Sir Jonathan Ive, or Jony Ive as absolutely everybody calls him, is leaving Apple. He’s the company’s Chief Design Oficer and he has been working with, and then at, the company since 1990.
FILED - 03 June 2019, US, San Jose: Apple boss Tim Cook (l) talks to head of design Jony Ive at WWDC 2019. Apple announced on 27.06.2019 that Ive will leave the company to found his own company. However, Apple is to become a customer of the new company LoveFrom. Photo: Christoph Dernbach/dpa (Photo by Christoph Dernbach/picture alliance via Getty Images)
GettyHis departure, announced on Thursday and taking effect at the end of the year, is very big news. After all, can you name the chief designer at Samsung, Huawei, Nokia or any other tech company? I can barely name any and I’ve interviewed quite a few. Usually, they are pitched to me by company XYZ as “he’s XYZ’s Jony Ive.”
That’s not to say there aren’t exceptional designers at other companies, with a detailed understanding of what makes hardware and software look good, work well and feel intuitive.
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 12: Apple chief design officer Jony Ive (L) and Apple CEO Tim Cook inspect the new iPhone XR at the Steve Jobs Theater on September 12, 2018 in Cupertino, California. Apple released three new versions of the iPhone and an updated Apple Watch in Cupertino on Wednesday. (Photo by Qi Heng/VCG via Getty Images)
GettyIt’s just that Jony Ive is the guy, the standout, the real deal, you know? He was the guy who worked in lockstep with Apple’s late CEO Steve Jobs and who with him gave us the iMac, the iPhone, iPod and, iPad. Since Mr Jobs’ death in 2011, products have included lots of subsequent iPhones, MacBooks and iPads, not to mention the Apple Watch.
His quiet manifesto for a particular kind of pure design is hard to overstate, delivering product after product that just took your breath away with their elegant simplicity and irreproachable attention to detail.
Almost every smartphone and tablet since 2007 has been influenced by Ive. In the past, I’ve interviewed Ive and he is deeply impressive. When you meet him, you are left in no doubt that his perfectly chosen words come from a deeply thoughtful mind. He is a keen listener and his comments, far from the media-trained execs at most companies, seem to come from the heart, from principles that have guided his designs for years.
So, Jony Ive leaving Apple must be a body-blow for the company, right?
Actually, almost certainly not, I’d say.
For a start, his new company, with the inviting name LoveFrom, will have Apple as “one of its primary clients”, so there will be considerable input from Ive in the future. Second, it’s noticeable that no replacement has been announced, suggesting that in some ways Ive will continue to be doing the same job, just from a different address.
Wait, you say, Apple will never cede something as crucial as design to an outsider. You’re right. Except this is Jony Ive. If anyone outside the company is going to be trusted, it’s him.
Jony Ive, chief design officer for Apple Inc., second left, and Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple Inc., view the iPhone X during an event at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, California, U.S., on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017. Apple Inc. unveiled its most important new iPhone for years to take on growing competition from Samsung Electronics Co., Google and a host of Chinese smartphone makers. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
© 2017 Bloomberg Finance LPAnd thirdly, read the runes of what was said in Apple’s press release announcing Ive’s departure.
Jony is a singular figure in the design world and his role in Apple’s revival cannot be overstated, from 1998’s groundbreaking iMac to the iPhone and the unprecedented ambition of Apple Park, where recently he has been putting so much of his energy and care,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Apple will continue to benefit from Jony’s talents by working directly with him on exclusive projects, and through the ongoing work of the brilliant and passionate design team he has built. After so many years working closely together, I’m happy that our relationship continues to evolve and I look forward to working with Jony long into the future.”
Note the emphasis on Apple Park being the focus of Ive’s attention recently. In other words, the latest iPhones, Watches and iPads may have been largely designed by his “brilliant and passionate design team” with Ive overseeing.
That process, a nurturing and creative capability, is crucial to how Ive works, so you can bet that the team really is both brilliant and passionate.
Jony Ive speaking at the Cambridge Union.
AppleLast fall, Ive was awarded the Stephen Hawking Fellowship in Cambridge. His acceptance speech was electric and understated in the same moment. He spoke persuasively about the need to create a safe space where ideas could emerge.
I remain completely in awe, completely enchanted by the creative process. I love the unpredictability and I love the surprise. The whole process is fabulously terrifying and so uncertain. But I love that on Monday, there's nothing. There is no idea there is no conversation, the room is silent, there's certainly not a drawing. Prototypes are way in the future. On Monday, there is nothing, but on Wednesday, there is. No matter how partial, how tentative. Now, the problem is: which Wednesday?
You can read more of that speech here where he also talks about how the iPhone almost didn’t happen because sometimes the team almost came close to giving up. It’s a fascinating insight into the creative process.
Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple Inc., left, and Jony Ive, chief design officer for Apple Inc., stand for photographs during an event at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, California, U.S., on Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2018. Apple Inc. took the wraps off a renewed iPhone strategy on Wednesday, debuting a trio of phones that aim to spread the company's latest technology to a broader audience. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
© 2018 Bloomberg Finance LPIve and Apple CEO Tim Cook have a relaxed but effective relationship and I’m sure this will continue.
I also believe that the change of situation can only make for a refreshing, re-energizing of both Apple and Ive. However passionate you are, finding originality and newness after three decades can’t but be a challenge.
The same announcement from Apple says,
Design team leaders Evans Hankey, vice president of Industrial Design, and Alan Dye, vice president of Human Interface Design, will report to Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer. Both Dye and Hankey have played key leadership roles on Apple’s design team for many years. Williams has led the development of Apple Watch since its inception and will spend more of his time working with the design team in their studio.
I’ve interviewed Williams and he certainly has a granular detail of every aspect of Apple Watch and a similarly passionate approach to the company in general. He may not be a designer, but he knows the guys who are and to have them reporting to him is not, as some have seen it, a downgrading of the importance of design to the company. Seriously, can you imagine an Apple that didn’t put design at the top of its priority list?
I’ll give the last word to Ive, also from the Apple announcement.
After nearly 30 years and countless projects, I am most proud of the lasting work we have done to create a design team, process and culture at Apple that is without peer. Today it is stronger, more vibrant and more talented than at any point in Apple’s history,” said Ive. “The team will certainly thrive under the excellent leadership of Evans, Alan and Jeff, who have been among my closest collaborators. I have the utmost confidence in my designer colleagues at Apple, who remain my closest friends, and I look forward to working with them for many years to come.”
This is not a bitter divorce, more an evolution of a relationship. Both parties, I believe, will continue to thrive.
__________
More on Forbes
Trump Surprises G20 With Huawei Concession: U.S. Companies Can Sell To Huawei
"On Monday There Is Nothing": Apple's Jony Ive On Design And Conflicts In Creativity
Google Pixel 4 To Sport Tasty Mint Green Color, Report Claims
The 13 Best Things About Apple iOS13 (Update: Public Beta Now Live)
Apple Releases iOS 12.3.2: Here's All You Need To Know
How Apple Killed Off iTunes And What It Means
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidphelan/2019/06/29/jony-ives-shock-departure-from-apple-what-does-it-really-mean/
2019-06-29 18:00:00Z
CBMicmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmZvcmJlcy5jb20vc2l0ZXMvZGF2aWRwaGVsYW4vMjAxOS8wNi8yOS9qb255LWl2ZXMtc2hvY2stZGVwYXJ0dXJlLWZyb20tYXBwbGUtd2hhdC1kb2VzLWl0LXJlYWxseS1tZWFuL9IBdmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmZvcmJlcy5jb20vc2l0ZXMvZGF2aWRwaGVsYW4vMjAxOS8wNi8yOS9qb255LWl2ZXMtc2hvY2stZGVwYXJ0dXJlLWZyb20tYXBwbGUtd2hhdC1kb2VzLWl0LXJlYWxseS1tZWFuL2FtcC8
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Jony Ive's Shock Departure From Apple: What Does It Really Mean? - Forbes"
Post a Comment