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John Maeda
Sometime between his undergraduate and graduate years as a computer science major at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Maeda stumbled across a book called Thoughts on Design by Paul Rand. As he flipped through Rand's book, Maeda was deeply humbled by the power with which Rand manipulated space, and was at the same time struck by the clarity of Rand's accompanying prose. He immediately
aspired to pursue the field of graphic design, and left MIT for
art school in Japan the following year. After establishing himself in Tokyo as an expert in issues involving graphic design and computer technology, as well as earning numerous design awards for his experimental and commercial work for the digital medium and print, Maeda returned to MIT in the Fall of 1996 to join the faculty of the Media Laboratory as a professor of design. His first action upon arriving was to invite a new friend to speak at MIT: Paul Rand. On November 14 of that year, Rand appeared before
an overflowing auditorium of people from all parts of New England. His humble opening statement was, "I've waited 82 years to come to this place...I'm wondering why Mr. Maeda invited me at this late date, but I'll do my best." The lecture was a tremendous success, and Maeda saw a starting and ending merge as one complete cycle of time. The following day, Maeda ceremoniously packed away his sentiments for the traditions of design in order to begin articulating the clearest view possible of design's bright future in the next century, and to wholeheartedly pursue the creation of that vision.
View recent work-
http://www.maedastudio.com
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