When To Bold Text

This is a point of contention among creators so I decided to break it out into its own section.

Some letterers believe bolding should be used to emphasize key points in dialogue. The idea is that you should be able to read just the bolded points and still get a clear understanding of what’s going on.

“Have you been outside today? The weather has been crazy. So hot. By the way, Jim is dead.”

That’s an exaggeration but you get the idea. If you noticed, I use this technique with the guide.

The problem with this style is that it often breaks the natural reading flow of the text. Because of this, some letterers believe that bolding should be reserved for emphasis in speech.

“SHUT UP TOMMY!”

“NO YOU SHUT UP!”

Personally I tend to agree with the second group since I find the excessive use of bolding gets obnoxious after a while. It’s a bit like putting commas, everywhere, in your, dialogue. That said, if you’re going for a classic comic feel you might want to consider that first approach.