John Maeda by Shauna Spencer

John Maeda: Designer, Teacher, Inspiration

by Shauna Spencer

• There are many titles that form the person John Maeda. He is known as a graphic designer, computer scientist, university professor, computer programmer and an author. Although there are many titles given to him, none of them really describe what he does or who he is. To truly grasp the essence and character of this individual you will have learn much more then his various titles. To begin the Journey of learning about John Maeda it must be known that he is a Japanese American from Seattle Washington. He was raised in Seattle where his parents own and ran a manufacturing tofu business (TED Conference). At home he was required to work in the business which he viewed as difficult. School in comparison to home, was much more interesting to him. He thrived and succeeded in school, eating up all there was to know about math and technology at the time. Despite the pressures his family put on him to push for his strong suit math as a career he still had creativity waiting to get out. His parents told him to suppress his creative side and pursue a truly rewarding career in technology. So Maeda decided not to disobey his parents but combine both of their dreams for him into one.
  

• Maeda says that he was inspired by the teaching and writings of Muriel Cooper and Paul Rand. Muriel Cooper was a computational designer and was famous for her works in the beginning of computers. The website about her says, “Cooper was one of the co-founders of the MIT Media Lab where she taught interactive media design as the founder and head of the Visible Language Workshop.” Maeda as her student adapted many of her techniques. Paul Rand was a popular corporate logo designer. He constructed logos for such companies as ABC, IBM, and UPS. Maeda read some of Rand’s books and was inspired by a variety of his ideas. Possible the most influential role model Maeda had was “Anami Naumi” say Maeda (TED conference). He was the first digital producer in Toyko and took Maeda “under his wing.” Naumi taught Maeda much of what he knows about business and digital arts. Together these three mentors had the opportunity in molding John Maeda and the amazing works he is now producing.
  

• As far as his education goes the RISD website introducing their president brags that Maeda, “Maeda earned bachelor's and master's degrees in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from MIT, followed by a PhD in Design Science from the University of Tsukuba Institute of Art and Design in Japan and an MBA from Arizona State University.” During his study in Japan he used his own pupils in experiments that helped him understand software design and engineering better. He learned how complex the computer system was in that one movement of the mouse on a computer would take humans around thirty minutes to do each step (TED conference). Maeda became a professor at MIT, teaching media arts and computer science. He also published four books that became popular to the design world while at MIT. On September 12, 2008 John Maeda was inaugurated as RISD’s 16th president. When speaking at a conference later posted to TED, John Maeda said that when excepting his position to RISD he planned to “bring the technology back” to where RISD was rather then take RISD to the future of technology. Maeda believed that there was already enough technology and said, “My goal is to make the world more humanized.”

• 
  John Maeda has so many different works. He never stuck to one genre of design. He writes books, he can program computers, he does abstract art, he makes ads, and he designs products for all sorts of companies. In 1996 he worked on a project for Sony making their phones, video camera, and things alike respond to sound. He has worked on designs for companies such as Reebok (as can be seen to the left) and Channel. He even did some abstract art that is located in various museums. He has works in the Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian and the Cartier Foundation in Paris. On the interview that can be viewed through TED online he talks about his palm pilot paintings, his plastic box work, his blue tape exhibit, his lamps, and his Ipod fish. He has worked with motion graphic and showed a particular interest in them when his teachers wouldn’t hear of it.
  

• In the twenty-first century there are so many realms that “design” encompasses it is hard to really understand what it means to be a designer like John Maeda in this time. Designers are much like engineers that tackle a variety of tasks and make what needs to be made whether it be art for pleasure or an innovative invention that no one ever thought before. The twenty-first century revolves around technology. There are computers and software that make designing things easier and that have to be designed themselves. Being that John Maeda was named of the top 21 people of the year in 1999 for his contribution to the design world, put him at the top of his game in all that he does. Designers in the twenty-first century, much like Maeda are required to not stick to one realm of design, but incorporate all to liven and bring up the new products of today. There are so many tools and resources available to those willing to design anything and what makes John Maeda the renowned designer he is, is that he exploits all of these venues. He is an advertisement designer, he is a product engineer, he is an author, he is an abstract artist, he helps design how design museums and programs will be run an a designer in this day in age has to keep up with the definition that design is everything and be everything for design.
  

• Humanistic Technologies is a term foreign to most but can be defined through a an exert from the website on John Maeda Foundation at Cartier: Paris. The article explains humanistic technologies as,
  “John Maeda was one of the first to explore the visual and artistic potential of the computer. Over the past twenty years, he has defined a new approach to computers, suffused with humor and sensitivity. In his work as both an artist and professor at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), he has promoted the development of a “humanist” technology—one that is both easier to use and more closely connected to our body and our senses. He has coined the term “less-tech”—an original alternative to high-tech and low-tech—to define this attempt to break away from the intimidating complexity of today’s software. One of the artist’s first digitally created designs, The Reactive Square, clearly expresses this commitment to simplicity; the program involves a basic black square that dances and morphs in response to the sound of the human voice. Transcending the boundaries between art and computer science, John Maeda uses code writing similar to the way a painter uses brushstrokes, exploring the subtlety of form, color and pattern to create works that are both profound and visually stunning.”
  John Maeda’s view of technology is that it needs to be simplified in order to bring about a more human side to it.

• John Maeda expands on his idea of simplicity through his book The Laws of Simplicity. The book goes through the laws 1 through 10 simply explaining each of the laws. They are in summary; reduce, organize, time, learn, differences, context, emotion, trust, failure, and “the one.” In the first law, “The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction” Maeda explains that putting too many unnecessary characteristics to products makes them confusing as well as less appealing. The second law is “Organization makes a system of many appear few” which means as long as something is organized then it itself is already simplified. The third law states, “Savings in time feels like simplicity.” The fourth law, “Knowledge makes everything simpler” is explained in his book that designers should use characteristics of products that people already know how to use because this gives them a better understanding of the product and when the people save time in doing something they feel as if the task was simpler then it may have really been. The fifth law is “simplicity and complexity need each other.” The sixth law deals with context and says, “What lies in the periphery of simplicity is definitely not peripheral.” This rule appears quite complex, however as described in the book it is easy to conclude that this means that many items in a design may become lost if the work is too busy. It is important that the design has a clear point that is not lost in the mayhem of the design. The seventh law is all about feelings stating “more emotions are better than less” and this is an idea that rains throughout art. The more emotional a piece gets with a client the more it entices them. “In simplicity we trust” is the eighth rule which is an observation made by Maeda that occurs on a day to day basis without our knowledge of it. “Some things can never be made simple” is the ninth rule and as Maeda describes it, one of the hardest for designers and engineers alike. Designers believe that they can make anything work simpler, however Maeda reminds them that failure is something that happens along the journey of design and there are times that you have to give up on one idea and move onto another. “The One” is Maeda’s tenth rule that says “Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful.” From the quote you can see how powerful this last rule is and why he named it the one. Along with these laws there are keys. The three keys are Away, Open, and Power. Where “more appears like less by simply moving it far, far away; openness simplifies complexity; use less, gain more (Art of Simplicity).” This intriguing book gives us a new view on how to humanize technology by simplifying it.
  

• John Maeda does really live up to all the titles given to him, but as you can see there is much more to this complex yet simple creative mind. He is a genius in design who wishes only to motivate the designers of the future to remember the importance of humanism in our technology. Maeda want a future void of over complexity and full of a relationship comprised of understanding the technology around us. Don’t forget that Maeda is all about “subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful.”

Bibliography

Articles

Hall, Peter. "Creative Code". Print Nov/Dec2004, Vol. 58 Issue 6: 42-355.
Haung, Gregory T.. "Art by Numbers". Technology Review July 2005, Vol. 108 Issue 7: 68-73.
MacDonald, Nico "Creative Code". Design Issues Autumn 2007, Vol. 23 Issue 4: 103-104.
Books
Maeda, John. The Laws of Simplicity (Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life) . Boston, MA: MIT Press, September 2006.

Websites
"John Maeda". RISD. 7/24/09 .

"Maeda named one of Years most Influential Designers". MIT School of Technology. 7/24/09 .
"More of the Esquire 21:John Maeda". Hearst Communications Inc.. 7/26/09 .
“John Maeda at Foundation Cartier: Paris” 8/2/09
<http://www.artknowledgenews.com/node/1241>

“Muriel Cooper” 8/6/09
< http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/medalist-murielcooper>

Videos
"John Maeda on The Simple Life". TED: Ideas Worth Spreading. 7/25/09 .