Weight is the thickness of a typeface's stroke, from the thinnest to the heaviest. Within a single family, it comes in variants named thin, light, regular, medium, semibold, bold or black.
Where to see it
Weight can be seen by comparing the same word set in regular and then in bold, as in headlines or words emphasized in a text. Families such as Helvetica Neue or Inter offer a wide range of weights, from a very fine “Thin” to a very heavy “Black”.
Why this detail matters
Choosing weights well makes it possible to structure a text without multiplying fonts:
- The contrast between two weights of the same family is often enough to distinguish a headline, a subheading and body text;
- Very thin weights look elegant at large point sizes, but become fragile and hard to read at small sizes or on screen;
- Variable fonts now make it possible to set the weight with great precision, from a single file, to fine-tune it for each use.
Related term
Width refers to how narrow or broad the design of a typeface is; together with weight, it defines the variants of a family.