Musée de l'Imprimerie et de la Communication Graphique

What Musée de l'Imprimerie et de la Communication Graphique does

The Musée de l'Imprimerie et de la Communication Graphique (MICG) is a municipal museum located at 13 Rue de la Poulaillerie in Lyon's 2nd arrondissement, France, owned and operated by the Ville de Lyon (City of Lyon). Founded in 1964 with the Friends association established on March 18, 1971, the museum is dedicated to preserving and presenting the history of printing, typography, and graphic communication. Its collections span from Babylonian tablets to contemporary digital typography, including the Univers typeface, positioning it among Europe's specialized printing museums and leveraging Lyon's historic role as a major European printing center from the 15th to 18th centuries.

The museum's core offerings comprise permanent and temporary exhibitions of printing artifacts, a working letterpress studio (Atelier typographique) operated by Fernande Nicaise, a documentation center open by appointment, educational programming for school and organized groups, a museum shop (Librairie), and publications including exhibition catalogs and the 'Guide déraisonné des collections'. It is staffed by approximately 22-23 personnel covering director, secretarial, exhibitions/collections, communication, documentation/webmaster, public development, reservations, mediation, letterpress studio, facility management, security, library, reception, and housekeeping functions. The museum is currently closed for accessibility renovation from June 2025 through spring 2027.

Revenue derives from individual and group admission fees (€6-8 full rate, €4-6 reduced, with broad free-admission categories), retail sales of books, catalogs, and merchandise through the Librairie, and recurring membership dues from the 'Amis du Musée' association. The go-to-market model is event-driven and community-led: the museum reaches audiences through exhibitions, workshops, educational visits, a monthly newsletter ('Le Canard du Musée'), social media channels (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube), and — during the renovation period — an extensive off-site 'hors-les-murs' exhibition program deployed across 20+ partner venues including town halls, libraries, archives, museums, and universities throughout Lyon. Principal customer segments include the general public, school groups, partner cultural institutions, and Friends of the Museum members.

Name

Musée de l'Imprimerie et de la Communication Graphique

Legal name

Musée de l'Imprimerie et de la Communication Graphique

Website

https://imprimerie.lyon.fr

Company type

Public

Founded year

1971

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Musée de l'Imprimerie et de la Communication Graphique is a municipal museum in Lyon, France, operated by the Ville de Lyon, dedicated to preserving and exhibiting the history of printing, typography, and graphic communication through collections, exhibitions, educational programs, and a working letterpress studio for general public visitors, school groups, and partner institutions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cultural Heritage Museum

NAICS

Museums (71211), Museums (712110), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (7121), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712)

SIC

Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330)

akta.pro primary industry

Cultural Heritage Institutions (Archives, Historic Houses, Monuments Foundations) (THAJADAI)

Keywords

• Printing museum
• Graphic arts heritage
• Typography exhibitions
• Letterpress workshops
• Cultural heritage education

Headquarters

HQ city

Lyon

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Museum Admission Tickets: Revenue from individual and group admissions. Standard tickets range from €6-8, reduced tickets €4-6, with free admission for under 18, disabled visitors and companions, unemployed persons, and various card holders.
2. Museum Shop (Librairie): The museum operates a shop selling exhibition catalogs, books on graphic arts and printing history, postcards, tote bags, magnets, badges, and related objects. Currently closed during renovation period.
3. Friends of the Museum Membership: The 'Amis du Musée' association, founded in 1971, contributes to the museum's activities and receives membership support from enthusiasts and professionals.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Musée de l'Imprimerie et de la Communication Graphique (MICG) is a municipal museum in Lyon, France, dedicated to the history of printing and graphic communication. It preserves and displays collections spanning from Babylonian tablets to contemporary digital typography (including the Univers typeface), operates a working letterpress studio, a documentation center, a bookstore, and delivers educational programs, guided tours, and off-site exhibitions. The museum is operated by the Ville de Lyon and is temporarily closed for renovation from June 2025 until spring 2027.

Product overview

The Musée de l'Imprimerie et de la Communication Graphique (MICG) is a cultural museum offering physical visitor experiences rather than a technology product. Its core offering comprises exhibitions and collections of printing artifacts, typographic works, and graphic communication materials spanning from ancient Babylonian tablets to contemporary digital prints. The museum operates a documentation center, a working letterpress studio, and a bookstore. During its renovation period (June 2025-spring 2027), it continues programming through off-site exhibitions at partner venues throughout Lyon. The Friends of the Museum association provides membership support and publishes conference materials. No technology products, software, or digital platforms are offered as the museum's primary offering.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Exhibitions and Collections Permanent and temporary exhibitions of historical printing artifacts, typographic collections, and graphic communication materials spanning from Babylonian tablets to contemporary digital typography, including the Univers typeface. For individual visitors and groups.

Quantifiable outcome

• The museum maintains active off-site programming during renovation, collaborating with over 20 partner locations including museums, libraries, archives, universities, and town halls across Lyon

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

23 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Les Amis du Musée (Association des Amis du Musée de l'Imprimerie)coreOthersThe official friends association of the museum, founded March 18, 1971. Works to promote the museum's historical, artistic, and technical heritage. President: Bernard Langlois. The association organizes conferences, publishes materials, and develops relationships with professionals in the graphic chain and cultural organizations.
• Musée Gadagne (Musées d'Histoire de Lyon et des Arts de la Marionnette)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with Gadagne museums for joint exhibitions and cultural programming. Gadagne contains both the Musée d'Histoire de la Ville de Lyon and the Musée des Arts de la Marionnette.
• Musée des Beaux-Arts de LyoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for joint exhibitions and cultural events with Lyon's Fine Arts museum.
• Archives de LyoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration for exhibition space and archival resources. Archives de Lyon is a key partner for the Annie Ernaux 'Journal du dehors' exhibition (Sept-Dec 2025).
• Bibliothèque Municipale de Lyon (BM Lyon)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Lyon's municipal library system for exhibitions and cultural programming. Multiple branches (1er, 5e Saint-Jean, 7e Jean Macé, Bachut) participate in off-site exhibitions.
• École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Lyon (ENSBA Lyon)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnership for exhibitions and educational programming. Co-publisher of books including 'L'imprimerie. Histoire et techniques'.
• Druckkunst-Museum LeipzigminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational partnership with the printing museum in Leipzig, Germany. Part of the museum's network of international printing heritage institutions.
• Les SubsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Les Subs, Lyon's contemporary art center, for cultural events and exhibitions.
• Villa GilletminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Villa Gillet, the international house of contemporary writing, for literary and graphic arts events.
• Goethe-Institut LyonminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCultural partnership with the German cultural institute in Lyon for exhibitions and events.
• Lyon BD Festival / Le Collège GraphiquecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for comic and graphic arts programming. Lyon BD Festival is a major annual comics festival, and Le Collège Graphique is a related educational institution.
• Quais du PolarminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Quais du Polar, Lyon's crime fiction festival, for events related to graphic arts and publishing.
• Cinéma LumièreminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Cinéma Lumière for film-related exhibitions and events.
• Théâtre National de la Poponnière (TNP)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with TNP for theatrical and performing arts related events.
• Musée de l'Automobile Henri MalartreminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with the automotive museum. Holders of recent tickets (under 6 months) receive reduced museum admission.
• TCL (Transports en Commun de Lyon)minorOthersTransportation partnership with Lyon's public transit system. Connected through the museum's location accessibility (Cordeliers metro station).
• Université Lumière Lyon 2coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnership with Lyon 2 University for exhibitions and educational programming. Multiple campuses participate (Lyon 7e, Bron).
• Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnership with Lyon 3 University (Manufacture des Tabacs) for exhibitions and events.
• TéléramaminorOthersMedia partnership for cultural coverage and event promotion.
• Centre d'Histoire de la Résistance et de la DéportationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for exhibitions related to historical documentation and printing heritage.
• Hôpital Saint-Jean-de-DieuminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity partnership for arts workshops with patients and healthcare workers. Museum conducted graphic design workshops with artists Rozenn Le Gall and Romain Gabaud.
• Les Francas du RhôneminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerYouth organization partnership for 'Place des Rencontres' activities, including museum visits and discussions for young people aged 9-13.
• Lyon Nature / Ville de LyonminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEnvironmental partnership for nature-inspired workshops (e.g., Tatakizomé at La Tête d'Or, plant and engraving workshops).

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Musée de l'Automobile Henri Malartre: Lyon-area thematic museum with cross-ticketing arrangement with MICG; comparable as a thematic Lyon cultural institution outside the fine arts core, sharing similar municipal-area visitor dynamics and partnership posture.

Broad incumbents

• Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon: Lyon municipal fine arts museum and listed MICG partner; not a printing specialist but operates under the same City of Lyon governance, serves a similar visitor segment, and offers joint programming potential that makes it the dominant cultural institution in the same geography.
• Musée des Confluences: Major Lyon science and society museum; offers reduced admission reciprocity to MICG visitors, indicating overlap in audience and positioning as a regional cultural heavyweight with which MICG shares its visitor base.
• Smithsonian National Museum of American History (Printing Exhibits): Major U.S. museum that houses notable printing and graphic communications collections (including the AIGA design archives); comparable as a large institutional home for printing heritage within a broader museum mandate, useful for benchmarking at scale.

Direct peers

• Plantin-Moretus Museum: UNESCO-listed printing museum in Antwerp centered on the historic Officina Plantiniana; highly comparable as a heritage printing museum with collections of type, presses, and printed works, offering overlapping curatorial and educational programming.
• Gutenberg-Museum Mainz: Germany's flagship printing heritage museum, devoted to the history of printing and letterpress from Gutenberg to modern typography; the most internationally recognized peer in the printing museum category with overlapping collection scope, educational mandate, and visitor profile.
• International Printing Museum (Carson, CA): U.S.-based museum dedicated to printing history featuring working letterpress demonstrations and historic press collections; directly comparable niche printing museum with hands-on workshop programming and similar educational group focus.
• National Print Museum (Dublin): Irish national museum of printing history housed in a former military barracks; comparable as a printing heritage museum with focus on craft, type founding, and educational workshops for schools and the public.
• Musée Gadagne: Lyon-based municipal museum (Musée d'Histoire de Lyon and Musée des Arts de la Marionnette) and named strategic partner of MICG; directly comparable as a city-operated cultural heritage institution in the same geography with similar municipal governance, education programs, and visitor base.
• Druckkunst-Museum Leipzig: Printing heritage museum in Leipzig, Germany, and listed international partner of MICG; one of the few museums worldwide dedicated exclusively to printing craft and graphic arts, with a comparable collection focus and educational programming model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCE5X1GEzYmBhyPk40_33NnQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/musimpcg
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/micg-lyon
• Instagraminstagram.com/musee_imprimerie_lyon

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Musée de l'Imprimerie et de la Communication Graphique