She has designed and produced numerous digital typefaces including the popular Mrs Eaves, Modula, Filosofia, and Matrix.
She studied architecture, photography, and computer programming before earning a degree in graphic communications at the University of California at Berkeley.
[2] The first font she created on a computer was a Greek alphabet, adapted for the pen plotter, which her father used on his graph printouts.
[3] When she started her university education, her goal was to earn a degree in architecture, but she changed to a visual studies major when she discovered her passion after taking graphic design and typography classes.
This experience influenced her rejection of many traditional type design practices as she started exploring the capabilities of the Macintosh computer.
VanderLans also started incorporating the bitmap typefaces that Licko designed on the Apple Macintosh in his layouts with issue # 2.
From her pixelated fonts optimized for bitmap printing to her sophisticated vector designs, Licko's technique advanced with technology.
[6] In Emigre: Graphic Design into the Digital Realm, Licko discusses her necessary departure from classic type forms in her early fonts.
I started my venture with bitmap type designs, created for the coarse resolutions of the computer screen and dot matrix printer.
I find that my current work on modular ceramic sculptures and fabric prints is actually an extension of type design.