Prof. Ralph Buchner

Creative processes, communication design

Innovation Professorship in ‘Transformative Teaching’

Career history

Ralph Buchner studied communication design, specialising in photographic design, at the university of applied sciences in Munich. He has been working as a freelance designer and photographer since 1991. His clients include German Films, Bavaria Film, Philip Morris, McKinsey, the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, the Bavarian National Museum, the Ökologische Akademie Linden, Gasteig Munich, Bioland, the Max Planck Institute, Webasto, Messe München, Lichtenberg-Verlag, Gräfe und Unzer, and Feinkost-Käfer.

Many of his works have gained national recognition, such as the ‘Treibstoff Zucker’ poster, which was selected for the New York-based Graphis Poster Annual; the photographic compositions for the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, which were exhibited at the UN building in New York; and the brochure designs for German Films for the film festivals in Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Toronto and Montreal.

From 1998 to 2000, Ralph Bucher worked as a lecturer on the Communication Design course at the Hochschule München; from 2000 to 2002, he held a temporary professorship; and in 2002, he was appointed Professor of Photographic Design at the Hochschule München. He has been Dean of Studies for the department for the past ten years. In the summer semester of 2021, he also took up the innovation professorship in the field of ‘Transformative Teaching’.

His main area of work, photographic design, is closely linked to communication design in an interdisciplinary context. His areas of specialisation therefore also include corporate design, editorial design, advertising, and museum and exhibition design within transdisciplinary teams. In this capacity, he has collaborated on behalf of the university with companies such as BMW, Audi, DriveNow, Meta Design, Heye, Telekom, Nikon, ADAC and arsEdition, amongst others.

One of his areas of research is the stimulation of creative processes through extraordinary states of consciousness. As part of two studies on creativity through psychedelic light journeys, articles have appeared on Spiegel Online, Page, the *Süddeutsche Zeitung*, SZ/Jetzt.de, Zündfunk/Bayerischer Rundfunk and Galileo/ProSieben. Joseph Beuys’s expanded concept of art, in which the holistic shaping of the world is understood as a social sculpture, is a key inspiration for his work and teaching.

The innovation professorship in ‘Transformative Teaching’ focuses on fostering abilities in creative thinking, interdisciplinary dialogue and responsible action. By promoting co-creative intelligence, the development of potential and awareness through inner growth, and creative dialogue, students are supported in becoming active participants in the process of social transformation.