• REGISTER TODAY
• PRINT THIS
• TELL A FRIEND

The visual ethics required in information graphics increase the designer's burden from faithful executor to editorial arbiter. How do design choices affect the integrity of the data being portrayed? Can information graphics and the designers who create them ever claim pure objectivity? John Maeda, newly appointed president of RISD, world-renowned designer and innovator, will engineer a conversation with three designers who specialize in visualizing information. Steve Duenes guides the New York Times graphics group in print and online; Andrew Kuo cleverly quantifies feelings through his meticulous charts and diagrams; Fernanda Viégas explores the social side of visualization at IBM. Together they will examine a range of current and anticipated trends in visual journalism: judicious simplicity over seductive complexity, data- and story-driven visuals, and the increasing demand for dynamic versus static information visualization.



John Maeda is a world-renowned graphic designer, artist, and computer scientist, who now adds the title of College President to his diverse credentials. On December 21, 2007, the Board of Trustees of Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) announced that John Maeda would become the 16th President of RISD.

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 Internet today. He has championed the use of the computer for people of all ages and skills to create art, and is 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 that he designed.

In 1999 Maeda was included in Esquire magazine’s list of the 21 most important people for the 21st century. He is the recipient of the highest career honors for design in the USA (2001, National Design Award), Japan (2002, Mainichi Design Prize), and Germany (2005, Raymond Loewy Foundation Prize), and his early work in digital media design is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.  Since 2001, Maeda’s works of contemporary art have been exhibited in one-man shows in London, New York, and Paris to wide acclaim.

Dr. Maeda received both his BS and MS degrees from MIT, and earned his PhD in design from Tsukuba University Institute of Art and Design in Japan. In May of 2003, he received an honorary doctorate of fine arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art.  At MIT since 1996, Maeda held the E. Rudge and Nancy Allen Professorship of Media Arts and Sciences, and was the Associate Director of Research at the MIT Media Laboratory, where he was responsible for managing research relationships with 70+ industrial organizations. A practicing designer since 1990, he has developed advanced projects for an array of major corporations including Cartier, Google, Philips, Reebok, Samsung, among others.

John Maeda is the author of four books, including his 480-page retrospective MAEDA@MEDIA (2001, Thames & Hudson). His most recent book, THE LAWS OF SIMPLICITY (2006, MIT Press) has been published in 14 languages and has become the reference work for discussions on the highly elusive theme of “simplicity” in the complex digital world.