Webbs: Brand Identity & Artist Collaboration

Inhouse Design Team: Webb’s
Client: Webb’s & Billy Apple
Design Direction: Alice McKeown
Artwork: Billy Apple

The brief was the create a brand identity for this iconic New Zealand business that acknowledged the past, while looking to the future. The brand architecture needed to frame a wide variety of works, from fine art to jewellery to classic cars. Because of this the identity was kept paired back and refined, allowing the works to take centre stage.

Domaine display was chosen from the Klim type foundry to celebrate a local New Zealander and their work, keeping this consistent with what the auction house does. Different colours were applied to each department to give them their own identity within the company and create clear separation.

As part of the rebrand process I worked with the late New Zealand artist Billy Apple, and commissioned him to create a work that acknowledged Webb’s past (through a work he had created for the company in 1979), while looking to the future. This inspired him to create “A brand new Webb’s'“. This work was then used as part of an advertising campaign that ran in local and international media, announcing the auction house’s relaunch.