M/M (Paris): Tasty French Graphics. Bon appétit!

19 Nov 2008 Category: Events & Exhibitions, Graphics, Worldwide

M/M (Paris): Tasty French Graphics. Bon appétit!

Telling title: "That's Why They Will Most Likely Be Wrong," billboard by M/M (Paris).

It was a fateful encounter: On the very first day of the new term at a French art school, Michael Amzlag who was wearing a blue postman jacket from the 1950’s, blue worker pants, blue socks and blue suede shoes, was banged by a stranger saying “Move over, monochrome!” That was Mathias Augustyniak who would later became Michael’s best work buddy — as M/M (Paris), one of the quite influential graphic design studios in Europe. PingMag had a chat with them when the duo dropped by Tokyo for their latest exhibition, “The Theatre Posters” at Ginza Graphic Gallery (info below.)

Written by Chiemi

You met each other at art school — when did you actually start working together?


Lovely Parisians in Tokyo! Michael Amzlag (left) and Mathias Augustyniak (right.)

Michael: It was very quick. We got on very well with each other after we met and started to think of working together at the end of the same year.

Mathias: At that time we had a small commission to design a logo from a friend of my dad’s. So we brought a big table to Michael’s small apartment and put an unplugged phone in the middle of the table to pretend it was our office.

That’s so sweet! Obviously, now, you have a real studio. How many people are working there and who is in charge of what? You know, M/M seems very mysterious for us…

Mathias: We have three very skilled people working for us in the studio. We don’t have any roles for each other and always work very naturally. I mean, it’s like a doubles match of ping pong. You should be able to support the other and also replace the position any time.

Michael: Also, this is something we don’t like to discuss because we think it’s important to keep the mystique of two people working together…

A poster collage for François Curlet (left) and a movie poster for “Robert Town,” a film by Sarah Morris (right.)

OK… Anyway, that’s a very small group compared to the long list of your clients. I guess you get a whole lot of offers, but how do you usually decide on whether to accept or reject?

Mathias: Meeting the person we are going to work with and having a deep discussion are the most important things. Working with someone is like going on a trip with someone. And you don’t want to have a big argument in the middle of the travelling, do you? That’s just not going to work. If everything is clear right at the beginning, it will be a very pleasurable journey.

A poster for the “Haunch of Venison” gallery (left) and another artful example. As you can see, though M/M mix many elements they still keep a perfect balance.

“The M/M Wallpaper Poster.” Mathias says, “There is no hierarchy for the projects we do. Any of them is as important as the other.”

You’ve been doing a poster series for the Centre Dramatique De Bretagne for twelve years, haven’t you?

Mathias: Yes. That’s exactly because everything was clear from the beginning and we are still on a pleasurable journey.

How did it start? I guess M/M weren’t known that much back in the mid 90’s…

Michael: The director of the theatre saw a business card we made for some fanzine and he liked it. At the time, he was dealing with communication design for the theatre and came to visit us with that card.

Mathias: Meeting people is always great. We’ve never tried to meet anyone for the reason we want to do a specific job. It all began quite naturally.

Examples from the poster series for the Centre Dramatique de Bretagne.

You always follow some specific rules when you work on projects. Which would they exactly be for this poster series?

Mathias: The rules are to use a colourful image and black-and-white text.

Any more rules regarding the images?

Mathias: We use the same lens every time and natural light, and try to have the same framing as well.

How about the layout? It always looks pretty complex, yet balanced. Also, you tend to put the main text in the centre of the image, which is quite unique…

Mathias: If the main object of the image is positioned in the centre of the photo and you place the text below, then you have two objects to look at. So we put these two objects together so that you’re focused on a single one.

More from the Centre Dramatique De Bretagne poster series — awesome graphics!

I learnt something today! Then, you had a very nice, decorative frame for your exhibition of some of these posters at the Societas Jesu chapel. Did you design that too?

Michael: It’s not just a frame, we designed everything from the table to the lighting.

Mathias: We have quite often exhibitions and we design everything we use there to show our world. Our work is very complex, so it’s better to show the whole world rather than just the works. And you can see how we create it.

Mysterious! Beautiful posters for Balenciaga.

What would you you want to try in the future?

Mathias: I’d love to design a house. It’s not architecture, and it’s not a house to live in. It’s a house someone already lived in. And if we can do it, I think Japan would be the perfect place.

Meaning we might see another M/M world in Japan in the future! Michael and Mathias from M/M (Paris), thank you very much for your time today! Folks, M/M (Paris) is having an exhibition till Wednesday, November 26th in Tokyo. Don’t miss!

Information:
M/M (Paris) “The Theatre Posters.”
Venue: Ginza Graphic Gallery, Ginza, Tokyo. Map.
Date: Until Wednesday, November 26th.
Open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Closed Sundays and national holidays.
Admission: Free.

106 Comments

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