Max Gill

Founder of Max Gill Designs

Tell us a little bit about yourself!

When did you start MGD? What made you want to launch your brand?  

I started MGD in 2005, and it started flowering in 2002. I felt as if it was time to see if I could make a living out of what had been mostly a personal preoccupation with plants and natural process.  I’d studied theater for many years after college (degree in environmental science from Berkeley) to conclude, it wasn’t something I wanted bad enough to peruse.  I might rather set myself on fire than go on another audition.  But I was still so compelled by so much of how that training had me approach the work.

It turned out many of those principles applied seamlessly to floral design. In particular how the players and set create a picture on stage and how those changing special relationships tell a story and elicit an emotional response from the audience independent of but in cooperation with the written text.  It has been the cornerstone of how I approach floral design. There are mini botanical dramas happening all around us as plants vie for resources. Competition IS conflict which is the basis of drama and story telling that holds interest. I am infinitely inspired by the way this struggle shapes the natural world. Branches moving towards the light are more graceful for that “reach”. Stress in plants is often expressed by more refined leaves or smaller more delicate blooms and fruit. It’s the fight that creates the interest for me and it seems to be a story I’m happy to try and tell over and over again - you know, in a bowl. I’m also convinced contact with plants and plant materials in and of itself has a beneficial impact on our health. There’s a way that time in the woods or garden recalibrates my nervous system, finding harmony between elements in a floral arrangement lowers my blood pressure.

If you could invite any three people to your dream dinner party who would  they be?

Don’t know why I find this question so stressful lol. Dinner parties in general feel like a lot of pressure and to get it together to have David Attenborough, Constance Spry and Prince over my melt me down completely. 

What advice would you give to your younger self?  

Prioritize self care and despite all your resistance and misgivings, find a way that works for you to open what you are doing up to other people for support. It is not a one person profession.

What quote or saying do you try to live by?

 “I’m not going to worry about that right now” and on the other side of the job/event, there are always plenty of things which after having said that about enough times, you never have to worry about at all.  

Say Bonjour

website: maxgilldesign.com

social: @maxgilldesign

email address: info@maxgilldesign.com