Bauer enlists Y&R to create brand for new weekly publication Paperboy targeting ‘urban adventurer’

Creating a brand identity for a new, weekly free print publication that would catch the eye of the digitally native “urban adventurer” required a design ethos that would arrest the attention of this much vied for audience. For this reason, Bauer Media turned to Y&R NZ to come up with the new title’s name and shape its engaging visual identity and related brand guidelines.

Launched last month across the city, Paperboy, is dedicated to “all things Auckland”. A weekly title promising to cover the best in food, style, culture and urbanism, while also shining a light on the big issues facing the city.

Bauer Media Group’s commercial director, Paul Gardiner, said the challenge to the agency was to develop a new media brand so fresh that it couldn’t be ignored.

Says Gardiner: “We engaged Y&R to help with the strategic direction and creative development, and their response was invaluable. They challenged the Bauer team to think outside the box and helped us create a fresh new brand that disrupted the media market.”

Y&R senior designer, James Wendelborn, said the creative and design teams approached the brief with the ambition of creating a name and brand identity that appealed to all the senses.

Says Wendelborn: “We wanted to create a look and feel that compelled people to devour Paperboy’s content irrespective of where they encountered it. The vivid colour palette has been designed to stimulate the senses, encouraging Auckland’s to see, touch, hear and taste their city.

“The name was inspired by that ‘friend in the know’. Paperboy is the first to see the news and the first to tell you all about it. It’s that friend that tips you off on the new bar opening, the most authentic dumpling place, that gig on Friday night.

“When it came to designing the logo, it had to be easily recognisable, distinctive and approachable. Naturally, the typography and design elements had to reflect Auckland’s contemporary and diverse culture and we wanted something unashamedly urban and loud.”

Wendelborn added that Y&R’s role in the publication’s look and feel extends beyond just developing the brand identity, as the agency will collaborate with the Bauer team on the art direction of the cover every week.