Quotes from John Maeda

Creativity's about ownership.

I have a confession: I'm not a man of simplicity. I spent my entire early career making complex stuff. Lots of complex stuff.

Art shows us that human beings still matter in a world where money talks the loudest, where computers know everything about us, and where robots fabricate our next meal and also our ride there.

Anyone with a computer and a design program can create a page layout. But unless you're trained in design, it won't look very good and it won't communicate very well.

If you have no fear, no one has power over you.

Information is expanding daily. How to get it out visually is important.

Our economy is built upon convergent thinkers, people that execute things, get them done. But artists and designers are divergent thinkers: they expand the horizon of possibilities.

Technology makes possibilities. Design makes solutions. Art makes questions. Leadership makes actions.

When people say, 'I don't get art' … that means art is working.

Ya??n?z ilerledikçe bütün ak?l hocalar? çekip gidiyor... ...Çünkü art?k onlara ihtiyac?n?z olmuyor.

The tabular form of viewing data is by no means rocket science, but it is a rare sort of visual magic that always works.

respect is constantly earned, and shouldn't be assumed because of your position.

Underlying omotenashi is having an idea of what the customer wants without asking, so that their needs can be anticipated.

artists know to look deeper than just surface beauty. They dig for what's underneath the underneath

Cooperation is about working with another party at arm's length, whereas collaboration is about having arms hugged around each other.

Because the arts are not about what you can just see or sense; they're about discovering what underlies it all—

The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction.

Design matters a lot when it is leveraged with a deep understanding of computation and the unique set of possibilities it brings.

If you are going to have less things, they have to be great things.

Amidst all the attention given to the sciences as to how they can lead to the cure of all diseases and daily problems of mankind, I believe that the biggest breakthrough will be the realization that the arts, which are considered "useless," will be recognized as the whole reason why we ever try to live longer or live more prosperously. The arts are the science of enjoying life.

The problem isn't how to make the world more technological. It's about how to make the world more humane again.

While great art makes you wonder, great design makes things clear.

I've come to realize, however, that while technology may make it more convenient to communicate, it doesn't improve our ability to get a point across.

A book is a human-powered film projector (complete with feature film) that advances at a speed fully customized to the viewer's mood or fancy. This rare harmony between object and user arises from the minimal skills required to manipulate a bound sequence of pages. Each piece of paper embodies a corresponding instant of time which remains frozen until liberated by the act of turning a page.