Typography in practice: type decisions that carry brands

Typography hierarchy is not about size alone — it's about contrast. Contrast in size, weight, style (italic/roman), and spacing. A strong hierarchy has 4-5 distinct levels: display (hero headlines), heading (section titles), subheading (card titles), body (reading text), and caption (metadata, labels). The mistake most designers make: varying only size. A small-but-bold caption can have more visual weight than a large-but-light display headline.