Inline Paba 17 is a bold, very wide, very high contrast, upright, tall x-height font.
Keywords: posters, headlines, logos, packaging, titles, art deco, theatrical, luxurious, retro, dramatic, impact, ornamentation, vintage revival, headline display, brand character, inline, stenciled, display, geometric, engraved.
A high-contrast display face built from hefty, wide letterforms with sharp, tapering terminals and frequent internal cut-ins that read like carved inline channels. Many glyphs combine solid black masses with narrow white slits or vertical notches, creating a rhythmic, poster-like texture and a slightly stenciled feel. Bowls and counters are often simplified into bold geometric shapes, while select joins and diagonals introduce pointed, calligraphic flare. Proportions skew wide in caps and many numerals, with a comparatively tall x-height in lowercase and clear, open spacing between the main black forms and the internal cut lines.
Best suited to large-scale display settings where the carved inlines can be appreciated—posters, event and entertainment headlines, brand marks, album/film titles, and premium packaging. It can also work for short pull quotes or mastheads, but is less appropriate for long-form reading due to the intense contrast and decorative internal cuts.
The overall tone is glamorous and stage-ready—evoking vintage marquees, jazz-age ornament, and cinematic title cards. The cut-through inlines add a sense of sparkle and motion, giving the font a confident, attention-seeking presence that feels upscale and slightly eccentric.
The design appears intended to modernize classic decorative display lettering by combining bold geometric silhouettes with engraved inline detailing. It prioritizes impact and stylistic character, producing a distinctive texture that reads as both vintage-inspired and graphic.
The inline carving is used inconsistently across glyph structures in a way that feels intentional and decorative rather than purely functional, producing strong word-shape patterning in text. At smaller sizes the fine internal slits and hairline connections are likely to be the first details to soften, while at large sizes they become a defining visual feature.