Behind-the-Scene Design Talent to Continue Apple Legacy - Mobiledia
| By Margaret Rock | Fri Aug 26, 2011 10:49 am |
Jobs recruited Ive to the design team in 1998 and the two have since led one of the most successful teams in the tech world.
Early on, Ive was the force behind splashing color on iMacs, a move that became an instant design classic. Ive is also credited with helping design the iPod, which sparked Apple's comeback, as well as the iPad, which seemingly created a brand new market and pushed the company ahead of competition.
Launched in 2010, the iPad was the pioneer in what is today known as the tablet market. The hybrid device borrowed from other innovations, connecting to iTunes so users could purchase songs and movies and download smartphone-like apps. It also featured an iBooks component that capitalized on emerging e-readers while remaining an original creation in its own right.
Ive is more a complement to Jobs than a contrast. He shares the founder's basic design theory, including a strong commitment to both functionality and minimalism, a focus on the look and feel of a product, and an exacting rigor even in the smallest details.
As a result, with Ive remaining as design head at Apple, he will likely continue Apple's clean, modernist aesthetic, even as Jobs takes on a reduced role as chairman.
"Ive prefers to be engrossed in fundamentals and has very little interest in personal publicity," said fellow British designer Steven Bayley. "To him, the way a thing is made is fundamental to its character."
Bayley went on to say that it is impossible to say where the engineering ends and the 'design' begins because it is a continuum.
While Ive seems firmly ensconced with the company, some in the design community question whether or not Ive will remain with Apple, especially without the close working relationship with Jobs.
And company dynamics may also change internally with Tim Cook now at the helm. Jobs invested heavily in industrial design, more than usual with large companies, allowing the design team to buy expensive prototyping equipment for work onsite and inventing new production techniques.
Cook, known for his operations efficiency, may change that, and in design, where subtle shifts to save costs can have major impact, that may have alter Apple's designs and overall commitment to aesthetics.
No matter what happens to Apple, however, Ive has made an impact beyond the company. Beyond the financial success his work with Apple won him, along with the high-praise of his peers, Ive was also awarded the CBE, or Commander of the Order of the British Empire, by Queen Elizabeth II in 2005. The original iPod he helped create has joined a permanent collection in the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
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Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNExD34SOhd4cO38Nc8naUglRb5AZg&url=http://www.mobiledia.com/news/104852.html
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