Emigre typography and graphic design magazine (1984–2005)

Emigre magazine was a highly influential graphic design publication. It was known for its innovative and experimental approach to typography and graphic design, pushing the boundaries of traditional design norms—for better or worse. The magazine was published from 1984 (year of the Macintosh launch) until 2005, and during its run it played a critical role in shaping the discourse around digital design and typography. It was founded by Rudy VanderLans and his wife Zuzana Licko.

Tell me about it

Emigre is notable for many reasons, and if you’re interested in 80s and 90s design there will surely be something in there for you. I first heard about Emigre when I started work at London graphic design agency Form in 1998, so about three quarters through the run.

Some features that stand out for me personally are:

• Early bitmap fonts (1984) and emoji-like pictograms (1986) created by Zuzana Licko
• Early 1-bit Macintosh art by John Hersey (1985) and many other lovely period details
• Designs by such luminaries as Neville Brody, Erik Spiekermann, and many more
• Articles on people like font designer Aldo Novarese
• Issues dedicated to the record label 4AD (1988) and The Designers Republic (1994)

Online archives

I recently wanted to read some of the issues again and found a couple of online archives:

• Letterform Archive: Emigre Collection (browsable magazines, simplified cross references)
• University of Minnesota: Emigre Magazine Index (only comprehensive cross references)

Digital versions

If you want to take the magazine with you today it’s available in the Emigre Fonts app for iPad/iPhone, which allows you to download the issues for offline reading.

If you can’t use, or would rather not use, the official app I’ve converted the issues to CBZ files. Read those with Panels, Simple Comic, CDisplayEx, or another comic reader app of your choice.

Related reading

• Emigre (magazine) at Wikipedia
• Emigre entry at Type Design Information Page
• Type ‘90 HyperCard Video video of a HyperCard Stack
• Designing the Emigre Magazine Index, Jessica Barness, 2016
• Merz to Emigre and Beyond Avant-Garde Magazine Design of the Twentieth Century
• Verbum “The Journal of Personal Computer-Aesthetics”, Michael Gosney, 1986–