An Interview with Zuzana Licko

Zuzana Licko co-founded Emigre — one of the first independent digital type foundries — in 1984. This interview with Licko was conducted on the eve of Emigre’s 15th anniversary in 1998.

How do you get ideas for new typeface designs?

Most of my inspiration comes from the particular medium that I’m involved with at the time. I search out a problem that needs to be addressed or a unique result that a production method can yield.

For example, my interest in making type was initiated by my need for unique and more effective fonts than those originally available for the Macintosh computer screen and dot matrix printer in 1984. As graphic designers, we also enjoyed the new found ability to test and implement the faces directly within our design work. Initially I was designing typefaces exclusively for use in Emigre magazine, but as other designers expressed interest in using them as well, we formed Emigre Font in 1986.
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Jeffery Keedy: Thoughts on Designing Type

The following article was written for FontShop by Jeffery Keedy.

In the early days of digital design I was frustrated by how few good typefaces were available in digital form. Also I realized that most typefaces were extremely out-of-date and did not express the spirit of our time. I felt it had become impossible to do new typography with old typefaces that were exhausted of meaning.

I believe it is essential to have new typefaces to do new and innovative typography. When the new digital technology made it possible to design and use your own typefaces, like many other designers, that is exactly what I did.
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David Berlow: The Making of California

The following article was written for FontShop by David Berlow, founder of Font Bureau.

California magazine hired Roger Black to propose a redesign in 1987. The technology of the publishing industry at the time was proprietary hardware and software, and was not particularly open to typographic innovation as we know it today. But with the recent arrival of the PostScript PDL and Mac-to-Typesetter output, Black believed that custom fonts were possible within the time constraints of the redesign. He convinced the client that a unique look and feel, partially achieved through typography, would be a valuable addition to the redesign. Black felt that Frederic Goudy’s Californian and the bold Clarendons of the Nebiolo foundry, heretofore unavailable as digital fonts, would give the magazine that California ambiance with style and “punch.” He found that Carol Twombly of Adobe had experimentally digitized portions of Californian. But Adobe was busy with the development of other faces so Black received Adobe’s permission to continue development of Californian on his own. Meanwhile, the client agreed on the revival of Californian, and also to a bold serif that became Belizio, and a “go ahead” was given for design development of custom typefaces.
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