The ACG is an experimental research group that was founded in 1996. Most of what they do involves holding workshops and other services that present the concepts of computing technology to the Art and Design community. The ACG have received numerous awards for their innovative and unique contributions to the technological arts. Through his status in the arts community, John Maeda has tried to push the idea that he calls the "humanist technologist." This would be a person that could shape the culture of the future through the informed understanding of the mediums and technologies that are being used. ("Media" 12).
In his earlier years, Maeda had no intentions of becoming a designer. His experience with computers started when he created a basic accounting system for his parents" tofu store. Later, in high school, Maeda's math teacher would often tell him that he should take his programming class; but John refused because he thought he had gained enough personal experience on his own. One day he finally broke down and went to one of the classes. The first instruction consisted of writing a program that would accomplish a simple repetitive task over and over, with certain variables involved. When Maeda discovered that he could replace one thousand lines of code with about fifty, he was dumbfounded and immediately began to study the computer more seriously. Later, he would go on to attend M.I.T. in 1984 as a computer science major. Here, he faced the difficulty of not being able to cultivate his artistic side and he secretly tried to switch his major to architecture. Unfortunately his father, who had very strict educational values, caught him and prevented it from happening. (Ippolito 42). Sometime between his undergraduate and graduate years, Maeda stumbled across a book written by Paul Rand. This book, called "Thoughts on Design," forever changed Maeda's life. He was entranced by the way Rand manipulated space and his philosophies on doing so.
