Prof. Tanja Hess
Prof., Dipl. Gestaltung und Kunst HGK (ZHdK)
Lecturer
Institute for Multimedia Production (IMP)
Phone
+41 81 286 37 28
Website
Subjects
evaluation of visual culture assets, multimedia production, sustainability, ecology and eco-system services, Prototyping, reportage / coverage, sketch & draw, Urban development, environmental changes and resilience, usability engineering, video production, Virtual Reality, visual history, media influence, media convergence, Media didactics, Natural Language Processing, Data visualization, Digital image processing, photography, Freehand drawing, illustration, information graphics, information and media management, innovation, internationalisation, Climate change, creativity techniques, Visual culture and communication
Studies
Media Engineering (Multimedia Production)
Professor Tanja Hess, born on April 4, 1965, studied Art and Design at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) from 1988 to 1992, graduating with a teaching diploma in drawing. From 1993 to 1995, she deepened her training by studying Film Studies at the University of Zurich.
She then turned her attention to her artistic practice, curating a variety of exhibitions and teaching at the secondary-school level. During this time, she also realized international exhibition and art-in-architecture projects.
Since 2010, she has held the Chair of Visualization in the Bachelor’s program in Multimedia Production at the University of Applied Sciences Graubünden, which is a Joined-Degree with the Bern University of the Arts. There, she established and directs the Visualization module and oversees numerous research and development projects in the fields of visualization, illustration, and drawing.
With the Sketch&Draw method, she devised a ten-rule framework that presents sketching as a systematic form of visual notation. This approach is employed in lectures and seminars—such as ideasketching and participatory urban design within the Sketchcity project, an international collaboration with urban planners from Rotterdam University.
In 2023, at the Université de Picardie Jules Verne in Amiens, France, she earned a diploma in Field Botany, further extending her expertise in botanical research.
Her current research focuses on visualizations that integrate information architecture, drawing, illustration, and botany. In so doing, she strengthens the Institute for Multimedia Production’s competency in Visual Storytelling and collaborates primarily with the Institute for Alpine Construction and the Swiss Institute for Entrepreneurship (SIFE).
Privately, Tanja Hess lives and works in Chur and Zurich. She is married and the mother of two adult children. A comprehensive overview of her artistic work can be found at tanjahess.ch
Curriculum Vitae
Professor Tanja Hess, born on April 4, 1965, studied Art and Design at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) from 1988 to 1992, graduating with a teaching diploma in drawing. From 1993 to 1995, she deepened her training by studying Film Studies at the University of Zurich.
She then turned her attention to her artistic practice, curating a variety of exhibitions and teaching at the secondary-school level. During this time, she also realized international exhibition and art-in-architecture projects.
Since 2010, she has held the Chair of Visualization in the Bachelor’s program in Multimedia Production at the University of Applied Sciences Graubünden, which is a Joined-Degree with the Bern University of the Arts. There, she established and directs the Visualization module and oversees numerous research and development projects in the fields of visualization, illustration, and drawing.
With the Sketch&Draw method, she devised a ten-rule framework that presents sketching as a systematic form of visual notation. This approach is employed in lectures and seminars—such as ideasketching and participatory urban design within the Sketchcity project, an international collaboration with urban planners from Rotterdam University.
In 2023, at the Université de Picardie Jules Verne in Amiens, France, she earned a diploma in Field Botany, further extending her expertise in botanical research.
Her current research focuses on visualizations that integrate information architecture, drawing, illustration, and botany. In so doing, she strengthens the Institute for Multimedia Production’s competency in Visual Storytelling and collaborates primarily with the Institute for Alpine Construction and the Swiss Institute for Entrepreneurship (SIFE).
Privately, Tanja Hess lives and works in Chur and Zurich. She is married and the mother of two adult children. A comprehensive overview of her artistic work can be found at tanjahess.ch
Field
Projects
