toan vu-huu is a german-born graphic designer of vietnamese and english descent. he studied sociology from 1994 to 1998 while working as a dj in frankfurt, organizing events and collaborating with graphic designers to create visuals—an experience that sparked his shift toward the visual arts. he then studied graphic design at the university of applied arts in darmstadt and later joined intégral ruedi baur et associés in paris, where he contributed to major projects such as the signage for cologne-bonn airport and the visual identity of the cinémathèque française.

in 2008, he co-founded the studio baldinger•vu-huu with andré baldinger. renowned for its conceptual and multidisciplinary approach, the studio developed identities, signage systems, publications, museography projects, and custom typefaces. notable achievements include the new visual identity for the city of chaumont and the dina chaumont modular typeface. its work has been internationally recognized, receiving the grand prix at the toyama international poster triennale (2018), a certificate of typographic excellence from the type directors club in new york (2019), and two first prizes at the club des da (2023).

between 2015 and 2021, toan also designed the visual identity, typography, and signage for doc!, a self-managed art space in paris, where he experimented with the codes of visual communication through a large body of poster work that was awarded and exhibited internationally.

in 2022, he launched the bvh type foundry, specializing in the creation and distribution of typefaces. since 2023, he has been working under his new practice, studio vu-huu, where he created the new visual identity for the cité du design in saint-étienne.

his works are represented in several major public collections, including the centre national des arts plastiques (cnap), the musée des arts décoratifs (mad), the centre national du graphisme (le signe), the type directors club in new york, the lhati museum of visual arts in finland, and the toyama museum of modern art.

a member of the alliance graphique internationale (agi) since 2019, toan is currently president of agi france. he taught for fifteen years at leading french art and design schools before dedicating himself fully to practice, while continuing to lecture, give interviews, and lead workshops worldwide.