Distressed Ekwy 3 is a bold, normal width, high contrast, upright, short x-height font.
Keywords: posters, album covers, streetwear, event flyers, horror titles, grunge, raw, handmade, edgy, noisy, handmade feel, gritty impact, print wear, street energy, brushy, ragged, blotchy, expressive, irregular.
A rough, marker-like display face with thick strokes and heavily distressed contours. Letterforms are built from uneven, pressure-shifted strokes with wobbling verticals, rough terminals, and occasional ink blots or gaps that create a printed-wear effect. Counters are generally open but irregular, and curves (C, O, S) show broken edges and textured interiors. Overall spacing and rhythm feel intentionally inconsistent, with slightly varying character footprints that enhance the handmade, imperfect look.
Best used for short headlines and impactful phrases where texture is a feature—posters, music and entertainment artwork, apparel graphics, packaging accents, and gritty editorial callouts. It’s particularly effective when paired with a clean sans or serif for body copy, letting the distressed letterforms carry the expressive emphasis.
The texture and broken edges give it a gritty, DIY energy—more like scrawled signage or worn screenprint than polished typography. It reads as rebellious and street-leaning, with an expressive, somewhat chaotic tone suited to attention-grabbing messages.
The design appears intended to emulate fast, heavy hand lettering made with a dry brush or worn marker, then reproduced through rough printing or photocopy-like processes. Its primary goal is to deliver strong presence with tactile, imperfect texture rather than typographic neutrality.
Uppercase forms are compact and punchy, while lowercase letters keep a simple handwritten structure with uneven joins and variable stroke drag. Numerals match the same distressed treatment and stay highly legible at display sizes, though the texture can visually fill in at small sizes or in dense paragraphs.