The laws of simplicity

One of the best parts of being on the speaking circuit is the opportunity to meet and chat with fascinating people prior to a gig. Sometimes there is a "green room" where speakers congregate, but more often it's just an empty stage before the audience arrives.

Last week I met John Maeda who was on just prior to me at a gig at the Providence Chamber of Commerce. John is a true Renaissance Man. He invented the screen saver; he's an artist, a graphic designer, an author, and a computer programmer. John is the current Associate Director of Research at MIT Media Lab and is the incoming president of the Rhode Island School of Design, a position he assumes in June.

We chatted for a while about such things as teenage daughters, the benefits of an Apple computer for delivering presentations, the importance of water availability while speaking, and flying toasters.

His speech last week was his first public session in RI after the announcement of his new job and the venue was packed and included the governor of Rhode Island. John is an amazing speaker. You can see a great video of him in action at the TED conference here. I learned some things about simplicity of speaking style that I'll be applying to my own presentations.

Here are a few things John said that I really like: "Humans want 'more' (food, storage, stuff). So 'more' is an important marketing concept. But while humans want more, design is about less." And he then related that with this fascinating example: "Yahoo design is about more. Google design is about less."

I ordered John's book The Laws of Simplicity on Amazon even before his speech was done. It is a short book and I read it in one sitting this weekend.

You can check out all of the ten Laws of Simplicity here. My favorite is Law ten: "Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful."

While John writes about simplicity as it relates to design, I am convinced that the same things apply to marketing and PR. For example, marketers love gobbledygook. But simplicity is what sells.

Comments

[Jane Quigley]

Thanks for posting this - I bought the book before I finished. Sounds like an interesting session, will have to look online and see if anyone taped it.

[John Atkinson]

Interesting post David - I will be ordering John's book!

[C. Edward Brice]

Great post, great speaker. My old mentor always said that good marketing is about making the complex simple and that is ever so hard to do.

[friarminor]

I just put out in twitter how my head hurts after reading so much stuff day in and day out as part of my work. I thought not many people in work nor anywhere else consider this as 'real' work nor appreciate its importance. Now I know the culprit for the headache.

Hacking through the Gobbledygook. John Maeda and your post just doused me with the refresh button.

Best.
alain

[Social Network Web Design]

Less is more.

"Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful."

After reading this, I definitely want to read all of John's book. Thanks for sharing. :)

[Dr. Paul]

Most of our lives are filled with "stuff" that is largely irrelevant to the most meaningful content. We try to polish up the "stuff" with garnishes or adornment. A friend of mine commented once that a lacquered cow pie is still a cow pie. Simplicity, yes - and getting to the core of the value without the fluff. Thanks David for introducing this resource - and thanks again for the interview!

http://www.liveonpurposeradio.com/radio/2008/05/05/playing-by-the-new-rules/

[Laura]

Thanks for posting this! I will buy John's book & check it out. I agree with the concept of simplicity. But it is hard for me to put it into practice!

[网站建设]

thanks a lot,very good

[MySpace Design]

Love it! Can't wait to get the book.

[Social Network web design]

i agree, it is a challenge to sift through the HUGE amount of data and process in a meaningful way and actually use.

www.megastarmedia.com