M81* Studio - Brand Design and Art Direction by Maximilian Gerdau in Hamburg

Bartle Bogle Hegarty is considered one of the most successful companies in the history of advertising. As Lead Designer of the brand invention unit Zag, I was reporting to Adam Arnold and Neil Munn, who would later lead BBH globally. My time in London was as exciting as advertising could get at the time, and the experience shapes my work as a creative until today.

In 2020, I launched the Hamburg-based skateboard label and eCommerce business Youth Lagoon. Specialized in the surf industry, we have been distributing 25 skateboard brands to over 40 countries. Despite being in charge of the brand and product design, I also manage all performance and content marketing. Youth Lagoon and being a retailer myself has been an incredible source of the knowledge I am using as a designer today.

Since 2022, I have had the chance to shape the brand and product design for CONWIN as designer-in-charge on a freelance basis. CONWIN is a SaaS business specialized in the logistics and waste management industry. After rebranding the company and launching various new products, the team was able to flip CONWIN from past its prime to the most watched challenger brand in the market.

Curiosity and research drive most of my design process. Since the early era of the internet, I have been interested in online publishing, HTML and CSS. Today, my focus is expanding into the intersection of design, AI, and automation. I actively use AI image generation to prototype and visualize concepts, and I leverage 'vibe coding' to quickly build and iterate on digital interfaces. Looking ahead, there has hardly ever been a time with so much creative potential and opportunity around.

After starting my profession as a designer in an advertising agency, I returned to Hamburg with the intent to work for a traditional design agency. Factor Design is one of the most awarded German design agencies known for establishing the use of uncoated papers in Germany and its multi decade-long work for German furniture producers COR and Interlübke. At Factor Design, I worked project-based as a designer on pitches, new business and regular clients. As a long-term project, I took care of the visual identity of the HSH Nordbank.

I graduated with a Master of Arts in Planning in Advertising from Buckinghamshire New University in the outskirts of London. Prior, I earned a degree in Communication Design at Design Factory International in Hamburg. Exploring different perspectives on the creative industry helped me to create my own approach to design. My focus, however, always has been on branding – already as a student, I was working in brand design for Enterprise IG, which today is the Hamburg office of Design Bridge. I finished both my degrees with distinction.