John Maeda
John Maeda
John Maeda is an American executive, designer, technologist. His work explores the area where business, design, and technology merge. He was a Professor at the MIT Media Lab for 12 years, and then became the President of the Rhode Island School of Design from 2008 to 2013. He is currently Design Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers where he advises startups on the business impact of design. He also serves on the Board of Directors of consumer electronics...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionDesigner
CountryUnited States of America
John Maeda quotes about
The best designers in the world all squint when they look at something. They squint to see the forest from the trees - to find the right balance. Squint at the world. You will see more, by seeing less.
We seem to forget that innovation doesn't just come from equations or new kinds of chemicals, it comes from a human place. Innovation in the sciences is always linked in some way, either directly or indirectly, to a human experience.
If you are going to have less things, they have to be great things.
The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction.
No place in the US better exemplifies the ethos to engineer new digital technologies than Silicon Valley
How do we slow down what matters the most and speed up what benefits change and progress? We don't want to impede progress, but we are seeking reconnection to ourselves, to each other, and with the world.
There is a construct in computer programming called 'the infinite loop' which enables a computer to do what no other physical machine can do - to operate in perpetuity without tiring. In the same way it doesn't know exhaustion, it doesn't know when it's wrong and it can keep doing the wrong thing over and over without tiring.
My role is to find strategic insights as to where design can have the most business impact. A designer can bring a viewpoint of not just aesthetics, but economics and usage.
The best scientists that I've met are those that are humanists and scientists at the same time.