F37® revives club culture’s visual craft with its identity for Clubbed — The Brand Identity – Home of the Greatest in Graphic & Brand Design
When F37® published their book Clubbed: A Visual History of UK Club Culture, they documented 35 years of club design through logos, posters, tickets and ephemera. Now the Manchester-based type foundry and design studio has launched a club night under the same name, transforming their archival research into a working promoter. The first event, a night of trance classics at Manchester’s Area venue, required an identity that could honour the visual sophistication of clubs like Cream and The Haçienda whilst cutting through today’s scroll-and-forget social media graphics.
At the centre of the identity sits F37 Euphoria, a custom variable font that moves from solid letterforms to scattered particles. The transformation mirrors both the diamond dust-covered book and the build-up of a trance track reaching its peak. Creating this typeface presented technical challenges that pushed beyond typical font design parameters. Lead Type Designer Ryan Hellyer Williamson explains the two approaches required: “The static font was a technological battle, triumphing over file size limits in text settings environments. We approached its production in a way that allowed us to create both the cascading display font and a solid text type from the same underlying design.”
The variable version, designed purely as a motion design asset, created consistency across different applications. Rather than motion designers creating their own scatter effects, the variable font ensured uniform behaviour regardless of who was animating it. It also enabled live experimentation with audio outputs on the night using browser-based applications. The transition from solid to particles demanded careful calibration between visual quality and practical constraints. “The solid state, made of small circular particles, had a slightly bumpy edge compared to the solid static fonts,” notes Hellyer Williamson. “To solve this, we had to balance the density of the particles against the file size of the font.” A denser particle arrangement would have produced smoother edges but compromised file size and performance. The team opted for a less dense solution, reasoning that the variable font would never remain static for long in its intended motion applications. They added depth through two axes – scatter and particle size – with the latter creating an illusion of distance as particles disperse.
The font’s technical ambition proved too much for some software. Design Director Duncan Gravestock recalls the animation challenges: “We worked with two talented animators who specialise in Adobe After Effects, but we quickly discovered that After Effects isn’t equipped to handle these variable animations, even with plug-ins.” The team initially faked the effect using visual tricks before switching to Cavalry, a different platform that could animate the font as designed. This meant their animators had to learn new software mid-project, though Hellyer Williamson’s understanding of Cavalry allowed him to take control of the design and motion to ensure the font behaved exactly as intended.
F37 Euphoria carries the main visual weight across billboards, posters and digital screens, functioning as both clean modernist type and energetic fragmented accent. F37 Zagma Mono adds technical style in smaller applications, used for detail copy across the system. The primary typeface does the conceptual work whilst the monospaced font provides practical support.
The broader visual identity draws from the UK’s clubbing heyday without recreating it. Graphic Designer Keelin Wright explains their approach: “From the bold geometry of Cream and the visual language of The Haçienda to the playful futurism of Gatecrasher, those designs were full of intention and experimentation.” The team aimed to capture that spirit as continuation rather than throwback, allowing the identity to evolve with contemporary club culture.
Cream’s graphic mark inspired Clubbed’s own symbol – an abstract ‘C’ form that reads as both ear and eye, representing the senses of clubbing. The Haçienda shaped much of club culture’s visual language, but the team intentionally avoided the familiar chevron and graphic shapes that had been popularised by the iconic venue, stating that Manchester needs to move on to something new and exciting. “We reimagined that energy through a clean, digital-first and typographic-led system that feels modern yet rooted in the culture that inspired it,” Wright adds.
The sparkling cover of the Clubbed book influenced more than just the typeface. Wright notes how they translated that physical sparkle into dynamic, digital form: “The Clubbed cover was always more than just decoration; it symbolised that euphoric and elevated feeling you get on the dancefloor. We wanted to carry that same sense of movement and energy into the identity.” The custom typeface reflects this directly, beginning clean and structured before scattering into particles. That idea of shimmer and fragmentation runs through the motion graphics and even the QR code on posters. “We wanted to capture the sparkle without literally chucking glitter on everything,” she explains. “It’s about translating that physical and tactile sparkle into something dynamic and digital, something that moves with the music rather than just representing it.”
This digital translation extends to the website, where the particle system becomes interactive. The responsive site doubles as motion graphics for DJ screens, creating a unified visual language across physical and digital touchpoints. Rather than a static homepage, particles perpetually drift and collide around the logo, never settling into a fixed state. The animation feels organic, almost breathing, as particles spawn from the logo’s centre and fade outward in unpredictable directions. Developer Dan Woodbury explains the technical approach: “The system employs sophisticated collision detection and physics simulation, where particles bounce realistically off both the logo’s contours and screen boundaries using proper vector reflection calculations. Each particle maintains perpetual motion through continuous random energy injection and periodic velocity boosts, preventing the system from settling into a static state.” The result feels alive rather than programmed, echoing the unpredictable energy of the dancefloor itself.
The project deliberately pushes back against the speed and disposability of modern club promotion. Wright contrasts their approach with current practices: “A lot of modern club graphics are made in minutes with very little thought. This identity went through countless rounds of refinement; every detail was considered, and we are still working on expanding it further.” The team avoided obvious visual clichés, which they view as cheapening what was once a creative and forward-thinking movement. Many promoters today take a playful or tongue-in-cheek approach, but Clubbed needed to feel more refined, bringing back the beauty, seriousness and craft that defined club design’s golden era.
The collaboration process involved coordinating freelance designers, motion designers, 3D designers and developers across multiple touchpoints. Gravestock explains how they maintained consistency: “We approached each part of the project with the same care and energy we put into the typeface, knowing it would be the visual driver for the whole brand. Once we’d refined the animation of the font, we began developing other elements that mirrored the dispersed particles of the font.” They commissioned developer David from davidope.com to create DJ portraits for promotional materials and visuals behind the DJ booth, carrying the typeface’s visual properties into 3D space. The chosen technique allowed them to keep consistency in the brand, making use of low-resolution or poor-quality photography when necessary, by turning them into beautiful portraits. The wider brand concept is based on the human senses, and the team worked with Berlin-based Stüedio to interpret those themes through motion and texture. At every stage, collaborators had space to express themselves within the system. “That freedom, combined with everyone’s shared passion for the project, kept the identity consistent and made Clubbed feel truly collaborative,” notes Gravestock.
F37® Foundry’s outdoor campaign for their F37 Mancunio typeface demonstrated how bold, considered design cuts through the noise. They wanted to create that same tangible, memorable quality with Clubbed. The first event on 28 November 2025 brings together the book’s archival celebration with live experience, supported by a campaign of billboards and fly posters around Manchester, plus screen-printed posters. As both promoter and designer, F37® is showing how strong visuals can reignite emotional connection in club culture – celebrating the past whilst pushing the scene forward.