Creative direction and UX product delivery
Christie’s 3.0 is a new auction platform dedicated to exceptional NFT art. The platform allows on-chain NFT bidding from start to finish — a first for any auction house.
Christie’s 3.0 was built in response to the growing demand for high-quality, curated digital art as a distinct collecting category of contemporary art, artists and collectors within the Christie’s community wanted a secure place to buy and sell NFTs on-chain as standard. As such, in October 2021 we set out to build a new auction website othat was fully integrated with the Ethereum blockchain.
Our requirements for the platform were complex, connecting a web2 platform to web3 technology within existing auction-house regulations and bidding compliance. We partnered with three leading companies in the web3 community, Manifold, Chainalysis and Spatial, to not only meet these requirements, but in-fact exceed them, these technological achievements include:
- On-chain bidding & checkout via a smart contract
- F/E Live bidding updates and ETH-USD conversations
- Automated compliance checks on digital wallets
- Ability to calculate sales tax for an NFT and issue it back to the smart contract for the user to pay on-chain.
- Installation of a layer-2 wallet on top of a zero-code CMS
- A database build and integration flow between the B/E server, frontend CMS and blockchain. This allows the auction to be managed from one central point
- A virtual gallery, designed by agencies pl.ai and Services Generaux, and housed by Spatial.
We wanted the design to look web3-native in terms of colours, typography and layout, while feeling reassuringly ‘Christie’s’, with plenty of FAQs and supporting content to smooth the journey for our existing clients.
The inaugural auction of Christie’s 3.0 featured 9 works by Diana Sinclair, an 18-year-old multidisciplinary artist, activist and curator. The launch saw 100% of lots sold in the auction, totalling 66.77 ETH.
Press: Art Newspaper