To celebrate the inclusion of Base 900 in the Walker Art Center exhibit Graphic Design: Now In Production we have added the Base 900 Type Specimen to our list of free downloadable PDF catalogs.

 

The Emigre typeface Base 900 and the book Emigre No. 70: The Look Back Issue were selected to be featured in the exhibit Graphic Design: Now in Production at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. This major international exhibition explores how graphic design has broadened its reach dramatically over the past decade, expanding from a specialized profession to a widely deployed tool. Graphic Design: Now in Production is the largest museum exhibition on the subject since the Walker's seminal 1989 exhibition Graphic Design in America: A Visual Language History in which Emigre's work was also represented.

 

Emigre magazine issues #10 and #11 are included in the exhibition Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970-1990 at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. This exhibit, which features work by the likes of Peter Saville, Frank Gehry, Philippe Starck, Robert Venturi, and Ettore Sottsass, sets out to answer the questions "What does postmodernism mean, and where did it come from?" And while some of its participants have tried to distance themselves from postmodernism, Emigre is proud to have been an active participant in this controversial movement which continues to defy definition.

Read Rick Poynor's review of the the exhibition here.

 

All 13 typographic labels designed for the Historia type specimen are included in the exhibit Deep Surface: Contemporary Ornament and Pattern at the Contemporary Art Museum in Raleigh, NC. Curated by Denise Gonzales-Crisp and Susan Yelavich the exhibition is comprised of works from 42 international designers and artists and speaks to the pervasiveness and relevance of pattern and ornament in graphic design, industrial design, fashion, furnishings, architecture and digital media.

 

Emigre's award winning type specimen catalogs are now available for free as downloadable PDF files. Many have been long out of print and some have reached collector item status. So if you haven't received these in the past, or have lost your copy, here is your opportunity to receive these beautifully designed type catalogs delivered directly to your computer for immediate typographic perusal.

 

Rudy VanderLans couldn't be more proud of the latest Emigre typeface release. Alda, designed by Berton Hasebe, was conceived and developed at VanderLans' Alma Mater, The Royal Academy of Art (KABK) in The Hague. "This typeface wears its local heritage on its sleeve," said VanderLans. "It exudes Dutch type design to such a degree, it makes me feel homesick. It has that beautiful combination of being both robust and elegant. It's a great text typeface. I can't wait to use it in some of my own designs." See if you can beat VanderLans to it by purchasing your own copy of Alda right now.

A short interview with Hasebe about his experiences at KABK is posted in our essays and interviews section. (Photo of KABK building, The Hague, by Hyo Kwon.)

 

Jonathan Hoefler sent us this wonderful example of Suburban at a coffee house around the corner from their office called La Colombe. We never imagined neon as a viable application for Suburban when we designed it, but it works remarkably well. Our hats off to whoever produced that sign.

 

Twenty years after we first published our thoughts on legibility in Emigre magazine, the rest of the world is finally catching up. We raised a lot of eyebrows in those days. Our less than neutral layouts and jarring typeface designs were criticized and dismissed as self indulgent and were deemed to interfere with the readers' ability to read texts and comprehend messages. The opposition to our experiments was so vehement that the ensuing battle was referred to by many as "The Legibility Wars."

Well, it turns out that researchers have found what we suspected all along: that slowing the reader down actually helps them concentrate harder and retain more information. Disfluency, as the researchers call it, improves retention. Or as The New York Times put it: "...people retain significantly more material when they study it in a font that is not only unfamiliar but also hard to read."

Of course we're not absolutists on this issue, and we're highly skeptical of findings by researchers who have little knowledge of the complexities of type and design. But it was always obvious to us that there's more to effective typography than simply making things legible.

 

When the AIGA decided to discontinue their annual design competition, "50 Books/50 Covers," in early 2011, members and non-members alike reacted en masse. Designers and publishers love the printed book, and a public petition to save "50/50" resulted in over a thousand signatures in only a few days convincing the AIGA to reinstate the popular competition.

It's inspiring to see this passionate interest in the art of traditional book making. And we're proud to be a part of this long running event, as Emigre and its publisher Gingko Press have been on the receiving end of two "50/50" Certificates of Excellence. In 2010 we received one for Emigre No. 70: The Look Back Issue. And in 2001 the award was bestowed on Supermarket.

 

It is more than 20 years ago since Zuzana Licko, in reply to a skeptical question about the viability of her bitmapped typefaces in print applications, said: "why did letter press type start to look a certain way, and why was that eventually accepted? Not because people were reading the type off the bed of the letterpress. They were still reading it off the printed page. That didn't have anything more to do with casting lead than it does with computer chips today, but that's where it comes from, and that's what we've gotten used to."

Not to further complicate the issue, but if you're so inclined you can now read Licko's trademark bitmapped screen type off the bed of a letterpress as well.

These wonderful wood letters of Oakland (renamed Lo-Res in 2001) were created by Evan Christie, a student at Juliet Shen's Level 1 Typography class at the School of Visual Concepts in Seattle, WA. "Typefaces of the past, many of which are now staples of modern graphic design, took physical form as moveable type," said Evan. "I wanted to use a typeface that was never meant to take physical form, and Oakland was the perfect typeface to use because it embodies the birth of the digital era where nothing is tangible." Christie milled the maple down to type height and etched the letters in long strips using an epilog laser engraver. They were then cut off the strip into individual blocks.

It doesn't resolve any legibility issues, but it resulted in some beautiful prints and brought a smile to Zuzana's face. Thanks Evan!

(A flurry of attention has resurrected Oakland as of recently, as it is also one of 23 digital typefaces recently acquired by The Museum of Modern Art in New York.)

 

ShowTime #3

Emigre Loves Ed

Introducing Program

ShowTime #2

ShowTime #1

Talk of the Town

Cataloguing Emigre Magazine

Celebrate 65

Back to School Special

Clutter

Designers & Books

Typopassage Timisoara

Emigre in Brno

Big in Romania

Designers & Books

Alda Designer Berton Hasebe Receives Print Magazine Honors

Emigre Sponsors TYPO San Francisco 2012

Mr & Mrs Eaves Completed

Emigre at Museum of Modern and Contemp. Art in Bolzano, Italy

Base 900 PDF Catalog

Emigre at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis

Emigre at Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Emigre at Contemporary Art Museum, Raleigh, NC

Emigre Fonts PDF Catalogs

Dutch Treat

Neon Suburban

The Legibility Wars are Over and the Winner is...

Books of Excellence

Bitmapped Maple

A Note on the Type

Emigre Inducted

Emigre Typefaces Enter MoMA Design Collection

Council Holding Court in New Orleans

Emigre Magazine Preserved in Zurich

Lost Battlefield Marker Found

Emigre Featured on Fast Company Website

Emigre Publishes New Type Specimen

Emigre Book at Athenaeum Bookstore in Amsterdam

Emigre at Gallery 16

Emigre at Gallery 16 Installation

Emigre Book at SFMoMA Museum Store

Emigre Book at William Stout

Emigre Magazine at Berardo Museum in Lisbon, Portugal

Emigre Featured in IDEA Magazine

Brand New Emigre Catalog Arrives at Emeryville Warehouse

Emigre Puzzler Prints at North Berkeley Frame & Gallery

Emigre Photo Portfolio Presented at The Photography Show 2007

Emigre at the Museum of Modern Art, New York

Emigre Vases at Heath Ceramics

Emigre Photo at San Jose Museum of Art

A Graphic History of Emigre Magazine by Idea

Emigre Magazine at Visionaire Gallery

Emigre at the Centre Pompidou, Paris

Emigre and Gallery 16 Present: 13 Big Western Landscapes
by Rudy Vand

World Wide Farewell Tour

Fish Eye; A Talk for the Screen

 
Emigre Newsletter
You can add yourself to the Emigre Newsletter emailing list. We use the Emigre Newsletter to help keep you informed of new products, services, and special limited offers.