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

Cover Story No. 2, digital pigment print published by Gallery 16, 2009.

 

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.”