The Introductory Art Course Designs Posters for the Guest Bands at the MaNo Festival

For the past 25 years, bands from Marburg and the surrounding area, as well as from the sister cities of Northampton, Poitiers, Maribor, Sfax, Eisenach, and Sibiu, have been invited to Marburg for a weekend in March to play their music at the MaNo Festival in pubs and clubs. All guest bands introduce themselves to the Marburg audience with a few songs on Thursday evening.

For the first time, one of the co-organizers, Antje Schmidt, came up with the idea of announcing the bands during the concert using posters instead of a host to mark the anniversary year. A collaboration with a high school class at Steinmühle was established to design the posters.

In the art class, the “assignment” of the eleven bands was conducted just like on popular talent shows: the bands’ songs were played, and the students who were the first to press the fictional buzzer got to design the poster for that band. Decisions regarding color contrasts, brushstrokes, composition, and typography were incorporated into the concept and sketches before the art room was transformed into a painting studio.

“It’s especially the way each poster is individually tailored to the sounds and rhythms of each band that makes these student posters so appealing,” comments art teacher Ines Vielhaben. “We’re really curious to see if the musicians like our designs.”

The posters for the guest bands at the MaNo Festival will be unveiled to the bands and the audience at the Waggonhalle on Thursday.