Marissa Cianciulli: The Art(ist) of Union Transfer.

Behind the bands you see up on stage, there are countless people who work long hours behind the scenes to make sure events go off without a hitch. One of those people is Marissa Cianciulli, a new graphic designer at Four Corners Management. Our Bree Wood talks to the young artist.

What is your job now exactly?

I am a graphic designer, venue liaison and marketing guru. I design menus, calendars and logos, etc. I make sure shows run smoothly with certain venues by contacting the bands and getting all of the proper information to have a great show. I update the website to whichever venue I am assigned and I help construct the creative focus for the company as part of the marketing team.

How did you get this awesome job?

One of my best pals who used to book shows for R5 hooked me up with work at some shows at the First Unitarian Church a little over a year and a half ago. Working shows at the Church, I learned about ticket taking, will call, etc. With that experience, I got an easy in working at Union Transfer. One day I was working in the box office at Union Transfer and one of the owners asked to see something I created in school or at my internship. I showed him and he hired me on the spot. For a week and a half, I was the freelance graphic designer. After that week and a half, he approached me to work in-house. It was pretty cool. I wasn’t really looking for a job fresh out of school because really, I went to school for video game design. But I love creating posters for bands and working in the music scene.

Where did you go to school?

I studied illustration at Moore College of Art & Design. I had an internship with World Cafe Live making poster designs. I had no experience with graphic design but I was hired to create illustrations of the artists for promotional posters. I had some friends who worked for R5 Productions and I made a few posters for them as well. Through working with R5, I got a job at Union Transfer taking tickets, working the box office, doing merchandise sales and concessions. That led to some freelance graphic design work with Four Corners Management (which operates Union Transfer). They eventually hired me as an in-house graphic designer.
How did you get involved in the art world?

I always made art but never took an art class until my senior year of high school. Toward the end of high school, I spent my time making art and going to shows instead of partying. My GPA was god-awful and art is something I really enjoy doing, so I decided to apply to art schools versus normal universities and got accepted into Moore.

Any plans for the future?

My dream job is to create video games, video game characters and turnarounds. I do plan on doing that a few years down the road. But in the meantime, I plan on staying here in Philadelphia and creating art having to do with music and shows. I am a music nerd, so this is just as fun for me to work in and out of venues. I will eventually move to Norway… one day.