Creative Code: Ästhetik und Programmierung am MIT Media Lab

by John Maeda, Red Burns (Foreword by)

Mit seinen unkonventionellen Thesen zum Umgang mit Computern im Bereich der Grafik hat der amerikanische Design- und Informatikprofessor John Maeda die Grafikwelt schokkiert. Er weist nach, dass nahezu alle zeitgenössischen Grafiker mit vorgefertigten Programmen arbeiten, durch die sie zu «abhängigen Anwendern vorgefertigter Industrienormen» werden. Somit bestimmen das Programm und seine Möglichkeiten das Endprodukt - und nicht mehr die Intuition und Absicht des Gestalters, der damit den zentralen Zugang zum schöpferischen Prozess verliert. Dagegen setzt Maeda seine Vorstellungen, dass, wer wirklich schöpferisch tätig sein will, wieder programmieren lernen DBN = Design by Numbers heißt sein selbst entwickelter, interaktiver Grundkurs der Programmierung, der der individuellen Kreativität keine Programm(ier)grenzen setzt. Creative Code dokumentiert, dass DBN für eine breite Schicht von Anwendern erlern- und anwendbar ist und präsentiert von Maeda ausgewählte und kommentierte Arbeiten seiner Studenten.

Genres: Design, Art, Programming, Art Design, Technology, Nonfiction

239 pages, Hardcover

First published October 30, 2004

About the author

John Maeda [MY-ay-da] is a world-renowned artist, graphic designer, computer scientist and educator whose career reflects his philosophy of humanizing technology. For more than a decade, he has worked to integrate technology, education and the arts into a 21st-century synthesis of creativity and innovation.

Maeda's early work redefined the use of electronic media as a tool for expression by combining skilled computer programming with sensitivity to traditional artistic concerns. This work helped to develop the interactive motion graphics that are prevalent on the web today. A pioneering voice for simplicity in the digital age, he also initiated the Design by Numbers project, a global initiative to teach computer programming to visual artists through a freely available, custom software system he designed.

As a digital artist, Maeda has exhibited in well-received one-man shows in London, New York and Paris. His work is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Cartier Foundation in Paris. In the design realm, he is a trustee of the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum and has developed advanced projects for major corporations such as Cartier, Google, Philips, Reebok and Samsung, among others.

In 2008 Maeda was named one of the 75 most influential people of the 21st century by Esquire magazine. In 2001 he earned the National Design Award in the US; in 2002, the Mainichi Design Prize in Japan; and in 2005, the Raymond Loewy Foundation Prize in Germany.

A former professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Maeda taught media arts and sciences there for 12 years and served as associate director of research at the MIT Media Lab. He has published four books, including his 480-page retrospective MAEDA@MEDIA and his most recent, The Laws of Simplicity, which has been translated into 14 languages. Maeda has lectured widely, including at Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, the Royal College of Art, Stanford and UCLA; at the Centre Pompidou, TED conferences and Walker Art Center; and for corporations such as Herman Miller, Sony, Steelcase, Toshiba and Yahoo!.

A native of Seattle, Maeda earned bachelor's and master's degrees in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from MIT, followed by a PhD in Design Science from the University of Tsukuba Institute of Art and Design in Japan and an MBA from Arizona State University.

Reviews

[Hao Ca Vien · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Maeda is a great artist as well as an inspiring educator. I enjoyed reading this as well as getting some good ideas or two from it (I'll make sure to quote the creators though!) Thank you Dr. Maeda, and thank you all of you at the ACG, PLW, and OpenAtelier! You are one of the pioneers of the digital media as art if not THE pioneers! I wish I had the opportunity to take your class!

[Yokusun Basi]

Creative Code: Aesthetics Computation by John Maeda (2004)

[Ahmad · Rating 5 out of 5]

very fascinating gallery's of 'digital era artwork' ( not all of them are virtual, some installation art, graphic artwork, etc ). If you know John Maeda, and like his style, its a collection you definitely have to own

[Mario Breskic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ein Buch, das damals das Who’s Who der Generativen Kunst von heute vorweggriff. Im Umfeld von Maeda entstanden kluge und beeindruckende Programme. Wer die Anfänge von Processing nachvollziehen möchte, ist hier auch gut beraten. Inspirierend.