Episode 13
Ben Fry
Co-creator of Processing.
Co-creator of "Processing" and founder of Fathom Information Design — Ben Fry (@ben_fry) — on the beginnings of the Processing programming environment, the use of information design and visualization to understand complicated data problems, and his approach to design, life, & work.
November 19, 2018
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1 hr 29 min
0:00 / 1:29:59

0:00 / 1:29:59

Episode Notes

Co-creator of "Processing" and founder of Fathom Information Design — Ben Fry (@ben_fry) — on the beginnings of the Processing programming environment, the use of information design and visualization to understand complicated data problems, and his approach to design, life, & work.

Ben Fry is founder and principal of Fathom Information Design, a studio in Boston focused on understanding complicated data problems. He holds a Ph.D. from the MIT Media Laboratory and is a Lecturer at MIT. Fry has authored and co-authored multiple books and develops "Processing" — the programming environment he co-created with Casey Reas used by artists, engineers, scientists, and students all over the world since 2001. His work can be found in museums, feature films, research labs, and the portfolios of Fathom's clients such as Nike, JP Morgan, DARPA, and National Geographic. In 2011, Fry was honored to visit the White House to receive the National Design Award for Interaction Design.

Connect with Ben at Fathom.info, benfry.com, and Processing.org.


Links

Books

Movies

People mentioned

Chapters

  • 00:05 · Intro
  • 02:05 · Ben Fry
  • 06:00 · The beginnings of Processing
  • 15:42 · Information design and visualization
  • 16:33 · The human genome project
  • 18:27 · Casey Reas
  • 19:03 · Daniel Shiffman
  • 22:02 · Valence
  • 27:00 · John Underkoffler
  • 27:44 · Valence in the Hulk
  • 30:20 · On needing approval for what we create
  • 40:17 · Building your own tools
  • 45:57 · Your favorite user interface
  • 47:36 · Typefaces
  • 49:22 · What you look for in a design
  • 52:21 · Fathom
  • 59:07 · Projects that spread
  • 01:01:32 · Is your life simple?
  • 01:03:34 · Daily habits
  • 01:04:26 · Non-work activities
  • 01:05:06 · Boredom
  • 01:05:51 · Social media
  • 01:07:53 · Disconnection
  • 01:10:44 · Technology
  • 01:12:33 · Ads
  • 01:16:31 · Success
  • 01:18:28 · A message to the world
  • 01:20:30 · Book recommendations
  • 01:23:39 · Side projects
  • 01:24:06 · Simplicity

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