Distressed Romam 9 is a bold, normal width, high contrast, upright, normal x-height font visually similar to 'FF Cst Berlin West' by FontFont (names referenced only for comparison).
Keywords: posters, headlines, packaging, album art, event flyers, grunge, industrial, rugged, punchy, raw, add texture, create grit, evoke wear, boost impact, weathered, roughened, inked, stenciled, poster-like.
A heavy, condensed-to-normal sans with blocky, geometric construction and minimal curves. Strokes are thick with crisp, squared terminals, but the letterforms are overlaid with irregular erosion—small chips, scuffs, and voids that break counters and edges like worn ink or distressed printing. Proportions are compact and sturdy, with a relatively low-to-moderate x-height feel in the lowercase and simplified, utilitarian shapes across the set. The texture is consistent across caps, lowercase, and numerals, creating a uniform “printed and worn” surface rather than hand-drawn wobble.
Best suited for display applications where texture is a feature: posters, bold editorial headlines, packaging, labels, album artwork, and gritty event promotions. It works well in short phrases and large sizes where the distressed detailing reads as intentional material texture.
The font conveys a tough, utilitarian tone—like signage, shipping marks, or bold headlines that have been scraped, stamped, and reprinted over time. Its distressed surface adds grit and urgency, while the underlying geometric skeleton keeps the voice direct and functional.
The design appears intended to combine a straightforward, industrial sans foundation with a deliberate layer of wear, evoking aged print, stamped lettering, or battered signage while keeping strong silhouette recognition for impactful display typography.
Counters in rounded letters (O, Q, e, a) show noticeable interior breakup, and straight-sided forms (E, F, H, N) pick up edge chipping that reads clearly at display sizes. The texture can visually darken dense words and may reduce clarity at small sizes where the erosion competes with the letterforms.