Saturday, 6 April 2013

John Maeda on Design and Technology - Caroline Konarkowska



What is this computer? It's a strange medium. It's not like print. It's not like a video. It lasts forever.”  John Maeda


This segment of my research found roots in the period where computers started to enter the design world not so long ago, during the 1980s – a period that Churchward discussed in his interview. During this time there was an influx of people who were dedicated to either using the computer as a tool or avoiding it altogether, designers and otherwise. 

I chose to briefly touch on John Maeda and a few of his innovative endeavours during this period and later.

_Who is John Maeda?
Maeda is a designer, artist, businessman and computer scientist. What resonates with me are his ideas behind design thinking. He advocates the necessity for its integration into technology, business, leadership and education.
Maeda brings wit and interest to often arduous and unexplored topics in the design and digital world(s). 

_On Technology
From the TED Talks video John Maeda on his journey in design (watch it here!), I learnt more about the aforementioned age when computers were beginning to come into common usage. An interesting quote that I've pulled from the video was that of the late influential graphic designer, Paul Rand:

“A student once said, I came here to learn how to design, not how to use a computer.” 

It is interesting to compare the student's attitude with the attitudes of design students today. 

In the video, Maeda also demonstrated computers' efficiency through an experiment using people as the parts in a computer (Japan, 1993). He created a disk drive, CPU, graphics card, memory system, and even a floppy disk reader out of human beings. The experiment puts into perspective the speed of the computer in contrast to the efficiency of human capabilities without it.

_On Design
While on a book tour, Maeda became increasingly analytical of the 'free food' he came across. These were mainly condiments – ketchup, mustard, sugar – and he began to think of food as a tool to paint with. 





Maeda creating designs with cheetos and a scanner. 





(Left) John Maeda's work from the "Wet Condiments" series. (6x48-inch Plexi-Sandwich Mounted Cibachrome Print.) (Right) Close-up view of the work. 





Excerpt from John Maeda's "Rebirth". (30x20-inch Cibachrome Print.) 


From Maeda, I have learnt of the value in retrieving inspiration from our immediate environment: what we are presented with. 

Something to ponder for the future, as Maeda so eloquently puts it, “It begins with art, design and you.”



Names of designers involved: John Maeda, Paul Rand
Date found: 7 April 2013

Post by Caroline Konarkowska

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