profile / alumni / graphic design
April 20, 2018
BY JAMIE WETHERBE

Alpha Betterer: Meet Illustrator, Writer Stefan G. Bucher

ArtCenter: How would you define your personal brand or graphic identity?
Stefan G. Bucher (BFA Advertising 96) designer, illustrator, writer: I’m a landscape architect of graphic design and illustration. I create delightful places for your mind to visit.

AC: What are you working on right now?
SB: My new book Stefan G. Bucher’s LetterHeads — An Eccentric Alphabet collects a complete alphabet of quirky character sculptures, from the lovey-dovey A to the grumpy, judgmental Z.

AC: How do you define success?
SB: I get to do what I love to do without having to ask anyone’s permission. And I love a lot of things that don’t always have an immediate path to financial gain, so that freedom is no small thing.

AC: What possession do you most aspire to possess?
SB: A working grasp of musical theory.

AC: Where do you go when you’re taking a break?
SB: When I get really frazzled, only a movie theater will do.

AC: What is your happy place?
SB: An empty movie theater.

AC: What do you do to detox from media and screens?
SB: I go walking in nature. If I can get my five miles in, I’m doing well.

AC: How were you exposed to great art and design as a child? Who were your favorites?
SB: My father kept the books from the Wilhelm Busch Museum of Caricature and Critical Graphics in Hannover, Germany. He started taking me to openings there when I was maybe 10 years old? I got to meet Jean Jacques Sémpe and Paul Flora. My dad introduced me to Hans Georg Rauch and F.K. Waechter. I love their work to this day.

AC: What is your prized possession?
SB: An original pencil drawing of Doyald Young’s design for 344 Loves You.

AC: How would your closest friend describe you?
SB: Doc Brown with Doctor Who-ish tendencies.