OVERVIEW
Bonhams is one of the world’s most prestigious auction houses. For three and a half years I worked as their embedded design partner. First for The Market by Bonhams, then Bonhams|Cars Online as the brand evolved and grew.
This wasn’t a single campaign. It was hundreds of pieces of work delivered at speed across print, digital, social and live events, often all at once, always on brand, never boring.
Print adverts in Octane, EVO, Classic & Sports Car and enthusiast publications across the UK, Europe and the US. Event collateral for Goodwood Festival of Speed four years running. Social animations matched with authentic engine sounds. A photomontage poster for a Fast and Furious RX-7 that sold at auction for £911,000 and went viral across automotive media worldwide.
One designer. Three and a half years. A lot of cars.
You will see a mix of fonts and logos throughout this due to the re-brands.
What we’ve worked on together:
- Print campaigns: 100s of print adverts for leading automotive and enthusiast magazines across the UK, Europe, and US.
- Digital content: paid social and organic assets designed to capture attention.
- Event collateral: flyers, business cards, posters and large-format graphics for events including Goodwood Revival, Festival of Speed, Zoute Grand Prix, Silverstone, and Interclassics.
- Motion and video: supporting both digital screens on event stands and social channels with motion graphics for a more dynamic presence.
- Quirky extras: playful but effective items such as stickers and posters designed to be a keep-sake, keeping Bonhams in the forefront of their minds when they look at them again.
What role did I play in this project? I worked directly with The Market, Bonhams|Cars online and Bonhams|Cars marketing team and was the sole designer in the team working on what’s shown below (and beyond).
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APPROACH & COLLABORATION
I was first brought on board to work with The Market by Bonhams, an online auction platform for classic and collectable cars. When they rebranded to Bonhams|Cars Online in 2023, the creative approach evolved and I stepped into the live sale world too.
The Market had a bold, quirky visual identity. Bonhams’ parent brand required something more refined and established. My job was to help the team navigate that shift while keeping a bit of fun in the mix. I later also stepped in to help Bonhams Cars live team with their prestigious sales from Monaco to Monterey.
print Ads created for magazines
distributed in the UK, Europe and U.S.A.
Hundreds of print adverts for publications across the UK, Europe and the US, from the big names to the smaller enthusiast titles where the real buyers actually read.
Different regions, different approaches. For Italian publications we leaned retro, turns out Italians scan QR codes far more than Brits do, which is useful to know! For others we refined the formula they’d used before, evolving it as the brand developed.
Other times we stuck to the simple formula they used previously, with a few tweaks.
Reactive marketing came into play when an advert sat near a feature in the magazine, for example the Triumph TR6 and Datzun 240z reviews and the World Cup of Cars feature…
…or we worked with calendar events, playing of EVO’s Car of the Year in a playful way as we don’t have their photography budgets or working with existing photography to spin them to work with Holiday’s.
Not only is Liv dependable, capable and incredibly creative…she has essentially revolutionised our capabilities as a marketing department. A credit to any team. A++
Oli Hughes, Senior Marketing Manager of Bonhams Cars Online
Goodwood Festival of Speed Highlight
I’ve worked through Festival of Speed 2022 – 2025 for Bonhams|Cars Live and Online creating a suite of assets.
One standout project was a photomontage featuring the iconic Mazda RX-7 driven by Han in The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift. I created a movie-style poster, which was used across social media, featured on digital screens in the Bonhams tent at the prestigious Goodwood Festival of Speed, and even printed as A4 take-home posters for fans (rare!).
The RX-7 later sold at auction for £911,000 (including fees), a result that went viral across automotive media and social platforms! The original photo was taken by Simon Raeburn-Ward.
The making-of layer switch video below shows exactly how it came together — photomontage at its most satisfying.
Goodwood Revival Highlight
Revival is one of the most distinctive events in the automotive calendar, everything period correct, right down to the dress code. I loved the experience, I went as a leather clad vintage biker and it was over 30c! The creative had to match that world. Here’s a selection of assets created for the 2022 and 2023 events
From social animations and interactive quizzes to flyers, stickers, car information sheets, and website thumbnails. Here are a few for you to view.
Livia is a breath of fresh air. Creative, thorough, a safe pair of hands, friendly and much more. You don’t feel like she’s a freelancer as she fully immerses within your company – your objectives, brand goals, ambitions, etc. She goes above and beyond the standard ‘design services’.
Whilst working with her, she has transformed The Market by Bonhams branding across print and digital advertising and event presence branding. She’s helped with some of the best tag lines ever produced, copywriting, research and much more.
I would highly recommend hiring Liv. If unsure of your requirements, I recommend reaching out to her and asking the question. She’s honest and transparent and has a range of skills that differ from the average designer. Very sad not to be working with her anymore due to me no longer consulting on our mutual client – but we will see if Polestar needs additional resources!
Laura Holloway, previously Autollo / The Market by Bonhams, now Fleet Manager at Polestar
dynamic digital creative for social use
Static and animated social assets created constantly to keep their channels active and their audience engaged. Every piece had to stop the scroll.
I always handle the sound design too, engine notes matched authentically to each car. Make sure the volume’s on.
maytime muster Campaign
Bonhams|Cars Online hosts several Musters throughout the year, classic car gatherings at Milton Park that attract enthusiasts from across the UK. For May 2025’s event I built a full campaign from scratch.
Simon Raeburn-Ward shot a selection of cars on location. I edited the shots to clean up the location, worked on the typography and turned the key art into everything they needed with an editorial feel: social assets, magazine adverts, newsletter banners, even a Google Forms sign-up banner. Here’s the original photo alongside what we made from it.
APP RELEASE CAMPAIGN
The Bonhams|Cars app had a new look and it was time to shout about it. Cue assets!
I briefed Angus to shoot green screen phone shots in the unit, giving us an enthusiast’s eye view of the hunt for their next car, with a screen we could swap out for anything. From that one shoot I built a full flexible toolkit: paid social in every format, cafe barriers for events, magazine adverts, email signatures and newsletter banners. Everything the marketing team needed, ready to go.
This flexible toolkit gave the marketing team everything they needed to push the new app across both digital and in-person channels.
Livia is very talented, quick, proactive, and enthusiast. Working with her is always pleasure, and I would recommend her without hesitation.
Federica Olivotto. Marketing Coordinator at Bonhams Cars Online
sale and brand awareness STICKERS
Who doesn’t like a sticker? These stickers fly out each sale as everyone loves a shiny bit of memorabilia. True collectors item.
These are created with a selective use of special materials such as holographic, glitter, metallic and brushed aluminium. That means the effect is only applied to certain areas. Fancy! Like everything Bonhams sells, these stickers are rare and collectible. So if you have one, hang onto it!
I highly recommend Liv Lucie to anyone in need of quality graphic design. She has done some fabulous work for us.
Mark Livesey. CEO of THE MARKET
Photography for Bonhams|Cars Online is usually taken by Angus Taylor and Simon Raeburn-Ward.
I’ve worked with a lot of automotive brands over the years. If you’re in that world, let’s talk.