Name: Max Okst
Title: Lighting Designer
Years Worked at VT: Since 2025
Favorite Project: I don’t know if I have a favorite project just yet, but there is something really special about working in highly themed environments that is just so fun!
Tell us your funniest or most memorable memory at Visual Terrain: Getting to travel with the team to IAAPA this past fall was such an amazing experience. Being new to the team, it was great to spend time with some of my coworkers, meet some amazing people on the show floor, and get the opportunity to learn and talk about the company!
Favorite Aspect of Lighting Design: My favorite aspect of lighting design is how intertwined light is with human emotion. Whether we realize it or not, the light around us has a profound effect on our bodies. Creating spaces with light that regard our wellbeing and also spark excitement/wonder is why I love doing what I do.
What or Who Inspires You: On a more artistic level, I’d have to say the paintings of Edward Hopper or the photography of Gregory Crewdson and also the light art of people like James Turrell and Doug Wheeler. However, on a day-to-day level, I think there’s nothing more inspiring than being on a team of passionate people who want to create beautiful and exciting spaces for humans to inhabit.
Fun Fact About Yourself that No One Knows: I became a certified scuba diver at the age of 12!
What is your favorite part about being a lighting designer? When the lights actually turn on. We do so much work planning, researching, drafting and rendering that it is such aspecial moment when the lights we’ve seen in our heads for so long switch on for the first time.