The test institute velotech.de (Schweinfurt) has decorated its facade with a large bicycle painting. So you can understand from the outside what’s happening inside.
In June 2022, four airbrush artists used scaffolding and spray cans to paint two sides of the institute’s building near Schweinfurt’s main train station, covering a total area of about 400 square meters, within two weeks. The velotech.de managing director Marco Brust explains: “We were asked again and again by passers-by what we are actually doing. The drive past with the train, get with us in the street in the car and could begin with the company sign alone nothing. So now we show with the picture what we do here.” The artwork at Gustav-Heusinger-Str. 21 shows that electric and muscle-powered micromobility vehicles are tested and certified there.
Complex processes shown in simplified form
On the small wall are the company logo and the front wheel of the 22-meter-long e-load bike, which reaches around the corner onto the large wall. A lightning bolt strikes out of the battery, reaching to the large velotech.de logo. The company name is displayed on the large wall, along with devices that symbolically test the letters: the ruler on the “V” stands for precision; weights on the “E” (50 kilograms) and on the “C” (100 kilograms) symbolize static load tests. The “L” is dynamically pulled apart. The “O” stands for neutrality, as does the dot. The hammer at the “T” shows an impact test, the drum test rig at the second “E” stands for dynamic load tests. The magnifying glass at the “H” represents close examination. The “D” is tested electrically and the last “E” is pumped up.
The concept and implementation were the responsibility of the renowned Leipzig airbrush artist Johannes Leicht, who used to live in Schweinfurt. Leicht explains, “These parts are not used like this in the test procedures, but they are generally known and simplify the understanding of the image even for laymen.”
The crank of the 15-meter-long mountain bike is driven by a leg, whose muscle divides into fibers and represents human power measurable in watts. The storm clouds and lightning show that the test objects were created for outdoor use, and that electricity and energy play a role in that. Thus, the once gray facade was transformed into an eye-catching advertising space.
