Samsung Fun Club

Credits

Descriptions by
Chiagozie Elobuike

Captures by
Chiagozie Elobuike

Editions by
Chiagozie Elobuike, Kyrongenius1, CKC, TrademarkMagic04, and Celobu

Background

Samsung Fun Club was a mobile service included in various Samsung phones from the mid 2000s to download ringtones and images, watch video clips and play video games through the world of internet.

1st Logo (2005-February 2007)

• 

  Normal startup.

• 

  5:4 aspect ratio variant.

• 

  Anycall Fun Club startup.

• 

  Samsung Anycall startup.

• 

  Normal shutdown.

• 

  5:4 aspect ratio variant.

• 

  Anycall shutdown.

• 

  Anycall shutdown variant.

Logo:

• Startup: On a white background, there are 3 puddles in both yellow, magenta, and light blue. Blobs come out of them and form the text "Ḟᴜ̇ɴ". A light blue background forms, and the Ḟᴜ̇ɴ text moves to the left. Meanwhile, the text "Club" writes itself and moves to the right. This completes the text Ḟᴜ̇ɴ Club. The Samsung wordmark appears above the Ḟᴜ̇ɴ Club text. The URL appears below as well. There is also a reflection under the Ḟᴜ̇ɴ Club text.
• Shutdown: The blobs from the startup all fall in swirling over a light blue circular background. The background turns white, and the Samsung wordmark in blue fades in along with the Ḟᴜ̇ɴ Club text below and the URL. Both are which small and under the big blue S/\MSUNG wordmark.

Variants:

• There is a variant with just the Samsung logo. The blobs form "S/\M" and turn white, and then "SUNG" appears next to "S/\M".
• There exists Anycall variants on phones sold in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan with the Anycall branding:
  • On the startup, the Samsung logo is moved to the left, and the Anycall logo is placed next to it. The "/\" of the Samsung logo is also changed to a normal "A". The URL is absent in this variant.
  • A variant of the startup features the blobs forming the "Any" part of the red Anycall logo, before the "call" slides in. Again, no URL is seen.
  • The shutdown beings with the same animation, but with the red Anycall logo below the Samsung logo, and without the Funclub logo and URL below. There is also a variant where the logos are smaller.

Technique: CGI-animated sequence stored in the phone's ROM.

Music/Sounds:

• Originally, it was the same music from the Samsung Mobile startup and shutdowns. This included the new music from the variants, and different polyphonic versions of the themes.
• A 6-note theme, beginning with ascending chimes and played mainly by a synth. The shutdown sound had different notes, and these were adjusted again in later devices. Other slight rearrangements exist. This was mostly featured in 2005 phones.
• A repeating theme, which was first used on the D600 and P850. It is slightly modified in the shutdown. Later phones featured a loungy rearrangement of this tune.
• A mellow 5-note theme with strings. The notes are different in the shutdown version. Used on devices like D600, E250, and E390.
• An ascending theme with strings. The shutdown sound had a descending version of the theme. This was mainly used for basic CDMA phones by Samsung.
• A 7-note happy-sounding plucked synth tune. The notes are adjusted with a pad playing along it in the shutdown.
• A 4-note tune. For the startup, it goes A, G, A, C. Quieter bleeping notes are heard at the end. For the shutdown, it goes A, F, A, G; the first two notes of the shutdown are higher pitched. This theme would then become adopted by Samsung Mobile during the rest of the 2000s. There could be a synth chord drone accompanying the melody or none, depending on the model.

Availability: Seen on some Fun Club phones, beginning with SGH-D600 and ending with SGH-C160.

2nd Logo (2006-2008)

• 

  Normal variant.

• 

  High contrast variant.

• 

  Blue wordmark variant.

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  Blue wordmark variant (5:4).

• 

  Squished variant.

• 

  Anycall variant.

• 

  Beat DJ variant.

Logo:

• Startup: Gold dots form a gold Ḟ. We then zoom out of the magenta ᴜ̇ which is also filled with dots. After zooming out it is revealed to be the text "Ḟᴜ̇ɴ" with the ɴ being blue instead of light blue. It then cuts to the same thing from before but with a black background and with an extra "www." right next to "samsungmobile.com".
• Shutdown: We zoom in from the different letters of Ḟᴜ̇ɴ. The Ḟᴜ̇ɴ Club text then zooms out and the same thing from the startup appears.

Variants:

• Sometimes the logo can be high contrasted.
• There is an alternate variant where after the Ḟᴜ̇ɴ text forms, the end is shown for a split second, then a new scene plays: blue dots form the blue S/\MSUNG wordmark. After that, it cuts to the end of the startup but this time with the Samsung wordmark blue.
• There exists a variant where the end logo is squished.
• A variant exists on Chinese Anycall phones where the "Anycall" text is shown next to the Samsung logo.
• On the M7600 Beat DJ model, a still version of this logo appears after the special bootup sequence, with everything grouped near the center.

Technique: CGI-animated sequence stored in the phone's ROM.

Music/Sounds:

• An ascending harp, leading to the rearrangement of the 4-note bell theme used by Samsung Mobile for the time. The shutdown version has a similar rearrangement.
• Another re-arrangement of the 4-note theme, with electronic instruments and a slight beat, with a whispered voice that sounds like its saying "down, down" at the middle. The shutdown version of the theme is similar.
• There are other rearrangements of the sounds, mostly on lower-spec devices.
• Some phones featuring the Anycall variant feature a light, chiming theme that was introduced in the 13th Anycall animation from South Korea.
• On a few other Chinese Anycall devices, a Chinese-style rearrangement of the theme is used.

Availability: Seen on some Fun Club phones.

3rd Logo (2006-2008)

Logo:

• Startup: Multiple light streaks appear around the screen and form the Samsung Fun Club logo from before as particles appear around it. The URL fades under.
• Shutdown: The logo disappears as the particles are seen around it.

Technique: CGI-animated sequence stored in the phone's ROM.

Music/Sounds: The electronic rearrangement of the 4-note theme.

Availability: Seen on the Samsung SGH-L310 and some other Samsung Fun Club phones.

4th Logo (2007?)

Logo:

• Startup: On a leather background, we see multiple white curved streaks and drop-like shapes drawing in. The Samsung Funclub logo then fades in at the center, along with a large "WWW.SAMSUNGMOBILE.COM" URL below.
• Shutdown: A still take of the end result, with the screen dimming after a second.

Technique: Animated sequence stored in the phone's ROM.

Music/Sounds: The chime theme used in the Anycall variant of the 2nd logo.

Availability: Unknown. ^[Examples?]

External Links

Samsung Fun Club on Art. Lebedev Studio