John Maeda is a graphic designer and computer scientist dedicated to linking design and technology. Through the software tools, web pages and books he creates, as well as his devoted students at MIT's Media Lab, he spreads his philosophy of elegant simplicity.
Why you should listen to him:
John Maeda is a programmer and an artist -- and is committed to blurring the lines between the two disciplines. As a student at MIT, studying computer programming, the legendary Muriel Cooper persuaded him to follow his parallel passion for fine art and design. And when computer-aided design began to explode in the mid-1990s, Maeda was in a perfect position to influence and shape the form, helping typographers and page designers explore the freedom of the web.
He jokes about himself as "the guy who makes the flying letters." But behind this joke is a deep insight into the way good programming can create new forms of good design -- the guiding principle of Web 2.0, where type and images can behave in brand-new ways to communicate and amuse.
He's the author of several books, including his latest, The Laws of Simplicity, and the retrospective MAEDA@MEDIA.
"Maeda's vision finds its purest expression in his open-source infrastructure for creativity on the Web -- a kind of Linux for art tools -- in which the browser becomes a global hub for editing, annotating, and sharing digital media."Fast Company
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