Slab Contrasted Ishi 10 is a very bold, narrow, medium contrast, upright, tall x-height font visually similar to 'OL Contact Classic' by Dennis Ortiz-Lopez, 'Display Roman JNL' by Jeff Levine, 'Neo Contact' by Linotype, 'Colonel Serial' by SoftMaker, 'FTY SKORZHEN' by The Fontry, 'TS Colonel' by TypeShop Collection, and 'Neo Contact' by URW Type Foundry (names referenced only for comparison).
Keywords: headlines, posters, branding, packaging, signage, industrial, vintage, editorial, authoritative, rugged, compact impact, display emphasis, vintage utility, strong readability, slab serifs, bracketed, squared terminals, compact, heavy stems.
A heavy, compact slab-serif with strong vertical emphasis and clear, squared-off serifs that read as solid blocks. Strokes show noticeable contrast, with thick stems paired with slightly lighter joins and curves, giving counters a crisp, carved look. The lowercase is sturdy with a large x-height, short extenders, and tight apertures; round letters stay compact while maintaining firm, flattened terminals. Numerals and capitals match the dense color and robust structure, producing a consistent, high-impact texture across lines of text.
Best suited for headlines, short blocks of copy, and display settings where a dense, attention-grabbing voice is desirable. It can work well for branding and packaging that benefit from a sturdy, vintage-leaning slab-serif feel, and for signage-style applications where letterforms need to stay bold and legible.
The tone is bold and workmanlike, evoking vintage printing and industrial signage. Its sturdy slabs and condensed rhythm project confidence and a slightly old-school, poster-like assertiveness. Overall it feels practical and emphatic rather than delicate or refined.
The design appears intended to deliver maximum impact in limited horizontal space while keeping a traditional slab-serif structure. By combining compact proportions with solid serifs and controlled contrast, it aims to feel both utilitarian and distinctly editorial.
In paragraphs, the tight spacing and dark color create a strong typographic “wall,” especially in mixed-case settings. The slab serifs and compressed shapes help maintain readability at larger sizes while emphasizing a strong headline presence.