John Maeda: My journey in design, from tofu to RISD

http://www.ted.com Designer John Maeda talks about his path from a Seattle tofu factory to the Rhode Island School of Design, where he became president in 2008. Maeda, a tireless experimenter and a witty observer, explores the crucial moment when design met computers.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Watch the Top 10 TEDTalks on TED.com, at http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/top10

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• John
• Maeda
• TED
• TEDTalks
• talks
• Arts
• Computers
• Curiosity
• Design
• Education
• Technology

[emokowsky]

for a second there I thought they wouldn't clap. WTF was that about? I just lost 17 minutes of my life. damn.

I will definately think of becoming a designer, if people like him would be my competition then I am safe. OH THANK YOU JESUS, I'M SAVED.

[homerthompsonman]

TED: I am warning you, beef up your content or I will unsub.

[rue2themax]

I love you John Maeda!!!! You have changed my life!!!!!

[bakagajin]

WTF is up with all the haters? Ok it wasn't mindblowing but the guy touches some interesting points I think. I'd like to see him take his conceptual ideas about computers a bit further.

[givemeabreakman]

this is...useles...

[thinkpad20]

wasn't exactly blown away by this guy's speech, or his art. Some of it was kinda cool I guess. The thing with the people acting like computers was kind of neat in concept... but as a whole the talk seemed kinda pointless

[hannahskm]

For some reason I thought he only programmed codes to make funky images. I like him.. he's quirky and not stuck up.

[cornholiobros]

Actually, I can't belive that this guy was succesful in design and as an artist.

Ok, maybe he is an open minded person, but I find him very average in terms of creativity.

What he says and what he shows is not interesting NOR INSPIRING AT ALL.

And the stones thing... Come on, how open-minded men got to be to notice that some things in nature are similar to each other.

[DelayedArt]

As an artist he showed the process. Did you want conclusions? Set answers? Go watch another video. Don't resort to name calling because it wasn't what you wanted.

[unkaodya]

i`m a graphic designer myself, but i didn`t get about a half of the stuff he showed. what`s up with blue tape? what`s up with the stones? yeah, it`s nice to just think and make useless stuff that nobody gets, but that kind of gets artists labeled as useless people with dumb ideas. i would understand if he was a crazy painter or something, but he`s not.

[lhugueny]

i cant believe this guy is the new president of rhode island school of design, it almost makes me want to drop out

[mediatapwater]

pretty hard to follow what he says.. too many distractions .. but i think he's a great creative mind though