Leap back in time with F37 Arcade, a typeface inspired by the iconic arcade aesthetic and informed by Wim Crouwel’s grid-based work.
F37 Arcade is a modular, mono-spaced, and stencil typeface. With a unique combination of modularity and stencil, the letterforms are reminicent of falling Tetris blocks that appear to be on the brink of slotting together. Also prominent throughout the typeface are rounded corners. These reference the rounding effect CRT glow has on type within arcade games. F37 Arcade is further packed with ligatures and alternate characters to keep you playing for hours.
Alexandra Franks
• F37 Arcade
• Styles 1
• 2024
The Designer
Alexandra Franks is a freelance graphic designer and illustrator based in sunny Edinburgh.
Graduating from Reading University with a first and honours, she has now found herself in the world of design. Trading in her paint brushes for the pen tool, Alexandra brings her blend of classically trained art skills and her new love of graphic design into her branding and illustration work.
Inspiration
F37 Arcade
Interview
Tell us about the inspiration behind your collaboration with F37®×. If it was an unused concept, what was the potential use case for it.
Having always been a lover of the early/retro videogame aesthetic, I felt inspired to create something that could easily slot into that landscape. Throughout my research, the font Moonbase Alfa (by Cornell Windlin, 1991) and Wim Crouwel’s grid-based typographic style heavily inspired me in creating F37 Arcade. This font plays into the nostalgia of early videogames, embracing the technical constraints of early digital typography.
When starting the process of creating your font, what typographic conventions did you look to break or experiment with? Or were there conventions of functionality you championed?
When looking for inspiration, I found myself drawn to the negative shapes within a stencil font. Combined with my love of retro gaming, this font marries these two concepts together.
Now that your typeface has launched, what would be your dream project to use your F37® typeface on?
The joy of fonts is that they can be used in any setting, and I would love to see someone inspired to create anything from the collaboration. However, to see someone use it in the videogame landscape would fit the style of the font perfectly.
What have you learnt through developing and creating your own typeface(s) with our F37® type designers?
I learnt that the possibilities of type are endless, even with all the typographic rules I have learnt throughout the process.
How would you describe your typeface in three words?
Nostalgic, Retro, Bold… and Quirky (I know that’s four).
F37 Arcade Font Sampler
