Tofu for design

John Maeda worked in a tofu shop. He hated this work, therefore he became a lover of school and eventually a lover of design. Thanks for tofu.

This blog isn't really about tofu, though. It is about design. This article is about designing with computers. Maeda said in an interview with Design Matters that he believed that working with a computer was more enabling because it gives a designer millions of virtual hands.

He believes that print is different from computers in such a fundamental way that Paul Rand would never be a good Web designer. Quite a statement.

That being said, he also discussed the computer as a cold medium, and he designs programs for his children to make it more “warm.” How does that work?

This is something that I have been struggling with, too. There is something special about hand-made images and type that I don't know will ever be duplicable in digital. This process has led MAEDA say that he has grown tired of computers because they are not necessarily humane and cooperative. How sad.