Martin Fowler • 1/28/2026

Bliki: Excessive Bold

Martin Fowler's article 'Excessive Bold' analyzes the growing trend of overusing bold font in technical and business writing, a practice amplified by LLMs. He argues that excessive bold text is self-defeating, reducing its power to emphasize. Fowler compares typographical tools like bold, italics, capitals, and underlines, advocating for the sparing and strategic use of bold (e.g., for headings or key terms) and a preference for subtler italics for emphasis within prose.

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#llm #technical writing #Typography