Slab Contrasted Wiha 5 is a very bold, very wide, high contrast, upright, normal x-height font.
Keywords: posters, headlines, signage, packaging, logotypes, western, poster, vintage, collegiate, circus, attention, nostalgia, impact, branding, signpainting, blocky, bracketed, ink-trap, chunky, weighty.
A heavy, display-oriented slab serif with broad proportions and pronounced bracketed serifs. Strokes show a clear thick–thin relationship, with dense verticals and tapered joins that create small notches/ink-trap-like cut-ins at corners and serifs. Counters are compact and rounded, terminals are blunt, and the overall rhythm feels sturdy and emphatic. The lowercase is robust and readable with a substantial x-height and short ascenders/descenders relative to the mass of the letterforms, while numerals match the same chunky, high-impact construction.
Best suited for large-scale typography such as posters, headlines, storefront-style signage, and bold packaging callouts where the slab serifs and contrast can be appreciated. It can also work for logo wordmarks or badges that want a traditional, attention-grabbing feel; for long text, it will be most effective in short bursts like pull quotes or section headers.
The tone is assertive and nostalgic, evoking old-style advertising and show lettering. Its weight and sculpted slabs give it a confident, theatrical presence that reads as energetic and a bit playful rather than formal.
The design appears intended to deliver maximum impact with a classic slab-serif voice, combining wide, sturdy proportions with sculpted contrast and bracketed slabs for a vintage display aesthetic.
Spacing appears intentionally generous in display sizes, allowing the large serifs and strong contrast to remain distinct. The forms maintain a consistent, carved look across caps, lowercase, and figures, with slightly soft curves balancing the otherwise block-like construction.