Emigre (The Book): Graphic Design into the Digital Realm by Rudy VanderLans and Zuzana Licko with Mary E. Gray Published by Van Nostrand Reinhold Reviewed by Scott C. Davis |
Emigre magazine was one of the first to use desktop computer type and graphics. Rudy VanderLans and Zuzana Licko were quick to adopt the Macintosh when it came out in 1984 and to adapt it to the needs of their "on the edge" journal of ideas and images from an international stable of designers and illustrators. The team designed typefaces which used bit-mapped limitations as a discipline that pushed their graphic art and ideology in new directions. The result was energetic page design that mixed illustration, photos, and text. Their book collects some of their best work and establishes them as pioneers in the field. It is more than a catalogue, however, for it chronicles the story of counterculture types in West Berkeley, exiles from Europe and from the graphic design establishment, who decided to finance their own work and, while they were at it, to break every rule in sight. They succeeded, brilliantly, and our world is changed because of it. A seminal work, Emigre is required reading for anyone who expects to work intelligently in the field of publication graphics. |