Slab Contrasted Imla 3 is a bold, narrow, medium contrast, italic, normal x-height font.
Keywords: headlines, posters, branding, packaging, sports titles, editorial, retro, assertive, sporty, industrial, space saving, headline impact, vintage flavor, forward motion, slab serif, bracketed, oblique, compact, dense.
A compact, right-leaning slab-serif with sturdy, bracketed serifs and a tightly paced rhythm. Strokes show noticeable thick–thin modulation that becomes more evident in curves, while verticals stay firm and weighty. The capitals are tall and condensed with crisp terminals; the lowercase is similarly narrow with short ascenders/descenders and a utilitarian, print-like texture. Numerals follow the same condensed, high-impact build, keeping counters relatively tight and forms strongly vertical even within the slant.
Well-suited for headlines, decks, pull quotes, and compact display lines where a strong, condensed voice is needed. It can also work for branding and packaging that wants a rugged, retro-leaning slab-serif character, and for sports or event titling where energy and impact are priorities.
The overall tone feels energetic and workmanlike—part editorial headline, part vintage sign or sports graphic. Its angled posture and dense color project urgency and momentum, while the slab serifs add a grounded, slightly old-school authority.
The design appears intended to deliver a space-efficient, high-impact italic slab that reads confidently at display sizes. Its narrow build and firm slabs suggest a focus on punchy layout economy and a recognizable, vintage-printed voice rather than delicate, long-form text refinement.
In text, the face creates a dark, continuous typographic color with clear word shapes, but the narrow proportions and tight counters make it feel most comfortable when given some breathing room through size or spacing. The italics appear more oblique than calligraphic, emphasizing forward motion over flourish.