Serif Contrasted Tiso 12 is a bold, wide, very high contrast, upright, normal x-height font.
Keywords: headlines, posters, book covers, magazine titles, branding, dramatic, formal, editorial, theatrical, vintage, display impact, classic elegance, editorial voice, dramatic contrast, ornamental flavor, ball terminals, vertical stress, hairline serifs, sharp joins, swash-like tails.
A high-contrast serif with pronounced vertical stress, dense main strokes, and razor-thin hairlines. Serifs are fine and crisp with minimal bracketing, and several glyphs feature ball terminals and tapered, calligraphic endings that add sparkle at display sizes. Proportions feel expansive and slightly variable across letters, with large bowls and confident caps; counters are open but framed by heavy stems. The lowercase shows a traditional, readable skeleton with a moderately sized x-height, while select forms (notably in characters like g, j, y, and Q) introduce more idiosyncratic tails and hooks.
Best suited to display settings such as headlines, magazine and editorial titles, posters, and book covers where its contrast and sharp detailing can remain clear. It can also work for branding, packaging, and pull quotes that benefit from a formal, dramatic serif voice. Use with generous size and spacing to preserve the hairline features and avoid dark, crowded text color.
The overall tone is classic and high-impact, leaning toward elegant but assertive rather than delicate. Its sharp contrast and occasional ornamental terminals give it a slightly theatrical, old-world flavor suited to attention-grabbing headlines. The rhythm feels authoritative and composed, with a hint of flamboyance in the swashier details.
The design appears intended to deliver a classic, high-contrast serif look with heightened drama for display typography. By combining crisp hairline serifs, vertical stress, and occasional ball terminals and expressive tails, it aims to provide a refined yet attention-commanding presence for titling and statement text.
In the sample text, the heavy thick strokes and fine hairlines create strong texture and crisp word shapes, but the contrast makes it feel more at home at larger sizes than in dense body copy. Numerals follow the same display-minded contrast, with some figures showing decorative curves and terminal treatments that echo the letters.