Emigre Inc Catalog and Posters Collection

Collection

Identifier: M503

Staff Only

Abstract

Founded in 1984, Emigre, Inc. is a design company known for creative magazines and posters featuring new and interesting digital layouts and typeface designs. This collection holds a number of product catalogs displaying the types of fonts available for purchase, along with music, magazines, books, and multi-media. This collection also contains posters that sometimes accompanied the Emigre Magazine, or were sold separately.

Not included in the archival collection are the Emigre Magazines, which are cataloged separately in the University Library bibliographic collection.

Dates

Other: Date Not Yet Determined

Biographical / Historical

Emigre, Inc. is a digital type foundry based in Berkeley, California. Founded in 1984, coinciding with the birth of the Macintosh computer, the Emigre team, consisting of Rudy VanderLans and Zuzana Licko, with the addition of Tim Starback in 1993, were among the early adaptors to the new digital technology.

From 1984 until 2005 Emigre published the legendary Emigre magazine, a quarterly publication devoted to visual communication. Emigre created some of the very first digital layouts and typeface designs winning them both world-wide acclaim and much criticism. The exposure of these typefaces in Emigre magazine eventually lead to the creation of Emigre Fonts, one of the first independent type foundries utilizing personal computer technology for the design and distribution of fonts. They created the model for hundreds of small foundries who followed in their footsteps.

As a team, Emigre has been honored with numerous awards including the 1994 Chrysler Award for Innovation in Design, and the 1998 Charles Nypels Award for excellence in the field of typography. In 1993 they were selected as a leading design innovator in the First Annual I.D. Forty. Emigre is also a recipient of the 1997 American Institute of Graphic Arts Gold Medal Award, its highest honors. In October 2010 the Emigre team was inducted as Honorary members of the Society of Typographic Arts, Chicago, and in 2013 Licko received the prestigious Annual Typography Award from the Society of Typographic Aficionados. Most recently (2016) Emigre received the 29th New York Type Directors Club Medal. (emigre.com/about)

Extent

2.5 Linear Feet

Additional Description

Scope and Contents

The scope of this collection includes Emigre Inc materials including catalogs and posters. The only exception is Emigre magazines, which should be cataloged with bibliographic materials.

Arrangement

This collection is mostly unarranged. Catalogs are separated out from posters for ease of storage.

Related Materials

This collection was donated by University Professor Rafael Fajardo. These materials are used in classroom instruction and personal reference. His collection can be found as M501, the Rafael Fajardo Papers.