Emigre, the alternative-culture graphic-design magazine launched by Rudy VanderLans and Zuzana Licko in 1984, set the standard for digital typography and design. With the introduction of the Macintosh computer, Licko recognized a tool for constructing typefaces digitally. She and VanderLans founded Emigre Fonts, the first digital type foundry, which introduced early dot-matrix fonts and, as technology improved, issued high-resolution typefaces. Emigre magazine was the testing ground for their digital experimentation, and it was the medium through which they spread their enthusiasm for the new technology. It also provided a forum for a growing community of digital designers.
In sixty–nine issues of Emigre, produced between 1984 and 2005, VanderLans and Licko established graphic design at the forefront of contemporary art practice by taking full advantage of one of the most important innovations of the twentieth century. Their pioneering efforts made strengths out of the aesthetic and technological weaknesses of the fledgling personal computer.
Publication excerpt from The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA Highlights since 1980, New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2007, p. 52.
