John Maeda, a 45-year-old Japanese-American, the father of five daughters, a Graphic Designer, Computer Scientist, University Professor, an Author and recently (since June 2nd, 2008) the President of Rhode Island School of Design**, declares that : “Simplicity is about living a life with more enjoyment and less pain.” (“John Maeda on the Simple Life”).

Welcome. You are reading the final vertical version for the Research Paper on John Maeda that was assigned in the AVT – 101 class (New Majors Colloquium) at George Mason University, and here we will look at his works. Please follow the links throughout this page to learn more about the key elements that have played roles in John Maeda’s life. For all references, follow the asterisks.

Working with his siblings after school at the tofu store ran by his Japanese parents, John Maeda did not have many friends. “[…] So I bought a friend,” says John Maeda, referring to his first computer, the Apple II Plus, which has been exhibited at the Riflemaker Gallery in London, as part of his work. He expresses that there were no good books on programming so he was self-taught, with his first program being an accounting one for the tofu store*.

John Maeda uses both hardware -literally- and software for his work. Often it is hardware he has used or software he has scripted himself. His greatest hero is Paul Rand. The digital art that he exhibits on his website is categorized as such: “New”, “Static”, “Kinetic”, “Abstract”, “Type” and “All.” We will look at two of each category, except “All.”

Under the “New” category, two works attracted my attention: “Darfur,” and “Life Counter.” These two works both utilize numbers and one relates to death, whereas the other one relates to life. When we click on “Darfur,” it takes us to a page where we can have access to a 465 kb file, which is another webpage in itself, where the word “Darfur” is repeatedly typed, with each letter of the mentioned word represents one death at the Darfur genocide. It is an overwhelming number of letters and the statement above the letters tells us how insignificantly the genocide is perceived by the “outer” world:

“May 14, 2006
400,000 people are currently estimated to be dead in Darfur.

With each of the letters D, a, r, f, u, r representing a single person,
this is how many people are now dead.

Your browser struggles a tiny bit to get the entire file over to you.
It’s a tiny speedbump of data on the information highway. Just 400K.

Scroll your browser and everything will look the same.
You will feel nothing — that’s the problem.

google ‘darfur’ to learn more.” http://www.maedastudio.com/2006/darfur/d.html

“Lifecounter” is a small script (in computer terms) where the individual can submit his/her age and country, and depending on the average lifespan in that country, the script will calculate how many springs there are left to be experienced by the user. It represents the “springs” with little flowers and is a very simple way of motivating the user to enjoy life more. http://www.maedastudio.com/2006/lifecounter/index.php?category=new&next=2006/burn&prev=2006/versus&this=lifecounter

Under the “Static” category, the “Desktop1” link, that includes six different desktop patterns, shows us how simple yet how playful Maeda’s work can be. Especially one pattern stands out: “Rebirth” (2003). Here, as Maeda explains it, he has scanned anchovies and arranged them in a geometric pattern to form the desktop wallpaper. The interesting thing in this work is that both anchovies and a rectangle (it is the shape the anchovies are arranged in) are parts of nature. I would include rectangle as part of nature because it is a mathematical/geometrical form and we see that in nature. But, we never see fish swimming in a big rectangular pattern in reality.

There is also a “Desktop2” link under “Static” works. This section contains more homogenous compositions that are being used for countertop patterns by Wilsonart. They all use either several colors or two contrasting colors that seem to have become an signature for Maeda’s static work.

Under the “Kinetic” section, we find varieties of calendars and different holiday greeting cards Maeda has designed for Shiseido. One such example is “Cyberorchid.” Cyberorchid is a small Java Applet created in 1996, when such applications were almost nonexistent. In this applet, the user has a choice of designing his/her own orchid with different colors, shapes and sizes, use it on one of the provided backgrounds and send it as an e-card.

One of the calendars Maeda designed is the “Hanabi” calendar, where the user can see that specific week’s days, set the “days” on fire with a virtual match and watch them take off and “explode” in the air like fireworks. He calls this “Typographic fireworks.” Also created when such applications were not around (1997), this little app is a playful interactive calendar.

Under “Abstract,” we find nine links. Here, no matter what we look at, we definitely see:

1- An element of repetition

2- Use of a multitude of colors OR a few colors, mostly black-gray-white.

These elements seem to define John Maeda’s work.

And finally, under “Type,” “Imda” (1997) is the first work listed. It is defined as a “tangram typeface.” The use of tangram pieces is actually a direct influence of Japanese culture on Maeda’s work. He states that the idea came from wanting to know how much ink would be used in each typeset piece. (Do definitions section) (http://www.maedastudio.com/1997/imda/index.php?category=type&next=1997/cal1&this=imda) And since each letter uses all the tangram pieces in the tangram set, he knows exactly how much ink is used.

The “Line” calendar, one of the many java applet calendars made for Shiseido, is a linear interactive calendar where the user can click and zoom in on intervals in time. Aside from being “designed for you to waste time instead of save time,” (http://www.maedastudio.com/1997/cal2/index.php?category=type&next=1997/cal4&prev=1997/cal1&this=line_calendar) the Line Calendar seems to reflect the relativity of time and gives a sense of scale and comparability of time intervals.

Having advanced this far, we should not make the mistake of thinking Maeda as a “Java Applet guy who did some cool interactive graphics in the ’90s.” Maeda has written numerous books, one of which is “Laws of Simplicity,” his best-selling and most well-known book to date. It covers ten key “laws” that could be integrated into many areas of life, including the creative process, and business.

The ten laws of Simplicity are as follows*:

10 – The One: Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful.

9 – Failure: Some things can never be made simple.

8 – Trust: In simplicity we trust.

7 – Emotion: More emotions are better than less.

6 – Context: What lies in the periphery is definitely not peripheral.

5 – Differences: Simplicity and complexity need each other.

4 – Learn: Knowledge makes everything simpler.

3 – Time: Savings in time feel like simplicity.

2 – Organize: Organization makes a system of many appear fewer.

1 – Reduce: The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction.

Eventually, my goal is to construct this blog as loyally as I can, to these laws. Please help yourself through the links included in this blog and I hope you enjoy the show.