CITTÀ: Unmapping Mexico — CITTÀ Magazine
mohamed thiam
Mexico City across three eras, told through a connected poster series.
Client: CITTÀ Magazine / Role: Art Director & Illustrator / Year: 2014
THREE ERAS, ONE CITY
CITTÀ is an independent magazine that pairs Montréal with cities around the world and invites Montréal artists, writers and photographers to interpret the relationship.
The work started with research: early maps and visual references of Tenochtitlán, how the city was redrawn under colonial rule, and the dense form of present-day Mexico City.
The posters needed to work as individual illustrations and as a connected series. Each illustration became a time-travel map.
Tenochtitlán, la Gran: water, causeways and the symbols of the pre-Hispanic city.
NovaMexico, the colonial city, and Mexico City, the modern metropolis.
Ciudad de México, Distrito Federal: the modern metropolis.
ONE VISUAL FAMILY
A shared approach to composition, line work and colour holds the posters together.
I carried the work from concept through illustration to print, developing a visual language that connected the series while giving each era its own expression.
The publication at the launch
THANK YOU
Mohamed Thiam / Creative Direction & Illustration
Léa Jeanmougin / Founder & Editor-in-Chief, CITTÀ Magazine
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Posted Sep 30, 2026
A connected poster series mapping Mexico City across three eras, from Tenochtitlán to today. Research, art direction, illustration and print.
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