On the Apple founder's 71st birthday, the Steve Jobs Archive has unveiled "Letters to a Young Creator," a gorgeously designed collection with genuinely inspiring advice for anyone starting out in their career.

The new project has been launched to commemorate what would have been Apple founder Steve Jobs's 71st birthday. It's a collection of over 30 essays, most illustrated with a pen sketch of the writer, which is inspired by one of Jobs's favorite books.

"Among the books that mattered to Steve was Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet," writes Jobs's widow, Laurene Powell Jobs in her essay. "I'm struck by this line from its pages: 'Live the questions for now. Perhaps then you will gradually, without noticing it, live your way into the answer, one distant day in the future.'"

Alongside Powell Jobs, there are key figures from Apple, such as Tim Cook and Jony Ive. Cook's entry, for instance, talks about how exhilarating but scary it is to start a career today, and about making choices and decisions.

"And you will be making them at an extraordinary moment, as technological breakthroughs open new avenues and new opportunities for talented people like you," he writes.

Jony Ive writes about working with Steve Jobs and what that meant to him.

"Since giving his eulogy I have not spoken publicly about our friendship, our adventures or our collaboration," he writes in his essay, "I never read the flurry of cover stories, obituaries or the bizarre mischaracterizations that have slipped into folklore."

After writing about "the happiest, most creative and joyful times of my life," Ive adds: "My sincere hope for you and for me is that we demonstrate our appreciation of our species by making something beautiful."

Pen sketches of Tim Cook, Jony Ive, and Es Devlin on the Steve Jobs Archive

With the sole exception of Laurene Powell Jobs, every essay has a pen sketch of the contributor. L-R: Tim Cook, Jony Ive, and Es Devlin, who is to hold a Zoom event about the work — image credit: Steve Jobs Archive

The 30+ contributions are initially presented in a scrolling list, which by default begins with Powell Jobs's entry. That list scrolls in 3D, like the alarm setting on an iPhone, which makes it easy to see where you are, easy to see who the next writer is — but sometimes a bit awkward scrolling on further.

Then while the collection is aimed at any young creator, and is inspiring for all, many of the writers specifically address the Fellows of the Steve Jobs Archive. That plus the way the essays were collected between July 2024 and November 2025 makes it feel a little thrown together.

But the advice each person gives is strong, optimistic, and even uplifting. Plus it's a demonstration of how what you write about a topic reveals yourself, so you have an introspective Jony Ive, or the exuberantly encouraging artist Jenny Holzer whose entire entry reads "PLEASE LEAP."

The list can be divided into two volumes, and the whole project is also available as a free book on Apple Books, or as an epub on the archive's publications page.

Alongside familiar names from Apple, there are contributions from writer David Kelley, famed designer Dieter Rams, and artist Es Devlin.

In support of the project, Devlin is taking part in a Zoom conversation on March 4, 2026. Register to attend on the official Letters to a Young Creator Live with Es Devlin site.

The Steve Jobs Archive was founded by Laurene Powell Jobs, Tim Cook, and Jony Ive in September 2022.