macintosh as a life-changer

 

 

In 1984, when the Apple Macintosh computer went on sale, Zuzana bought one and began experimenting with digital fonts. That same year, Rudy and two Dutch artist friends founded Emigre magazine. From the third issue onwards it was typeset entirely using Zuzana’s fonts. The exposure of Zuzana’s fonts in the Emigre magazine eventually lead to the establisment of the Emigre digital foundry in 1986, solidifying the connection between her fonts and the magazine’s wonderfully bizarre look. Licko’s claim that typefaces such as Helvetica and Times Roman are not intrinsically legible, that they become legible through repeated usage, inspired her famous saying: “We read best what we read most.” This set off a discussion within the world of type design that filled many issues of Emigre and is referred to in design history books as the “Legibility Wars.”

 

Digital fonts order sent in addition to issue No. 6 of Emigre magazine
Cover of Emigre magazine, issue No. 11. Graphic Designers and the Macintosh Computer

Digital fonts order sent in addition to issue No. 6 of Emigre magazine, 1986.

Cover of Emigre magazine, issue No. 11 called Graphic Designers and the Macintosh Computer, 1989.

 

Page spread of Digital Fonts type specimen booklet. Pixelated font examples

Page spread of Digital Fonts type specimen booklet, circa 1986.

Cover of Emigre magazine, issue No. 4. The Magazine That Ignores Boundaries
Cover of Emigre magazine, issue No. 12. Letters IZATION on a red pixelated background
Created with Sketch.

our emigre collaboration works because we each control a distinct part of the equation. i control my typeface designs, rudy controls the magazine, and emigre is the symbiosis. —zuzana licko

 

Cover Story No. 1. Digital pigment print

Cover Story No. 1, digital pigment print published by Gallery 16, 2009.

 

 

interview master

One could say that the magic of Emigre magazine came from three key elements: Zuzana’s fonts; a layout to demonstrate their potential; and Rudy’s extraordinary interviews. It’s often said that only a small portion of the audience bothered to read Emigre thoroughly, so visually astonishing were its layouts, however those who did, discovered deep insights about design culture. It’s lengthy interviews featured an international roster of designers like Vaughan Oliver, April Greiman, Wolfgang Weingart, David Carson, Hard Werken, The Designers Republic, and Experimental Jetset to name just a few.

 

 

Page spread of Emigre magazine, issue No. 19 called Starting from Zero, 1991.

 

Page spread from Emigre magazine. Ray Gun

Page spread from Emigre magazine, issue No. 24 called Neomania, 1992.

 

Page spread from Emigre magazine

Page spread from Emigre magazine, issue No. 43 called Designers are People Too, 1997.

 

 

Page spread from Emigre magazine

Page spread from Emigre magazine, issue No. 43 called Designers are People Too, 1997.

 

 

 

Page spread from Emigre magazine

Page spread from Emigre magazine, issue No. 26 called All Fired Up, 1993.

 

 

 

 

Page spread from Emigre magazine, issue No. 31 called Raising Voices, 1994.

Created with Sketch.

it’s not so much a problem of being a woman in a man’s world, it’s being a type designer in a world that gives little recognition to this art form, and i find this disillusioning. —zuzana licko

Cover of The Emigre Catalog 1998. A number 98 on a white and yellow background
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