Of course, design and photography are closely related disciplines. But MM Paris worked with photographers Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin to mesh the two disciplines in a fresh new way, in designing “Alphabet” (2001) and “Alphamen” (2003). This seems novel because the letterform and the photo-fill are so closely intertwined, giving a result that is greater than the sum of its parts. By contrast, in a traditional sense, a photograph is still a photograph without being included in a layout, and conversely, a layout maintains its identity even if the photos on it change. With these MM projects, the photos and the graphic shapes transform so radically into the letterforms, that they would not have the same “identity” as separate images.