An outstanding use of all-caps Pump Bold in the signage for this community leisure centre, which has recently made the news in the UK, having secured additional funding after escalating costs threatened its closure.

The building was officially opened on September 18, 1987, by HRH Princess Margaret. I would hazard a guess this is when the signage dates from.

From BBC News:

A community leisure centre at “serious risk of closure” has secured a £50,000 emergency funding boost to get it through to the new year.

Dalton Leisure Centre in Dalton-in-Furness, Cumbria, opened in the 1980s, with manager Shaun Fisher saying the centre was doing “really well” and was like a “second home” to some people.

Despite that, repair work and rising energy costs have meant the centre has struggled through November and now wants to raise a further £50,000 to secure its long-term future.

A spokesperson for Westmorland and Furness Council, which funded the grant, said “the council recognises the valuable role that the leisure centre plays in the local community”.

The website of the charity-run (not council owned) centre sadly doesn’t feature any further use of Pump.

Detail

Finally, a gym and café that blends effort and comfort! Bolder is a sports studio, a café, a canteen, a venue for corporate events, outdoor sessions and bootcamps offering a social, collective, and laid-back experience. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned athlete, Bolder provides an original and welcoming environment to make fitness a sustainable and enjoyable part of your routine.

For this branding and visual identity project, Ogaf.studio drew inspiration from the old-school aesthetic of traditional sports clubs. The typography system plays a key role in shaping the visual language. We combined Maison Neue (designed by Timo Gaessner, 2012) for its clean and versatile tone, Optic Heavy (by Sebastien Sanfilippo, 2023) to bring strength and presence to headlines, and Deia Bold (by Andrei Robu, 2021) for its contemporary warmth and subtle character. Together, they reflect the balance between performance and ease that defines Bolder.

The color palette is fresh and energizing, and the letterforms of the name “Bolder” served as a playground to generate a flexible identity system. In collaboration with architecture studio Mono, we developed a unique atmosphere and art direction that sets this hybrid space apart from your typical gym or café. The visual identity lives across various formats from social media to print and signage, all designed to support Bolder’s vibrant and active community.

Concept Barre is a dance school in Barcelona that offers ballet, functional training and Pilates classes. The website is designed by Codea Studio, a creative agency based in Barcelona. Codea Studio specializes in brand creation, communication and advertising campaigns and works specifically with brands that go against convention. This progressive thinking is also reflected in Concept Barre, which positions itself as an LGBTQIA+ friendly studio – a place where all bodies and genders are welcome.

A central element of the website is the clear communication of the studio’s core beliefs and key messages. Its focus lies on self-confidence, the balance between fitness and leisure and a strong philosophy of inclusivity. These values are not only reflected in the content, but also in the design of the website.

Concept Barre’s modern and minimalist brand aesthetic is particularly evident in the typography. Headings are highlighted with capital letters, while body text is written in simple and accessible language to maximize readability. Two sans serif fonts are used, which are characterized by clarity and legibility.

LL Supreme is a reinterpretation of Paul Renner’s classic geometric typeface, Futura. However, it is not simply a revival, but rather an evolution of the original concept. The typeface was designed by Norwegian Arve Båtevik and released by Swiss foundry Lineto in 2020.

The basic idea of Futura is also embedded in LL Supreme: the possibility of creating a distinctive, fully functional, yet sophisticated typeface using only pure geometry. Thanks to this consistent design, LL Supreme combines clarity, precision, and modern aesthetics.

In addition to the basic weights, there are also graphically accentuated options such as Jumbo and Choupette. The styles have been drawn independently, giving each weight its own identity. Concept Barre uses LL Supreme Display Jumbo.

Lay Grotesk is a modern interpretation of classic grotesque typefaces such as Helvetica a.k.a. Neue Haas Grotesk, with an emphasis on a simple, neutral, and elegant appearance. The designer, Massimiliano Vitti, is part of the Italian graphic design studio Due Studio.

A key aspect of Lay Grotesk is its increased contrast and slightly reduced point width, which improves legibility at small sizes and creates a compact, dense text effect. At larger sizes, its geometric character is more pronounced, with clear, straight terminals.

The mix of soft and rigid elements makes Lay Grotesk versatile – from book design and corporate identity to posters and digital applications. With a total of 791 glyphs and five weights from Regular to Black, it offers a wide range of design possibilities.

Wellhub, formerly known as Gympass, is a start-up / service / app originally giving access to multiple gym clubs for a unique subscription. To quote the Financial Times article dedicated to the change of name and rebranding:

Corporate wellness platform Gympass is rebranding as part of preparations for an initial public offering, after being valued at $2.4bn with backers including SoftBank and EQT.

The start-up said the change of name to Wellhub reflected its widening range of services, which alongside access to tens of thousands of third-party fitness centres also included partner apps for activities like sleep, meditation and diet.

The rebrand is also showcased in an introductory video, offering a glimpse into Wellhub’s new identity and vision. It comes with the obvious new logo featuring a twirly icon and a nameplate in an unidentified, most likely modified type, maybe even a custom lettering. It’s a wider grotesque with slightly rounded inside corners, echoing the roundness of the twirl symbol and symptomatic of the 2020s “nice/human” era of the startup/branding landscape.

For all headlines, Wellhub went with NaN Holo in its condensed and narrow styles, often on the bolder side of the weight range. Holo’s rounded details (see the tittles of i j or the shoulder of r) recall the roundness already present in both the icon and wordmark, as well as in the rounded corners of rectangular shapes.

But for all text sizes, UI elements and interfaces, the Wellhub team chose familiarity with the use of the now ubiquitous Inter, while Holo's standard widths would have offered similar proportions and legibility. Was this choice motivated by a desire to save on webfont weights, or more by a conformist spirit regarding text typefaces on the web? We don’t know.

Komma used Power Grotesk together with Instrument Sans for the identity of Gymtown. The Dutch design studio writes about the project:

From the website to the in-gym signage, Gymtown's new visual identity is designed to motivate and connect. Our flexible visual system ensures a seamless experience at every touchpoint, reflecting the dynamic and inclusive nature of the community.

Fitness Park offer fitness clubs and gyms, with 288 locations across France.

Alias Cactus is used for signage across gyms, as well as for the website and for social media.

Area 3 Gym, located in the Campania region of Italy, is a collaborative project between BasileADV and Resistenza. The gym’s logotype is custom-made, featuring wide sans-serif lettering with significant ink traps. As a symbolic element, an asterisk is incorporated into the design, evoking associations with a wheel, among other things.

For its corporate font, Area 3 Gym utilizes Annuario Wide. This typeface is characterized by wide proportions, sans-serif style, and subtle humanistic touches, contributing to the gym’s visual identity and branding.

Rite is a boutique sports studio for rhythm-based cycling classes, which took cues from both the clubbing scene and religious rituals to build a bold brand and fitness experience that truly excites and brings people together.

Antwerp-based design studio WeWantMore uses Cosi Times from Nikolas Type for Rite's logotype and paired it with Neue Haas Grotesk Display.

Colle McVoy and 10 Thousand Design have combined to help evolve the Anytime Fitness brand to further reflect its values and goals. They’ve used F37 Moon by F37 Foundry as a versatile, impactful and contemporary typeface for the refreshed brand identity.

Convoy is a financial focused company from Hong Kong. Their new headquarter was designed by Toby Ng Design:

The signs use a number of different typefaces, with Lausanne (designed by Nizar Kazan) being the primary choice.

“Communication is the key” in all-caps Portrait.

“Work Hard / Eat Well / Love Truly” in Founders Grotesk.

ITC New Baskerville for “Integrity is everything”.

“Today is another chance to get better”, presented in a matrix of Gill Sans caps.

A forward-thinking club opened by WeWork in downtown Manhattan, Rise has a social vibe and a holistic approach. With a Roman-inspired Superspa, yoga room, sprawling gym and cafe, it’s a luxurious space where over-scheduled members can leave their devices behind and connect on a more personal level.

Mucca developed the strategy with the WeWork team, positioning it as a complete wellness experience. The dynamic brand system extends the energy of the logo to the signage, storytelling, packaging and digital design. With an exploding membership base and plans to expand to the West Coast, Rise is equipped to redefine the future of fitness.

Brand refresh implemented across a variety of print and promotional material for Hench, a Belfast-based state of the art training and recovery facility.

Hench deliver world-class coaching focused on the individual to optimise performance, health, wellbeing and recovery. To better reflect the level, and variety, of services on offer, we worked together to develop a variety of material which included corporate, benefit and pricing brochures, annual folders, training diaries, review cards, gift cards and stationery.

MFred is used for headings, paired with Neue Helvetica and Source Code.

See also the previous post about the Hench identity and website from 2018.

Elyssa Sardy is a Pilates Barre Fitness Educator and Movement Lover from Detroit. She “is a motivated instructor who thrives on pushing her clients to reach their goals by bringing a fresh enthusiastic approach to every class and session she teaches.”

On the website, IvyJournal is used for both headline type and text. Work Sans is used for navigation links.

Hench is a state of the art, members-only athletic performance and recovery facility based in Belfast. The aim of Hench is “to give our athletes access to the tools, knowledge and support available to professional athletes competing at the highest level on the world stage.” Their mission is to change member’s lives by empowering them to become the strongest version of themselves. We designed an identity to showcase this with a logo (using Alte Haas Grotesk), a website – built by Dave Haughton – and with videos by Joel McBride.

Current Boston Celtics and former Patrick School point guard Kyrie Irving joined with Nike to pay for a complete renovation of the gym, locker room, weight room and lounge at his old school.

Alias Harbour is used for headline type, on banners, floor and walls. It’s not the first time Harbour has been used for a gym, see here for more.

Temple Mixed Martial Arts fitness club in Cottonwood Heights, Utah, use a modified Harbour as its logotype. It is used outlined along the wall of the club. The logotype and identity were designed by Dan Christofferson of design duo Young Jerks.