Letters from M/M (Paris)

A comprehensive study of the typefaces produced by Michaël Amzalag and Mathias Augustyniak since they founded their art and design practice, M/M (Paris), in 1992.

The book is written and designed by Paul McNeil, author of The Visual History of Type (2017), a definitive survey of the development of letterforms following the advent of printing with moveable type in the mid-fifteenth century, in which he included M/M’s 2001 typeface, The Alphabet.

Here, for the first time, McNeil catalogues ninety of the designers’ typefaces in a three-part volume that is arranged chronologically, comprising type specimens; the history of their development, interrelations and application; and detailed illustrations of selected projects in which they appear.

Letters from M/M (Paris) traces the distinctive and integral nature of type, lettering and signs in the work of M/M (Paris), from one-off artistic commissions to fashion branding and their long-lasting collaborations with musicians and theatres. It is thus alluring not only to graphic designers, historians and students, but to anyone interested in art and visual culture.

M/M (Paris) — Michael Amzalag + Mathias Augustyniak [France]

Founded in 1992 by Michaël Amzalag and Mathias Augustyniak, M/M (Paris) has been defying all forms of categorisation for over 30 years. As practitioners of the image, they have pushed back the boundaries of graphic design through their projects which traverse different fields of creation.

By collaborating with contemporary artists, musicians, fashion designers and brands, photographers, directors and theatres, and in redesigning numerous magazines, M/M have been building a visual atlas of the creative landscape since the early 1990s.

In 2012, Michaël Amzalag and Mathias Augustyniak were named Chevaliers de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and in 2013 they won a Grammy Award for their work on Björk’s album Biophilia.

The two-volume monograph, M to M by M/M (Paris), was published by Thames & Hudson in 2012 and 2020, coinciding with their retrospectives at the Musée d’Orsay, Musée des Arts Décoratifs (Paris) and the Power Station of Art (Shanghai), in the run-up to the 30th anniversary of M/M.

Their work is included in the collections of institutions such as the Centre Pompidou/Musée national d’Art moderne, Paris; the Design Museum, London; Musée d’Orsay, Paris; Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris; Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris; Museum für Gestaltung, Zurich; Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt; Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Tate Modern, London and the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven.

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