Winning poster for Oktoberfest 2023’s motif
competition
The competition for the best Oktoberfest motif has a winner.
The Wiesn poster created by graphic artist Manfred Escher won over the jury.
The Wiesn in four components and primary colours
What the Wiesn fans in the Ratstrinkstube were anxiously
anticipating was obscured by three yellow and black striped cloths. Who will
triumph in the Wiesn 2023 motif competition, is the question. And who will
receive the bronze and silver? Clemens Baumgärtner, the director of the Wiesn,
increased the tenseness by saying, “Our little folk festival, the Wiesn,
begins again just as the snow is melting in February. Munich has been hosting
this contest for art posters since 1952 in an effort to choose the design that
will be printed on more than 10,000 posters.Then the covers came off the easels, starting with the
vibrant Wimmelbild by Matthias Englmaier in the third position before moving to
the cheery Wiesn watercolour by artist Gabi Blum on the other side.The victor is… When the poster was unveiled, Speaker for
Labour and Economy Clemens Baumgärtner said, “This design symbolises
everything that makes the Wiesn!” while standing behind it in the middle.
The jury had selected this pattern as the top choice by a wide margin.
warmth, happiness, and joie de vivre. The Wiesn, a land of
desire! a restaurant that offers delicious food as well as pleasure. The entire
event took place in the centre of Munich. According to Baumgärtner, Escher’s
motif may appear straightforward at first look, but that is precisely how the
graphic designer was able to convey the complete spirit of the Wiesn with only
four symbols in the four fundamental colours.
First place in the competition for an Oktoberfest motif
in 2023: Michael Escher
When you see a red heart, a blue ferris wheel, a yellow beer
mug, or a green pretzel, you know: The Oktoberfest is the main event.
The Wiesn director remarks the winning motif with a wink,
“You can debate whether this is possibly the perception after two or three
measures of beer, because it seems to blur a little, or whether this is now
simply a dynamic, artistic portrayal. But if the debate over the poster motif
picks back up this year, I’ll be thrilled!
In Manfred Escher’s motif, everyone can discover their own
Wiesn narrative to tell. The jury’s experts concurred that the winning design
was well suited for licenced items, such as caps, pins, beer mugs, and T-shirts
because of its boldness and restriction to the four primary colours.
Manfred Escher is an expert in the arts; he was born in
Freising and has resided in Munich since 1996. As a result, he has a strong
sense of kinship with both the city and the Oktoberfest.
Gabi Blum received second place in the 2023 Oktoberfest
theme competition.
Regarding the second position, Clemens Baumgärtner exclaims,
“With the second place, you can see right away: the lady can do
something!” This is already a remarkable piece of work because we don’t
have hand-painted watercolours very frequently. Freelance designer Gabi Blum’s
design has a joyful and vibrant appearance thanks to the broad brushstrokes and
cheerful watercolours. She does a remarkable job at capturing the usual Wiesn
mood without being corny.
Interestingly, the almost 10,000 Wiesn supporters who
participated in the public voting shared this opinion and chose Blum’s design
as the winner. How exactly did the internet voting operate? The final paragraph
contains all the details.
Gabi Blum is a co-founder of the project “EXIST – Space
for Art in Munich” and maintains a studio there. She plans and executes a
lot of initiatives and exhibitions around the city.
Matthias Englmaier won third place in the 2023 Oktoberfest motif competition
The Wiesn chief praises the third-place entry as “a
very courageous design, almost an Oktoberfest picture book, you can hardly get
enough of it!”
The boisterous, baroque Wiesn disarray and the vivacious
joie de vivre are really palpable. Wiesn-Schmankerl drives this
“wuiden” draught carousel together with two giggling angels, a
particularly beerseliges Münchner Kindl, a brass band, and other characters.
Younger than 23 years old, Matthias Englmaier is a freelance
graphic designer and illustrator who attends the University of Applied Sciences
in Augsburg to study communication design. His bravery in coming up with an
eccentric, even weird design was recognised by the jury with third place.
Wiesn CEO Clemens Baumgärtner describes the advances at the
2023 poster competition’s inspiration competition: “The identical text,
Oktoberfest München, along with the date of this year’s Wiesn, can be seen on
all three posters. That was a prerequisite for participating in the
competition. Why? because we wanted the letters’ decoration and the Oktoberfest
brand protected in addition to the lettering itself.
According to Baumgärtner, “another requirement was
that, as an artist, you were not allowed to associate your poster motif with
your own name in advance.” Several people—some of whom had already
advanced to the final round—didn’t follow this rule. Unluckily, we had to rule
them out.
Finally, 30 motifs advanced to the championship round.
“Selecting a winner wasn’t at all simple. But in the end, number one was
selected by the jury by a wide margin. And I believe that was a wise decision.
Information about the 2023 Oktoberfest theme competition
There were 95 designs submitted, and 38 of them were chosen
for the public vote. 10,180 admirers of Wiesn participated in the public vote,
casting 29,642 votes to choose the top 30 poster designs. Without knowing who
submitted each one or the outcome of the public vote, a jury of expert judges
chose the best design for the Oktoberfest poster. On all channels of
muenchen.de, the poster contest was publicly publicised, and the content was
disseminated.
First-place winners will get 2,500 euros, second-place
winners 1,250 euros, and third-place winners 500 euros.
Internet, social media, authorised items, and posters will
all use the winning theme for Oktoberfest 2023. Additionally, it will be
displayed on the official series measurement cup, carrying on the highly
sought-after collector’s mug series that was started in 1978.
