Bruce Mau is an eminent contemporary Canadian graphic designer. He remained the creative director of Bruce Mau Design (BMD), from 1985 to 2010. He founded The Massive Change Network in Chicago and served as the founder of Institute without Boundaries. His creative talent is not bound to graphic designing but extend to the world of architecture, art and films, conceptual philosophy and eco-environmental design.
Born on October 25, 1959, in Canada, Bruce Mau grew up in Sudbury, Ontario. He went on to attend the Ontario College of Art & Design. However, in 1980, he dropped out of the college before graduation as he intended to join the Fifty Fingers design group. He remained part of the group for two years and then traveled to UK for a brief sojourn at Pentagram. Upon his return to Toronto, he became one of the founding members of Public Good Design and Communications ran by the triumvirate. Soon he found himself presented with the opportunity to design Zone 1/2 books which culminates in Mau establishing Bruce Mau Design studio.
Turns out Mau’s innovative took on Zone 1/2: The Contemporary City became one of his magnum opus. Zone 1/2 is a complex compendium of critical thinking which sheds light on urbanism defined by philosophers and architects, such as Gilles Deleuze, Paul Virilio, Christopher Alexander and Rem Koolhaas. Mau’s studio has produced artwork for several art galleries and museum including the Gagosian Gallery, the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Andy Warhol Museum. He maintained his position as a design director for Zone Books until 2004. He also co-edited a Zone imprint, Swerve Editions. During early 1990’s, Mau was appointed the creative director of I.D. magazine.
From 1996 to 1999, he explored profession of teaching as he accepted the position of the associate professor at a Houston university, Rice University School of Architecture. Besides, he served as a thesis advisor at the University of Toronto’s in the Faculty of Architecture, Landscape & Design. At California Institute of the Arts, he was the artist in residence and at the Los Angeles’s Getty Research Institute, a visiting scholar. Mau has repeatedly conducted lectures on art and architecture, upon the request of numerous art institute and universities across North America and Europe. Currently, the Wexner Center in Columbus, Ohio, seeks his services on the International Advisory Committee.
In addition to that Mau is a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. He is also an honorary fellow of the Ontario College of Art & Design. In 1998, to honor his contribution to graphic designing and architect he was presented with the Chrysler Award for Design Innovation. The following year he received Toronto Arts Award for Architecture and Design. The Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver awarded him an Honorary Doctor of Letters, in 2001 and the Design Futures Council appointed him as a Senior Fellow.
In order to help the young generation of designers and creative folks, Bruce Mau designed a 43 point program. It is called an Incomplete Manifesto for Growth which assists its users in forming and assessing their design process. Henceforth, the manifesto has become a widely circulated program in the virtual world. He participated in the Stock Exchange of Visions as well, in 2006. Moreover, he co-founded the Massive Change Network with his better half, Bisi Williams.
