John Maeda > Quotes

“Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful.”
― John Maeda, The Laws of Simplicity

“If you are going to have less things, they have to be great things.”
― John Maeda

“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.”
― John Maeda

“The problem isn't how to make the world more technological. It's about how to make the world more humane again.”
― John Maeda

“While great art makes you wonder, great design makes things clear.”
― John Maeda, The Laws of Simplicity

“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.”
― John Maeda, Redesigning Leadership

“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.”
― John Maeda

“Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful.”
― John Maeda, The Laws of Simplicity

“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.”
― John Maeda, The Laws of Simplicity

“Work is easier when its just work; it’s much harder when you actually care.”
― John Maeda, Redesigning Leadership

“The practice of education is the highest form of intellectual philanthropy.”
― John Maeda, The Laws of Simplicity

“Squint at the world. You will see more, by seeing less.”
― John Maeda, The Laws of Simplicity

“In the martial art of Karate, for instance, the symbol of pride for a black belt is to wear it long enough such that the die fades to white as to symbolize returning to the beginner state.”
― John Maeda, The Laws of Simplicity

“When you use other people's software you live in somebody else's dream.”
― John Maeda

“The best art makes your head spin with questions. Perhaps this is the fundamental distinction between pure art and pure design. While great art makes you wonder, great design makes things clear.
Sometimes,”
― John Maeda, The Laws of Simplicity

“Knowledge is comfort, and comfort lies at the heart of simplicity.”
― John Maeda, The Laws of Simplicity

“When a small, unassuming object exceeds our expectations, we are not only surprised but pleased. Our usual reaction is something like, "That little thing did all that?" Simplicity is about the unexpected pleasure derived from what is likely to be insignificant and would otherwise go unnoticed. The smaller the object, the more forgiving we can be when it misbehaves.”
― John Maeda, The Laws of Simplicity

“Çok olan, uzağa, çok uzağa gönderildiğinde daha az gibi görünür.”
― John Maeda, The Laws of Simplicity

“the fulfillment from living a meaningful life is the ROE (Return on Emotion). A certain kind of more is always better than less-more care, more love, and more meaningful actions.”
― John Maeda, The Laws of Simplicity

“Although data can make a compelling case for something, data rarely create the emotions needed to spur people into action”
― John Maeda

“Being prepared isn’t a matter of how much you practice. It’s about knowing that even if you fail, you won’t give up.”
― John Maeda, Redesigning Leadership

“Every time I try to diagram some organizational phenomena or strategy, the resulting pretty picture generally fails to create any lasting understanding. Much like movies, diagrams are more meaningful when you are there to witness the “making-of” experience or any other “live” means of presentation. We love to be there at the very moment of conception of an idea, but when we’re not, we’re less likely to be excited by the idea (because it doesn’t feel like our own). There is something to be said for sitting right there and watching the drawing unfold — it can make the spoken narrative clearer.

At the very end of an intense diagramming session that has revealed every possible magnificent detail, there is always the moment of excitement and reckoning that warrants, “Wait, wait… let me take a photo of this with my mobile phone.” But when you show it to someone else a week or two later, it no longer makes any sense. Watching something being made is a powerful way to understand a concept; trying to decode just the final result, no matter how simple and visually elegant, demands an explanation of how it came to be.”
― John Maeda, Redesigning Leadership

“respect is constantly earned, and shouldn’t be assumed because of your position.”
― John Maeda, Redesigning Leadership

“Karate'de siyah kuşak taşıma onurunun simgesi, kuşağı, rengi solup beyaza dönene dek takmaktır ki bu da başlangıçtaki duruma dönüşü ifade eder.”
― John Maeda, The Laws of Simplicity

“The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction.”
― John Maeda, The Laws of Simplicity

“If the forest were covered with ten times the number of blue markers I had seen on my hike, the probability of my getting lost would certainly be reduced. One could imagine the markers organized in a more symbolic shape—say a real arrow, instead of a cryptic linear marker. And if we wish to go that far, why not just paint the more explicit text, "This way," on the rocks in 100-point Helvetica so there's no ambiguity whatsoever? Yet at some point, with the successive addition of more sophisticated elements, the true value of the untainted forest suddenly vanishes.”
― John Maeda, The Laws of Simplicity

“Now, you’re open to achieving a more perfect understanding rather than a more perfect product.”
― John Maeda, How to Speak Machine: Computational Thinking for the Rest of Us

“Underlying omotenashi is having an idea of what the customer wants without asking, so that their needs can be anticipated.”
― John Maeda, How to Speak Machine: Computational Thinking for the Rest of Us

“Yaşınız ilerledikçe bütün akıl hocaları çekip gidiyor...

...Çünkü artık onlara ihtiyacınız olmuyor.”
― John Maeda, The Laws of Simplicity

“Because the arts are not about what you can just see or sense; they’re about discovering what underlies it all—”
― John Maeda, How to Speak Machine: Computational Thinking for the Rest of Us