Distressed Gobu 3 is a light, normal width, medium contrast, upright, normal x-height font.
Keywords: book covers, editorial, posters, titles, packaging, antique, weathered, storybook, hand-inked, rustic, evoke age, add texture, create atmosphere, heritage feel, serifed, chiseled, roughened, uneven, organic.
A serifed text face with slender stems and subtly flared terminals, rendered with deliberately rough, broken outlines. Edges show burrs, nicks, and ink-splatter-like ragging that creates a worn print texture, while counters remain mostly open and legible. Proportions are moderately narrow with varied letter widths, and the rhythm feels slightly irregular due to the distressed contours and occasional asymmetric details at joins and terminals. Numerals and lowercase follow the same treatment, keeping a consistent, lightly eroded silhouette across the set.
Well-suited for display and short-to-medium text where an aged, tactile texture is desired—book covers, chapter openers, editorial pull quotes, posters, and themed packaging. It can also work in branding for heritage or craft-oriented concepts where a refined serif feel is needed but with a weathered, human touch.
The overall tone reads like aged paper and imperfect presswork—literary, historical, and a little mysterious. The distressed finish adds a tactile, handmade quality that suggests old folios, artifacts, or atmospheric narrative settings rather than polished corporate typography.
Likely designed to combine a traditional serif foundation with intentional surface wear, mimicking distressed ink and timeworn printing. The goal appears to be maintaining readability while adding character through roughened edges and subtle irregularities.
The distressing appears applied consistently as edge wear rather than heavy deformation, so the underlying serif structure stays clear at text sizes. At larger sizes, the ragged perimeter becomes a primary feature and can be used as a decorative texture in its own right.