CurfewClub — you had to be there

What was it?: A project of mine, August 2026
The venue: CurfewClub, Hongdae, Seoul. It doesn't exist.
What's inside: The concept, the brand, three posters and five things written around the venue.

The dance floor of a nightclub at night, seen from behind the crowd. Dozens of dark silhouettes of heads and raised arms stand against beams of magenta, purple and blue light cutting through the haze from the ceiling. Nobody is holding a phone.

How it started

It was one of those days that, to quote the great Ornella Vanoni, “brings on a melancholy that won’t leave you until evening.”

To be precise, I was missing Seoul, the nights out in Hongdae, going around Latin clubs and having fun with my Mexican friends. That’s where I got the idea of making some posters. No brief, no client, not even a name: it all started a little by chance, out of nostalgia.

Then, putting the three posters together, I realised they were saying the same thing: put your phone down and look the person in front of you in the eye. That’s what I think we’re starting to lose: noticing, paying attention, letting ourselves get caught up in the spontaneity of two lives meeting.

Why it only exists on paper

As I developed the idea, a consequence came up that I hadn’t anticipated at first: a venue that pushes back against screens can’t advertise itself on a screen without contradicting itself. That’s why CurfewClub exists on paper.

The second idea is that what happens here doesn’t end up online. Without phones, there’s nothing left of that night. No story, no video. Just the people who were there.

The three posters

Vertical poster on a purple ground. Two faces overlapping in purple and magenta light, with an eye in close-up at the bottom left. At the top the title on two lines in pink neon outline, «HIGH RISK OF EYE CONTACT»; below it, the CURFEWCLUB mark between two magenta stars. Halfway down the page, in white: «Put the phone down and dance».

I imagine them as three different nights in the same venue, with the neon changing colour each night. Magenta is the signature, and it stays the same across every piece in the project.

Inside the venue

The posters are outside. Inside, I needed something else, so I chose five objects that you can recognise before you even read them.

At the entrance, I planned for two options, because a real venue needs both: if you leave your phone at the cloakroom, you get it back on the way out; if you need to keep it with you — a taxi to call, work, someone who doesn’t feel comfortable being unreachable — you come in with the camera lens covered. Either way, the phone stops recording.

Where	What it is	What it says
At the entrance, for those who keep their phone	a sticker over the camera lens	EYES ONLY
At the dance floor entrance	a safety sign	HIGH RISK OF EYE CONTACT
At the bar	the Wi-Fi password card	PASSWORD: talktoeachother
In the bathroom	the sign on the mirror	THE ONLY SCREEN WE ALLOW
At the exit, for those who left it behind	the cloakroom receipt	ITEM: one phone · OUT: 05:00

Put together, they tell the story of an entire night: you walk in, you dance, you order a drink, you look at yourself in the mirror, you leave.

The back of a black phone held in a hand at the door of a dark club, with purple light behind. Stuck over the camera lenses is a round magenta sticker reading «EYES ONLY» in dark purple and, below it, the CURFEWCLUB mark between two stars. — Twenty-five millimetres, just enough to cover the lenses.

A dark club wall crossed by magenta light, with a blue beam coming in from the right. In the middle, hung on the wall, an A4 sign: a magenta band across the top with the word «WARNING», below it a triangle with an eye drawn in green neon outline, the title «HIGH RISK OF EYE CONTACT» and at the bottom the line «beyond this point, people can see you».

The dark counter of a bar seen from above, with magenta and purple reflections. In the middle, standing on it, a horizontal card reading «NETWORK: none» and «PASSWORD: talktoeachother» in green on a dark ground. — Go ahead, try it. The only connection in here is people.

The mirror above the sinks in a club bathroom, with magenta tiles around it and a strip of pink LED underneath. On the glass, lit up, a pink neon sign on two lines — «THE ONLY SCREEN WE ALLOW» — and below it, smaller, «you look fine. go back.»

The dark, scratched wooden top of a cloakroom counter, seen from above and lit in magenta. On the left, lying on the counter, a wooden coat hanger. In the middle, side by side, the two sides of the same card. The front: the number «042» large, and beside it the lines «ITEM one phone» and «OUT 05:00». The back: the CURFEWCLUB mark, «Hongdae, Seoul», «Open every night until dawn.» and, in magenta, «Come. Your ex won't be here.» — Without this, the phone doesn't come back.

The two sides of the cloakroom card, flattened and side by side, with no photograph around them. The front, on a dark purple ground: at the top «PHONE CHECK» and «HONGDAE, SEOUL» in grey; in the middle the number «042» large in green, and beside it «ITEM one phone» and «OUT 05:00»; at the bottom, in magenta, «you can have it back.» next to the CURFEWCLUB mark between two stars. The back: the CURFEWCLUB mark between two stars, «Hongdae, Seoul», a drawing of clouds in magenta outline, «Open every night until dawn.», and at the bottom «Come. Your ex won't be here.» with the website address and a phone number.

The bathroom mirror

It’s the only one of the five pieces that isn’t printed: it’s a neon sign, it lights up and illuminates the face of whoever is reading it.

In a venue, the bathroom mirror is where the phone comes up almost by itself. That’s why this piece belongs there.

Mirrors in venues are always flattering. This one says you look fine. go back.

Note on the images: the faces in the three posters and the five settings where the pieces are photographed were generated with AI. The brand, copy, five pieces and layout were designed.