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New in the Online Archive: Emigre Magazine

For the first time since its founding in 1984, the full run of the boundary-breaking magazine is now free to access, read, and explore.

Interior spread of Emigre #37: Joint Venture, 1996.

In 2016, Letterform Archive was honored to receive the incredible donation of Emigre, Inc.’s archives. Emigre is the name of both this pioneering independent digital type foundry and the magazine they produced from 1984–2005. Issues 2–4 heralded the subtitle: “The Magazine that Ignores Boundaries.” Aiming to encourage international contributions and appeal, Emigre magazine was a forum for inspiration and design criticism. Their unconventional layouts and early adoption of the Macintosh computer were major influences on digital design. Contributors like design writer and critic Rick Poyner and designer and educator Mr. Keedy tackled topics head on, like designing in the postmodern era. For researchers and students of design, this magazine is a time capsule of important work — and, maybe more importantly, critique of both culture and design thinking.

Hi-fi captures let you zoom (with a click or a pinch) to see details and read every article. Shown: Emigre #38.

Today we’re excited to announce free online access to the full collection of Emigre for the first time ever. Rudy VanderLans and Zuzana Licko, Emigre founders, were integral in bringing these to you. It was part of their vision for their archives. They even, very generously, helped us catalog to ensure we accurately cited each contributor to every issue of their magazine. You can view and read them all on our Online Archive, which is now open to all. We hope you enjoy this collection as much as we do.