Typeface weight and pairing

Typeface selection is critical to establishing visual hierarchy.Among a typeface’s most important attributes are weight – the width of the strokes that compose its letters – and style, like serif and sans serif. Other modifications like italicization can play a role too.

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Note how typeface affects the hierarchy order of the words in the below web design for The Tea Factory: “the perfect teas to keep you warm” is the focal point, but differences in type weight and italicization, in addition to word placement, produce a more dynamic, less linear, reading experience. “See our selection,” the call to action, is more strongly emphasized than the text above it due to sizing and spacing.

In some cases, the goal is to present a variety of information as equally urgent. Setting it all to the same size and weight would accomplish the equivalency, but would also make it monotonous. Differentiating the typefaces is one way to avoid this, as on the below Trendi magazine cover.

Here, the five teasers around the periphery of the page are all equal on the hierarchy, but achieve variety by altering between two well-paired typefaces – one a mid-weight serif, the other a lightweight but tall sans serif.