Amber Neely
Apple and Ive's design firm, LoveFrom, are no longer working together, with both parties choosing not to extend the existing contract.
Jony Ive left Apple in 2019 to create his own independent design consultancy, LoveFrom, following nearly three decades at the company.
However, Ive continued to work closely with Apple in the following years, confirming that the two companies were still working together in 2021.
However, according to The New York Times, the companies decided not to renew their contract. While it's unclear precisely what caused the split, chances are neither party was pleased with the current deal.
After all, Ive's design firm had a habit of poaching designers from Apple.
Additionally, Apple executives were concerned over how much the company paid Ive.
And it was likely that Ive had grown tired of dealing with Apple. While working with Apple, LoveFrom wasn't allowed to work on any projects deemed competitive to Apple.
It was learned recently that Ive had left Apple burnt out and tired in the wake of CEO Tim Cook's numerous structural changes.
Marko Zivkovic
Christine McKee
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75 Comments
I miss Johnny, his voice over the products were wonderful. I still wish he had taken over as CEO. Way better than Tim as a communicator.
It's time to let him go for good.
I wish the UX would be more clear and intuitive and he literally made the iOS 7 difficult. There's so much cognitive burden. It's too flat. It's difficult to intuitively discover.
But I see the refinements over time and every iteration, the cognitive burden becomes lighter and lighter.
As a singular focal point of Apple leadership, Steve needed Jony’s inspiration and design talent to march forward with innovative new products.
By all appearance Tim Cook manages by group consensus. Tim, and his leadership team, recognize that design is important. But it’s not Tim’s passion like it was to Steve.
Steve was an iconoclast, a maverick, and rule breaker. But he is gone and there’s no re-creating him. Apple’s leadership team have no choice but to run Apple with the skills and passions that they have available to them. The Steve and Jony show, great as it was, is a bygone era for Apple that can never return.
So, a toast to what was, and a second toast to better things to come for both Apple and Jony.