Tomáš, were you always interested in type and lettering? Or did you have in mind a completely different kind of career when you began your design education?

After graduating from what we call “middle school” I started my career as a graphic designer in a small agency. My plan was to learn about the technical details of print production and pre-press technologies first, and then after one or two years enroll into Jan Solpera's typographic studio at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts, which holds admission exams every year in January. Of about 30 people that usually sign up, only one to three people get through. I was not accepted until five years later. Each year I learned more about type design and consequently I became totally addicted to type. When I finally began my studies at the academy, I had a clear idea of what I wanted to do – start up my own type foundry.

You were a student of František Štorm, whom we interviewed a year ago. What are the main things you learned from him?

František began teaching at the Academy in the same year when I began studying there. He took over the typographic studio from Solpera one year later. I owe the majority of my design skills to him; he also taught me the technical ins and outs of glyph construction and the necessary production know-how.

František Štorm has developed a very personal, idiosyncratic style of type design. Your typefaces seem to be less emphatically expressive, more neutral. Is this simply a question of personality, or did you consciously move away from your master?

It is probably a combination of several elements. One of my concerns when I started my foundry six years ago was that my catalogue would somehow be complementary to Štorm’s. He mainly produced fonts for book-setting at the time and I missed quality fonts for designing posters, corporate styles or logotypes – simply contemporary typefaces. I don't have the same special interest in baroque or renaissance styles as he does. I am more fascinated by the innovative typography of the 1950s and ’60s and its simplicity and coldness.

As a former student of František, I feel I am under constant scrutiny from other designers. As soon as I do something that remotely resembles his work, I am told it is “too Štorm”. It is frustrating sometimes, because my approach to type design is completely different.

Would you say that there are aspects of your work that are typically Czech or Central European? Has the massive amount of diacritic signs in Czech or Slovak influenced the structure or proportions of your letters?

I don't think that today our typefaces are specifically Czech. One could think of typefaces that refer to our classic 20th-century designers like Preissig or Menhart, but this has already been done and it could become a bit boring. In fact, there have been more interesting type designers in the past, even though their designs were not as expressive.

The frequent usage of diacritics in Czech accounts for longer ascenders and lower capitals in many of our alphabets. But what is important to me here is a high sensitivity to the placing of diacritic marks – not just for Czech but for all languages. Too often, graphic designers who want to use fonts from foreign foundries for Czech or similar languages need to have them furnished with new quality diacritic marks.

What is it you like most about designing type?

I really love the early stages of a typeface: sketching, looking for shapes, and arranging the basic characters. To me, those are the best moments of designing type. The rest is more or less routine, and not much fun. And what is really hard for me is to come up with a name for each new typeface.

You belong to a generation that has more or less grown up with computers. How about manual work: techniques like drawing, calligraphy, and woodcut… Is it still important?

I begin most typefaces by sketching and hand-drawing. It’s not necessary for all typefaces, but it usually helps to establish the basic ideas. All the other steps are simpler when done by computer; the mouse and the keyboard are natural tools for me to work with. But I certainly think drawing is important. I have hundreds of sheets filled with character studies. I am convinced that this helps to grasp the construction of an alphabet and the relationships within the font.

Considering that your Suitcase Type Foundry was founded merely five years ago, your output has been quite impressive. Do you use special methods or techniques to keep up a high production?

It is really quite simple. Most of my fonts were originally developed during my studies at the Academy. My production was imposed by the rhythm of the school: twice a year we had to show a minimum of one or two typefaces, or rather type families. This compelled me to make optimum use of my time, simplify the process of creation, think forward and work on more than one font at a time.

Of your own typefaces, which are you favorites, and why?

It could be RePublic, a typeface originally named Public and designed by Stanislav Maršo in 1956, which I redesigned in 2004. Public was closely linked to an era of standardization in our society; one of its main uses was for the communist party newspaper Rude Pravo. So for an older generation of designers the typeface had negative connotations and they advised against reviving it. I did it anyway, and today RePublic is wide-spread and quite popular. I think I managed to rehabilitate an interesting typeface.

Or it could be Sandwich, the first font with automatic vertical aligning of glyphs. Or maybe my first typeface Katarine, which is named after my fiancée and which I redesigned last year, when my daughter was born. It’s not so simple to choose because every typeface has its own interesting little story.

Could you mention some typefaces that you wish you had made?

This really is the hardest question of all. For a recent discussion, I wrote down a list of typefaces that I’m kind of envious of. There was Bryant by Eric Olson, Enigma by Jeremy Tankard, Lapture by Tim Ahrens, Merlo by Mario Feliciano, Moderno from Font Bureau, Omnes by Joshua Darden, Plumero Script by Diego Giaccone. I later thought of two more typefaces, Olga by Christina Bee and Tisa by Mitja Miklavčič.

You have designed a display font called Metalista, which you have made available for free and which you describe as “an expression of undying admiration for the persistence of the metal culture”. Are you a metalhead? Apart from Metalista, has music influenced your type designs?

Oh no, I am not a metalhead. I just admire people who manage to conform their own life style to some style of music. Heavy metal has a long history and a strong position in my country and the fans look the same today as when I was a child. I find that incredible. Otherwise I play music non-stop while working, but I don't think it has some special impact on my typefaces.

What is you biggest ambition for the foreseeable future?

My next project is a typeface that can change style within the framework of the family. It could be a great typeface for setting magazines or newspapers. Other than that, I don't have any special long-time ambitions. What I do plan is to produce printed catalogues to support the foundry. I have a type specimen in its final stage in my computer, and I am looking forward to printing it.

Thanks so much for your time, Tomáš. We'll look forward to seeing the printed specimen book soon.