some people can rattle off ideas right off the top of their heads, and those are the people who enjoy blogs. i enjoy sitting down and reflecting for hours, days, and often still find i have nothing new to add. —rudy vanderlans
Cover Story No. 2, digital pigment print published by Gallery 16, 2009.
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, 1986.
Cover of Emigre magazine, issue No. 11 called Graphic Designers and the Macintosh Computer, 1989.
Page spread of Digital Fonts type specimen booklet, circa 1986.
Cover of Emigre magazine, issue No. 12 called Press Time!, 1989.
Cover of Emigre magazine, issue No. 4 called The Magazine That Ignores Boundaries, 1986.
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 published by Gallery 16, 2009.
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.
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
