Mitch Paone

Mitch is the Co-Founder and Creative Director of the creative agency DIA Studio. Headquartered in NYC and Chamonix, France, DIA specializes in corporate and cultural visual identity systems, graphic design, and typography. DIA has developed a new approach to designing identity systems where motion is foundational and creative tools always accompany brand guidelines. Their signature use of motion and generative tools has led to collaborations with clients such as Squarespace, Balenciaga, Pinterest, Nike, Saint Laurent, and Google.

Mitch is actively engaged in academia, most recently teaching at Haute école d’art et de design – Genève, Switzerland (HEAD) and The Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, Netherlands (KABK). He was the first resident professor at the La Becque x ECAL residency in La Tour-de-Peilz, Switzerland. His courses integrate DIA’s creative process into the academic curriculum, focusing on motion and generative tools within a graphic design context. Mitch lectures and leads workshops at universities and conferences worldwide, notably at Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne (ECAL), Brand New Conference in the US, and the OFFF conference in Barcelona, Spain.

Mitch’s influence extends into type design as well. He is the Co-Founder and type designer of Monkey Type, a type foundry based in Chamonix, working with collaborators worldwide. At Monkey Type, Mitch is focused on developing retail and custom fonts for visual identities and branding. Their fonts have been used in large-scale projects for Peloton Interactive, Diesel, and New York Times Magazine. Beyond his design endeavors, Mitch is a performing jazz pianist and composer. In the late 2000s, he recorded several records with his group Non-Static in NYC, during which time he played live in the city’s vibrant jazz scene and performed at the 2008 edition of the NYC Winter Jazz Festival.

His diverse design, education, type, and music expertise give him a unique perspective within the creative field.