Typophile

Regular or medium weight?

Jurriaan

Dear typophiles,

I'm an amateur in type and I once read what the idea is behind the 'medium' weight, but now I forgot.

So what I'd like to learn is:

(1)What's the purpose of the medium weight, sitting between standard and semi-bold? What do people generally use it for?

(2)I want to set a letter in Minion Pro. Should I use the standard or the medium weight, or can I opt for either one?

Thanks!

Jurriaan

1. One use for the medium weight is setting negative text (white on black, or some other dark colour. Not sure about the correct English nomenclature.) That will look quite similar to regular set black on white, while regular looks too light. Another use is when printing on cheap paper.

2. I'd use regular. But there are no rules. Try both, and see what's most pleasing and readable.

setting negative text... the correct English nomenclature.

Reverse printing or knockout

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