Distressed Emlen 11 is a very bold, normal width, high contrast, upright, normal x-height font.
Keywords: posters, album covers, event flyers, game titles, packaging, grunge, playful, handmade, quirky, rowdy, add grit, look handmade, create impact, inject humor, rough, blotchy, chunky, irregular, inked.
A heavy, chunky display face with irregular, hand-cut silhouettes and intentionally uneven stroke edges. Counters and interiors show scattered nicks and voids, giving a worn, ink-splattered impression rather than clean geometry. Curves are bouncy and slightly asymmetrical, while verticals and diagonals often wobble, creating a lively, non-mechanical rhythm. Overall spacing feels compact and dense, with letters that vary subtly in footprint and texture from glyph to glyph.
Best suited to display settings where texture and attitude are an asset: posters, event flyers, album or podcast artwork, game and entertainment titles, and bold packaging callouts. It works especially well in short headlines, badges, and punchy statements where the distressed interior details can read clearly.
The font projects a gritty, mischievous energy—part street-poster, part DIY print. Its roughened texture and uneven contours read as bold and attention-seeking, while the rounded forms keep it friendly and comedic rather than aggressive.
Designed to deliver high-impact lettering with a deliberately rough, worn print character. The aim appears to be a bold, handmade look that feels energetic and imperfect, echoing distressed signage or inked poster type.
The distressed details are embedded within the letterforms (not just along the outer edge), so the texture remains visible at larger sizes and can start to fill in at smaller sizes. Numerals and capitals carry the same rugged treatment, helping headlines and short bursts of copy keep a consistent, handmade tone.