Roski Talks: Stefan Bucher

April 1, 2014

Last Tuesday, I had the pleasure of attending a lecture given by Stefan Bucher.  Bucher is a writer, illustrator and graphic designer.  He is California based and is the creator of the design firm, 344.  Before Tuesday, I had never heard of Bucher.  I am always excited to learn about and explore the work of artists and designers, whether new to just me or to many.  Bucher took us on a journey through his own independent artwork and projects he had worked on for companies.  It was amazing to hear him explain the evolution of his ideas; I felt like I had an inside look into his mind and his thought processes.

He discussed his book, The Graphic Eye, first.  This was one of his first creations, and by the end of his lecture, you could truly understand how much his work had evolved from this first coffee table book.  He went on to discuss the creation of the Yeti Story, a project he initially developed as a window display for Saks 5th Ave. that developed into a story book and stuffed animal toy.  After this, Bucher was hired to put together the graphics and design the space in the Monte carlo for the Blue Man Group.  It was neat to hear how much Bucher enjoyed this task and how fun it was for him to design simple things such as the carpets, lights and gift shop; they all came together and looked magnificent!  

Finally, Bucher discussed his Monster series, probably what he is most well known for.  His monsters are creations from ink blots that all have such outstanding personalities.  I found his idea behind them fascinating, that he started with an ink blot so he didn't feel as if the monsters were created out of nothing.  I enjoyed Bucher's talk, mostly because of his extremely eccentric and outgoing personality.  He is a quirky guy, but an excellent public presenter.  He engaged with us as the audience.  

Bucher's website: http://www.344lovesyou.com 

Stefan Bucher talk

Last week I went and heard Stefan Bucher talk at the Roski talks. He was extremely funny while being informative and I definitely got a good glimpse of his design life. I found it interesting to hear his concept of greed management and how it is important to do things for money but at the same time not give up your artistic vision. In particular, his work for the Blue Man group was something where this concept came into play as this client would tell him exactly what they wanted, making the design process very boring and untrue to Stefan's vision. However, doing this paid off as he was then allowed to design the entrance for their show.

Another one of his project that particularly interested me was the Yeti that he designed for Saks 5th Ave. This project is more true to Stefan's vision. In the first year Stefan only designed the toy and left all the other design to another designer, however, they did not fulfill Stefan's vision and failed to generate sales for Saks. The next year Stefan ensured that he went back to Saks 5th Ave and worked on the Yeti to fulfill his vision. He created a book with fur and gave the Yeti a personality. Surely enough, this turned out to be a success. The following year, the window display of Saks 5th Ave, complete with moving figures, was based on his book.