one would look before sampling. After reviewing the alternatives, the client selected the final signature treatment that appears on the finished bag.
Outcome
The Ancient Adventures Bag received exceptionally strong feedback after launch. According to the client, even Tomb Raider developers and internal team members purchased the bag, and it sold out within a short period of time.
The client later described it as one of the most successful bags they had developed and one that best captured Lara Croft’s character and adventurous spirit. Its success also gave them the confidence to quickly move forward with the development of several additional bags, turning a single product into a broader product direction.
