Serif Other Rafy 2 is a regular weight, narrow, high contrast, upright, normal x-height font.
Keywords: posters, headlines, book covers, brand marks, event titles, victorian, theatrical, vintage, mysterious, formal, display impact, vintage revival, dramatic tone, space saving, condensed, bracketed serifs, vertical stress, sharp terminals, tall ascenders.
This typeface is a condensed serif with tall proportions, strong vertical emphasis, and pronounced contrast between thick stems and hairline joins. Serifs are small and bracketed with crisp, slightly flared terminals, giving strokes a carved, inked look rather than a monoline feel. Counters are compact and often squared-off or softly rounded at the corners, while curves stay taut and controlled. The lowercase maintains a readable, straightforward structure with narrow bowls and long ascenders/descenders, and the numerals follow the same compressed, high-contrast rhythm for a cohesive texture in text.
It performs best in display contexts where its contrast, tight width, and distinctive serifs can be appreciated—such as posters, headlines, book covers, and branded titling. It can also work for short editorial callouts or captions when a vintage, dramatic voice is desired, but will feel dense in longer passages at small sizes.
The overall tone feels theatrical and old-world, evoking playbills, gothic editorial display, and turn-of-the-century signage. Its compressed stance and sharp detailing lend a slightly ominous, dramatic character while still reading as disciplined and typographically formal.
The design appears intended to reinterpret a condensed, high-contrast serif tradition with extra ornamental sharpness and a slightly squared geometry, aiming for impact and atmosphere without becoming overly elaborate. It balances recognizable serif construction with a distinctive, stage-poster flavor for attention-grabbing typography.
In running text the narrow set creates a dense, vertical cadence, with distinctive punctuation and a noticeably stylized ampersand that reinforces the decorative, display-leaning personality. Round letters tend to appear more rectangular than circular, which helps maintain a consistent, column-like silhouette across words.