"I like giving shape to ideas”

Apart from being an arranger, Geert Maas (born 1960) also feels he is a designer, in thebroadest sense of the word. He is able to literally give shape to ideas in all sorts of ways and with all sorts of tools. And not just his own ideas, but those of others as well.  Drawing, sketching, photographing and then working further on those photographs on the computer: this arranger/designer is not averse to using any resource and any technique. "My creativity is not limited to arranging flowers." Yet this does form the basis of his training, which started at vocational college and was then followed by the master’s course in Vught.

Initiatives

His practical training took diverse paths. He ran his own flower shop for 20 years. He also started various other initiatives to professionalize his work as an arranger and designer with flowers and plants. He constantly expanded his field of work, including with the design and development of packaging and sales concepts for flowers and plants. He can thereby draw on experience of both graphic and photographic design. He has never abandoned the traditional craft of arranger in this.

Classroom

Asked about his specialism, he answers: “Concept development through creative thinking and action. With flowers and plants but also with other materials such as cardboard and plastics."  He uses everything available for design and visualization: sketches, Photoshop, PowerPoint, and he happily utilizes his own archive of more than 12,000 photographs. Armed with a good knowledge of English, German and French his area of work covers the whole of Europe and the US. Flower shops, supermarkets and garden centre’s are his ‘natural’ environment. As a visiting lecturer at ROC NL and at the Eindhoven design school he is also familiar with the classroom.

Making music