Post by Roosje Klap

On behalf of his family, I share with great sadness that designer, jazz pianist and dear friend Mitch Paone passed away peacefully at his home in Chamonix on Tuesday 23 June, 2026. Mitch co-founded DIA Studio and MNKY type (Monkey Type) with Meg Donohoe and what they built there revolutionized the field of graphic and type design. He coined the term ‘Kinetic Identity’ in 2015 and authored fourteen typeface families. Mitch taught at HEAD – Genève, University of Art and Design, ECAL University of Art and Design Lausanne, ZHdK Zürcher Hochschule der Künste, Royal Academy of Art, The Hague | Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten (KABK) and gave numerous lectures in the past decade. He and Meg were inducted into Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI) in 2019. Mitch was generous in the way that only people with real conviction are generous. Everyone who spent time with him left changed. A whole lineage of designers is carrying his thinking forward. Those who followed owe him more than most will say out loud. Needless to say I will miss Mitch dearly. My thoughts are with Meg and his family. "Time itself is being, and all being is time." — Eihei Dōgen, Uji, c.1240 Mitch Paone was 43 and in the middle of everything. His ideas, as he always intended, will keep running without him. Out of respect for his family and loved ones, we ask that you refrain from reaching out directly at this time. A space for condolences and shared memories will be announced soon.