Sans Contrasted Gobu 7 is a very bold, very wide, high contrast, upright, normal x-height font visually similar to 'EF Serpentine Serif' and 'Serpentine EF' by Elsner+Flake, 'Serpentine' by Image Club, 'Serpentine' by Linotype, and 'Serpentine' by URW Type Foundry (names referenced only for comparison).
Keywords: headlines, posters, branding, packaging, signage, sporty, industrial, impactful, retro, assertive, maximum impact, display clarity, signage utility, brand presence, blocky, square, compressed counters, rounded corners, ink-trap notches.
A heavy, block-built sans with broad proportions and a compact internal rhythm. Strokes are predominantly straight and planar, with gently rounded outer corners and frequent wedge-like terminals that create a chiseled, engineered feel. Contrast shows up as tapered joins and angled cuts rather than calligraphic modulation, producing crisp shoulders and tight, squared counters in letters like O, P, and B. The lowercase follows the same muscular construction, with short ascenders, sturdy bowls, and small apertures that keep the texture dense at display sizes.
Best suited for short, high-impact text such as headlines, logos, packaging titles, and wayfinding where bold silhouettes matter more than fine detail. It can work for subheads or callouts, but the dense counters and tight apertures make it less comfortable for long passages at small sizes.
The overall tone is forceful and energetic, suggesting athletic signage, machinery labeling, and punchy headline typography. Its squared silhouettes and sharp cuts add a slightly retro, utilitarian character while remaining clean and modern in presentation.
The letterforms appear designed to deliver maximum presence with a tough, engineered geometry, using angled cuts and compact counters to maintain clarity in an extremely heavy style. The consistent, wide stance and sturdy joins suggest an emphasis on display performance for branding and large-format graphics.
The design relies on angled cut-ins and notched joins (notably in curves and diagonals) to prevent forms from clogging at weight, giving many glyphs a subtly "tooled" look. Numerals are equally robust and geometric, matching the caps in width and presence for consistent, poster-like impact.