Toncz Tibor

Tibor Toncz was a painter, caricaturist and graphic designer.

He studied in Kolozsvár and Budapest. Later he became illustrator, and worked for several newspapers in Budapest, like Pesti Hírlap and Tolnai Világlapja. He also made book illustrations, caricatures and commercial designs. His caricatures and illustrations were published in several other newspapers (Ünnep, Vasárnapi Újság, Pesti Futár, etc.).

In the late 1940’s he worked frequently for the most famous Hungarian humor magazine, Ludas Matyi. In 1948, he became the art director of the magazine. Besides this, he made illustrations for many other periodicals: for cultural journals (Színház és Mozi, Élet és Irodalom) and for newspapers also (Esti Hírlap, Szabad Száj, Dolgozók Világlapja, etc.). In the 1940’s he designed many theatre posters, and he also worked as a stage designer in theatres.

In 1945, he also designed political posters. During the election campaign of 1945, he made the posters of the Polgári Demokrata Párt (Civil Democratic Party). For one of the posters, he used an effective symbol: the signpost, which signals the right direction. Another design by him depicts the symbol of the road, which leads to the right direction. In the 1950’s Toncz designed mostly tourism posters, but also worked on commercial designs. He had an instantly recognizable drawing style for his caricatures and illustrations, which is also visible on many of his posters.                                                                                                                             .