Impact Label SWL Font

Impact Label SWL from Tension Type is a free distorted caps display font with hand-cut, uneven forms. Its narrow strokes swell and pinch unpredictably, and rough inner lines give the letters a scuffed, almost carved surface. The shapes feel deliberately awkward.

Designers working in punk, skate, or underground music culture could use it for posters, merchandise, and record packaging, where the damaged contours suit raw illustration and collage. Its crooked construction also fits independent labels and youth-oriented event graphics that favor handmade lettering over a clean commercial finish.

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The typeface was created after the designer found an old white-labeled Dymo labeller in a second-hand store. The labeller had two type versions, one horizontal. The typeface is monospaced and includes most basic Latin characters.

Automatic ligatures do not work in InDesign because the software adds an extra space, black in this case, over the glyph. To use them in InDesign, use Impact Label SWL Reversed and add your own rectangles behind the type.