Some weight nomenclatures call a 50% weight increase “demibold”, and a 100% increase, “bold”, whereas others call a 50% increase “bold” and a 100% increase “black”. Readers may detect weight variations of as little as 4%, and sometimes even less, but such slight differences are not psychologically or semantically effective. Depending on the measurement method, a “bold” weight is roughly 40% to 50% bolder than its normal weight, but some bold weights are considerably bolder. For simplicity, type designers often measure weight by stem thickness, but another measure is total black area. This is both a visual and a numerical determination. Most type designers adjust the weight of “bold” to be clearly bolder than the normal weight. How much bolder should a 'bold' be to be bold? For advertising, marketing, publicity, and other kinds of typography intended to attract, alert, shock, or persuade, light and bold weights differentiate a message from run of the mill text. In book typography, darker weight types can seem oppressive after many pages of reading, whereas a slightly lighter weight may seem more congenial.Ħ. For running text, slight differences in weight can make a text seem more pleasant to read. Weight can evoke a visual mood, such as a light tone to suggest a light subject, or a dark tone to suggest a serious subject. Also, when text is reversed out of a black background in print, it can look lighter because of the surrounding black areas, so in reverse, a slightly bolder weight can be better.ĥ.

When text is displayed in black on a high-resolution digital screen, the text can seem eroded by the bright white background, so a slightly bolder weight is often better. Lucida offers gradations of weights to compensate for underinking, overinking, and a range of imaging conditions. Some media and printing methods tend to darken type, while others tend to lighten type. To fine-tune text gradations to specific printing or display media. Different weights can tune the gray tone of text for a particular context, whether to match or to contrast with the average tonal range of photographs or images.Ĥ. Greater weight can also help colored type look the same weight as black type in a lighter weight.ģ.

A light face in a red color usually looks pink, not red, but a bold weight in red looks red, not pink. A light weight in blue can look pastel, but in bold it can look true blue. Typographers can use bolder weights to give more area to text, to accentuate and strengthen color. Weight can mark a definition, a name, or any other part of text that an author, editor, or typographer wishes to emphasize.Ģ. Noticeable visual difference between one weight and another can emphasize or distinguish selected parts of text, such as titles, headings or subheadings. Typeface weights have multiple functions.ġ. Visual and Semantic Functions of Typeface Weight

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