addie and lots of coffee.

At some point a talented person becomes a brand, and once a brand often times their thought becomes product and product sells. This is a classic example of celebrity products (see anything recently launched by a rap star).

The trend of simplicity in design isn't a new concept. Scandinavians are renowned for it for centuries, yet we still seek a way to self manifest a minimal complexity in order to satisfying the maximum number of imposed constraints we create in a world filled with cognitive overloads of white noise and meaningless messages.
Perhaps looking for universal quantitative laws is unreasonable?

Maeda, much like Tufte preaches the same thesis, the foundation of simplicity is the key to build a strong design/UI/product/business/life. He carries the Zen like feng-shui trend even further but attempting to bring back normalcy to our uberconsumer culture by ironically having you buy more: his book.