Slab Contrasted Onre 2 is a very bold, very narrow, medium contrast, upright, tall x-height font visually similar to 'Playbill' by Bitstream, 'Playbill EF' by Elsner+Flake, 'Westward JNL' by Jeff Levine, 'Buffalo Circus' and 'Buffalo Western' by Kustomtype, 'Playbill' by Linotype, 'Playbill SB' and 'Playbill SH' by Scangraphic Digital Type Collection, and 'Playbill' by URW Type Foundry (names referenced only for comparison).
Keywords: posters, headlines, signage, branding, packaging, western, circus, vintage, playful, poster, retro display, space saving, high impact, sign painting, woodtype revival, bracketed, rounded, chunky, woodtype, ink-trap.
A condensed, heavy display face with slabby, bracketed serifs and softly rounded corners throughout. Strokes are thick and compact, with visible contrast where vertical stems dominate and the serif blocks feel slightly lighter or notched. The drawing shows a woodtype-like rhythm: counters are small and often squarish, joins are tight, and several glyphs feature subtle bite-like notches and pinch points that create a stamped or carved impression. Overall spacing is compact, and the letterforms feel tall and sturdy, producing dense, emphatic text color in lines of copy.
Best suited to large sizes where its condensed width and chunky slabs can create impact without taking too much horizontal space. It works especially well for posters, event titles, storefront-style signage, labels, and brand marks that want a retro print or Western-leaning tone. In longer passages it remains readable but will stay visually dominant, so it’s most effective for short bursts of copy and display settings.
The font conveys a classic show-poster attitude—bold, theatrical, and a little mischievous. Its carved, print-era flavor evokes old storefront signage, saloon lettering, and traveling circus or carnival ephemera, balancing toughness with a friendly roundness.
The design appears intended to reinterpret vintage slab and woodtype models in a compact, high-impact form, emphasizing strong verticals, bracketed slabs, and deliberate notching for a hand-printed, heritage feel. The goal is clearly attention and character rather than neutrality, delivering a confident, poster-ready voice with nostalgic roots.
Uppercase forms read as strong and architectural, while the lowercase keeps the same condensed, blocky voice with simplified shapes and tight apertures. Numerals match the heavy, upright stance and maintain the same slab-driven silhouette, keeping headings and set-in-figure text visually consistent.