Bonhams explains the bright new designs innovations to its auction catalogue

The idea of London’s auction houses, all stuffed to bursting with hushed voices, incredible art, taut-faced women and a nonchalant yet overpowering scent of money (I’ve never been to one, if you hadn’t guessed) make them feel like something of an alien concept. A place not for the likes of me, and one happy to remain in its exclusive bubble. But recently a series of innovative redesigns have suggested that perhaps a new aesthetic sensibility seems to be settling into the high-end fabrics of these places. There’s a sense they’re working to rethink their approach to their brand and how it looks.

Following on from 2014’s Sotheby’s rebrand by Pentagram and a beautiful new look for Christie’s magazine by David McKendrick and Lee Belcher, also undertaken last year, Bonhams London recently sent us the catalogue for its forthcoming auction Founded 1793, which heralds the introduction of a bold new design direction for the house.

Bonhams says the redesign was all carried out in-house, and aims to address the fact that “the concept and catalogue hasn’t really changed since around 1995,” according to Bonhams London’s Victor Seaward, who’s heading up the Founded 1793 auction.

“Contemporary art was still creating an identity for itself in the 1990s,” he says. “It was trying to say something new, but they stuck with that [catalogue] format ever since. It was time to shake things up a bit.”

While the changes may not seem revolutionary to those outside the auction houses, the changes are big in terms of how things are catalogued. Bonhams has always positioned text justified to the left, but now it experiments with central and right alignments, says Victor. “It might not seem a big deal but it’s quite a rapid departure,” he explains.

The bright, slick-looking new design uses bright coral (Pantone 805u, if you’re interested) against a dark slate shade, with text in Futura for the art lots, and Garamond for design lots. As well as making the catalogue look great, Victor says that a lot of the design innovations are enhancing transparency, in a world where people increasingly expect it.

“People are buying an object, not an image, so you need to convert the physicality,” says Victor. “We hung some of the paintings and some are shot in the warehouse in-situ: we want to give an idea of the object. All the design pieces are shot in our new Bond Street HQ. It shows it off a bit, but it also helps clients situate it in their homes.”

As well as innovations in type, colour and photography style, the new catalogue also introduces written content, just as an online retailer like Mr Porter might. It’s as though where once online content looked to mimic its printed origins, print is now looking to online in what content to deliver, and how to do it.

“Usually the text in catalogues is about informing clients rather than being factual, but we’ve included an essay about post-digital art because younger collectors are hungry to learn. We live in a time where there’s a proliferation of images. People expect that, but they expect content too.”