Speed Date / MICHAL TORNYAI, graphic designer, type designer and educator
Photo: Kvet Nguyen.
Where are you from?
I was born in Poprad, grew up in a village near Senec and in Auckland.
Where did you study?
In Auckland and Bratislava.
Who was your best teacher?
Ľubo Longauer.
Who were/ are your parents?
My mom is a programmer and my dad is an optical designer.
What don’t you enjoy in design?
Convention.
And on the contrary, what do you?
Contrast.
What do you listen to?
Darkness – Extreme metal, ambient and techno.
Your favourite film or cartoon?
The Simpsons.
Who do you respect as an authority in and out of your field?
I don’t recognize authority.
What thing did you last buy?
Coffee.
Do you buy professional literature? What was the latest book?
I do. Irma Boom: Book Manifest. Books in reverse chronological order 2022-1986, König Books, 2022.
Do you vote?
Yes.
Who throws the best parties?
I don’t go to parties.
Your favourite dome?
Starry sky.
Party dress. Made by…?
I don’t go to parties.
Your hero from the past?
Batman.
Best/nicest house?
Falling Water.
Do you have any stereotypes when you work? How do they show?
Paralyzing perfectionism.
What’s on your desktop?
Blank black.
Best exhibition, work of art?
Paintings of Neo Rauch.
What do you respect both from the local and foreign design scene? And why?
I respect when you go above and beyond the expected. I respect the courage to take risks.
Ethics or money?
Ethic money.
Extraordinary book?
The Stroke by Gerrit Noordzij. All the essentials about type design in 90 pages.
Optimist, pessimist, nihilist?
Metalist.
Do you have any hobby?
I make music.
Solo or in a collective?
Solo in collective.
Slovakia as the Promised Land?
As for whom.