Camper & Nicholsons
- UX/UI design
- Front-end development
- Copywriting
With a 250-year legacy, Camper & Nicholsons sets the standard in luxury yachting. Through world-class expertise and innovation, it delivers charter, sales, build, and ownership services across the globe.
Following a rebrand, C&N’s corporate site no longer reflected its heritage or ambitions. The goal: create a premium digital experience that consolidates content, simplifies navigation, and elevates the brand into a cohesive luxury online experience.
The challenge
The challenge wasn't just designing for luxury. It was translating a bespoke, relationship-driven industry into a scalable digital experience. We had to understand charter, sales, brokerage, and customisation before simplifying complex journeys into something intuitive. With over two centuries of heritage, C&N required precision at every touchpoint. That meant managing vast yacht inventories, destination content, photography, and intricate user flows whilst collaborating with brokers, marketing teams, and developers.
Our approach
We began with a deep discovery phase – auditing the existing architecture, mapping complex charter and sales journeys, and challenging the role of every page. Through competitor benchmarking and premium brand analysis, we identified where users needed clarity and where C&N had the authority to lead. The focus was not to add more, but to refine. We restructured content, simplified navigation logic, and built a system that translated complex services into a luxurious digital experience.
UI design
Premium aesthetics, editorial approach
From private aviation to haute couture, we studied how high-end brands balance restraint with impact. Our ambition was to treat the website like a digital fashion house – bold in imagery, refined in structure, confident in simplicity. Cinematic photography and generous white space set the tone. But with 200+ pages, visual consistency couldn’t rely on aesthetics alone. We built a robust design system that ensured flexibility across yacht listings, destinations, and editorial content whilst maintaining a unified identity. The result felt less like a catalogue and more like a luxury publication: immersive, timeless, and engineered to scale.
UX design
Navigation with intention
We mapped charter and sales journeys, identifying where users researched, compared, and committed. This led to a fixed bottom bar that kept actions consistently accessible, particularly on mobile, where most browsing happened. But the deeper shift was structural. We moved from a corporate, text-led experience to one driven by hierarchy and high-end design. Layouts were restructured, content prioritised, and unnecessary layers removed. Every decision reduced friction whilst preserving the richness of the offering.
Responsive design
Built for mobile, elevated on desktop
We chose a vertical ratio for yacht cards. Natural on mobile, distinctive on larger screens – moving away from traditional catalogue grids toward an editorial presentation that set the experience apart. This bold move required alignment beyond design. Most assets were shot horizontally, so we worked with the client to reshape their photography approach. We were just as deliberate about pacing, building in moments where users could pause and take things in rather than feeling rushed – small decisions that combined to create something that felt intuitive and effortless.
Copywriting
A voice that’s refined, romantic, and real
We defined a tone that felt elevated and almost poetic. Crafted and considered, yet still approachable, the goal was to make every experience feel unique and exceptional. Destination content leaned into storytelling. Yacht descriptions stayed functional and clear. Brand messaging centred around three key traits: excellence, elegance, and connection – all underlined by a pioneering spirit.
Motion
Motion with purpose
Inspired by the rhythm of life at sea, we approached motion as choreography, not decoration. Transitions, subtle parallax, and strategic sticky elements guided attention and controlled pacing. Oversized banners, layered depth, and anchored content created moments of emphasis whilst letting the experience breathe. Animations were developed section by section, tested and refined until seamless. The result was an interface that flowed naturally, without ever overwhelming users.
Build
Engineering complexity at scale
With almost 50 page modules, intricate scroll-based animations, and detailed map interactions, every detail required careful engineering. We developed a custom scaling system whilst adapting to C&N’s existing backend infrastructure – working in basic PHP without our usual tech stack. It pushed us to think differently, problem-solve constantly, and hold ourselves to the same high bar throughout. The result: a site that feels effortless to use, despite everything happening under the hood.
Team
- Art Director
- Rita Bastos
- Senior Designer
- Bruno da Costa
- Copywriter
- Bobbie Hiscock
- Front-end Developer
- Tiago Almeida
- Project Manager
- Claudia Waring