Fluoro brings high impact, type-heavy graphics to brands like Adidas, Reebok and Ivy Park

At just three years old, and a relatively small five people (not counting its “tight group” of freelancers), London graphic design studio Fluoro is almost like a wiley David outmanoeuvring Goliath competitors to snag the big brand clients. These include Beats, The Royal Academy and film production company The Workhouse, but its real strength has been defined in sports, with multiple projects for Adidas as well as Reebok and Ivy Park, that sees them not only work on branding but the products themselves too. With energetic motion graphics and type-heavy identities that look to tech and underground trends for influence, the gets the attention of its young audience.

“I think as people we’re all inquisitive,” explains studio founder Tim Smith. “We all want to know more about other individuals, groups, cultures, fads, music, movements – everything really. We talk a lot about understanding things we do and don’t agree with, and try and understand things from every angle. I think this intrigue and passion for people is what leads us to working well with individuals and teams from diverse backgrounds and sectors.”

For a recent Reebok and WIT collaboration, Fluoro created a visual system that aimed to represent the “functional nature of training,” and the industrial aesthetic of WIT’s space. This manifested in a campaign including a printed book with a utilitarian approach to typography and layout, and the graphic design of the new shoe itself. For this, the studio proposed bringing back the brand’s classic Vector logo. “For us this was key to Reebok’s association with London… luckily Reebok had already decided to bring it back – a touch of luck for us.” When the new sneakers launched, they were the first line of training shoe to incorporate the Reebok Vector logo, making many a sneakerphile very excited.

For Ivy Park, Fluoro was tasked with communicating the technology of the brand’s performance wear, a facet that often gets drowned out by its fashion side and supremely famous co-founder Beyoncé. The studio therefore created a suite of icons to be used on tags, packaging and clothing to explain its material qualities – for example waterproof, lightweight, breathable, wind proof, insulating, etc. These are “stylised, clean, minimal and ownable,” Tim says.

A similar visual ethos is applied in its campaign work for Beats, which also has sport affiliations as it stars footballer Trent Alexander-Arnold. Again using typography front and centre, and a choppy film comprised of stills, the work uses simplicity, movement and a fast pace to deliver Fluoro’s signature “high impact”. Likewise across its work for Adidas, experimental type and motion graphics give otherwise fairly ubiquitous product shots an edge.

“The right here, right now,” defines the studio’s key influence, Tim concludes, “always bold, clean, considered and energetic. We are inspired by the old purveyors of type, grid and graphics, as well as the kids of the future. We look to alternative and underground graphic scenes for the stylistic threads that we think will help us shape the immediate future. With more Adidas work underway, a new project with a performance training shoe brand, and ventures into new realms – a rebrand for an ad-tech firm and a launch for interior designer Lanserring – expect to see more of this studio very soon.