MM Paris

MM Paris is a design studio based in paris it was founded by Mathias Augustyniak and Michael Amzalag in 1992, they are probably best known for their work with Bjork, Madonna, Stella McCartney and Vogue magazine amongst many others. M/M were initially influenced by post punk aesthetics and swiss graphic design. I enjoy looking at the work of this studio in particularly its expressive, collage like work which is in my opinion what they do best, mixing illustration and photographs to produce a "hybrid" image.

The Alphabet was a piece to come out of this studio in 2001 and could be described as a piece of contemporary typography. I find this piece is quite intriguing and particularly enjoy the use of the photography however when i see it i initially want to see the actual photograph.

My first connection is from MM-Paris to Non Format, this was a very obvious link to make between the two studios as their work is unmistakably alike. Both of the studios work with the same sort of clients in the same industries for example music, fashion, tv, corporate and magazines. The work to come out of these companies are expressive, contemporary hybrid pieces consisting of illustrations, photography, digital and typography.

Two images that are very alike are MM Paris's "No ghost just a shell" and Non Formats "Make a Fuss" you can clearly see the similarities in the pieces. Both consist of typography and illustration in a collage type manner. Even the illustrations are very similar both black on white backgrounds.

Non-Format

Non-Format is a contemporary design company consisting of Kjell Ekhorn and Jon Forss, the two have worked together since 2000. The Pair work on a range of projects from art direction, design, illustration and custom typography. Their work is used on a variety of briefings from advertisements and magazine articles to the fashion industry. The company has won a variety of awards for its design work over the years typically for its communication through design as well as their typography.

"we certainly don't regard our approach as a 'house style' by any means, but we can recognise that clients come to us with an expectation of a visual approach as much as a conceptual approach".

Even though the studio doesn't have a particular in house style i find that a lot of their work is quite distinctive, i'm unsure whether this is because of the methods they use to create the work or just their general way of thinking.

One collection of their pieces which have caught my eye are illustrations produced for Coca-cola and the 'Coke side of life' campaign, these are relatively restrained for the company and proves that they work differently or more suitably depending on the client. These illustrations are just appealing and seem to do the job really nicely creating the feel of a fun, exciting and vibrant image.

The next link is from Non Format to Barnbrook design this link is not quite as obviously as the first. The two of these studios work in very similar fashions when it comes to their magazine cover designs, both are well known for these designs and have followed this line of design from the beginning of their careers.

The Magazine covers in these cases are generally design related and both companies have received awards for some of their magazine work.

Barnbrook design

Barnbrook design is a company set up by Jonathan Barnbrook in 1990, it specialises in producing innovative books, CD covers corporate identities, motion graphics typefaces and magazines. The client base of the company is immense, they work with many industries including music, culture, corporate, magazines, typography, web design and the fashion industry. The no restriction approach to their work seems to have worked well for the designers allowing them to create work that looks very personal yet commercial. Barnbrook has used his work to communicate social and political issues over the years, he generally does this in a very obvious manner creating real gritty political posters and magazine covers most of them being for Adbusters.

Even though their magazine work and posters are nice i think that this studios strongest point is its corporate identity work, my favourite being the Roppongi Hills corporate id completed in 2003. The project identity was intended to reflect the diversity of life in japan, and their solution was to have a series of logos as opposed to just one. All of the logos prproduced had the same basic structure to make them visually alike but have enough difference to show diversity.

Connection 3 is between Barnbrook Design and Michael Cina this is a connection that i have made between the companies corporate work Both companies have worked on corporate ids and typography in similar fashions, i.e. they have used typography to create a company image and developed company typefaces etc. examples of this are the work shown above for Roppongi Hills, and below the work for the Human logo and the Pearl logo.

Michael Cina

Michael Cina is a designer whom i have recently come across, although he is well regarded for his typography, most of his work consists of corporate design work for worldwide companies such as coca-cola and pepsi. His corporate designs seem to be the most recognisable of his work, what is very nice about the work of this artist is the fact that on one hand he produces work that is very digitalised and simplistic and on the other he produces wild expressive pieces consisting of mixed media. My personal favourite is his design work for Coca-cola which he created in collaboration with michael young, this piece is very illustrative and in a sense commercial with the logo very clearly distinguished in the centre of the piece.

On the artists biography it explains how he is continuing to explore design styles including Bauhaus, Modernism, Swiss and Constructivism and using this to create abstract, complex grids leading to functional design developments.

Mulliino is a typeface that has recently come out of youworkforthem.com the company co founded by Michael Cina, the typeface is the outcome of many years of exploration, testing and design. The type gives a sense of distress which is shown through its rough outlines and grainy texture. even though it looks very basic the designers have specified that you should use it before deciding as the attention to detail is obviously gone into its use. It consists of two styles book and medium which has an option to use misprinted letters to get extra results. As well as the two styles it also features five families within the typeface that have been formed to work well together.

The next connection is from Michael Cina to Font Smith, the similarities here are the work that the two do regarding typography, they have both produced fonts that are legitimate, usable, traditional and contemporary.

Type by Cina

Fontsmith.com

Font smith are a leading, type design studio founded in 1999 by Jason Smith. The studio is based in London and has a team dedicated to designing and developing good quality typefaces for both independent and bespoke fonts for international clients.

Their new typeface FS Conrad is supposed to be a thought provoking typeface for Conrad Shawcross. The typeface is made up of fine parallel lines that overlap to create multilayered texture in the written words, the piece was created to reflect the work of Shawcross and will be used as his personal typeface and in his forthcoming installation work.

The studio produces a variety of custom fonts for many well known brands such as AIB, Channel 4, E4, Film 4, ITV, BBC1 and the Post office. They produce a range of fonts from traditional styled typefaces to the most contemporary of Typography, they have produced many fonts over the years and pride themselves on creating distinctive and useable fonts. The company also work with pre existing work and contribute ideas for typographic solutions to logos or make changes to existing art work to create a new design. The studio prides itself on producing work that is accessible and have recently finished working on a project for the Royal National Institute for the Blind. The company used their previous knowledge in accessible design to aid them with this project, and create something that was usable and well balanced between branding and legibility choosing everything from illustration to colour. Yet again they have proven that "good design and accessible fonts don't have to be ugly or patronising"

my preferred typeface produced by the designers is probably FS Alberto Pro, its generally a charismatic neat usable type which is supported for more than 60 languages, and comes in many formats.

This Connection is fairly straight forward not only does it connect through the work, but it also connects in working methods. The companies are both very popular font foundry's they have worked for many important clients, sticking to the traditional typographical structure, and have won countless awards for their work with type. I would imagine that the two also have a very similar style of working as they are doing the same job and getting very similar outcomes.

Hoefler & Frere-jones

Hoefler & Frere-Jones

Hoefler and frère-jones is made up of Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones. The two work very well together and have received a number of awards for their work with t

ypography including the Prix Charles Peignot award presented by the Association Typographique Internationale, and the Gerrit Noordzij Prize, an award given by The Royal Academy of Art. Unlike many designers of today the duo stick to one discipline which has made their type foundry very popular across the world. The foundry is traditional and keeps within design boundaries to produce legitimate useable fonts for a range of individual and retail clients. Their new release Tungsten is a font family which is stylish and useable, the font is available in 4 weights and is said to be versatile and persuasive.

Hoefler text is a wonderful example of what the foundry does, the family is created of many traditional typefaces that were created in the dawn of the digital typeface. The family is made up of 27 styles containing three weights which was produced to suit the needs of a demanding typographer.

The set even though digitalised express many of the traditional characteristics of calligraphy and pre digital typefaces. The pair have an immense number of typefaces under their belt which have been used by companies such as apple, Eye magazine and The New York times.

http://6beersofseparation.com.au/#/scene/dest_webisode/