Changing the weight of a typeface is an easy way to add emphasis. In Fig. 1, the same font is used for both the artist's first and last name. By increasing type weight, however, an emphasis is placed on the artist's last name instead of his first.

One thing to remember when emphasizing in bold is to not necessarily rely on the style bar or formatting palette in any given application to access a bold font. Some font families do not include bold variations, so manually bolding these fonts may result in chunky, disproportionate letterforms.

Also keep in mind that the weight you select to create emphasis should be the result of a careful, conscious decision. Using the next heavier weight in a font family might not be the right choice. In some families, weight changes are subtle. If a weight change is too subtle, it may just distract viewers instead of highlighting important information.

In Fig. 2, type weight is intentionally and drastically varied in order to emphasize the most important information.