Jony Ive

Jony Ive is known for his 22 years at Apple working as design head. He is responsible for the designs of the iMac, Power Mac G4 Cube, iPod, iPhone, iPad, MacBook, Apple Watch, and many more.

Ive was close friends with the late Apple founder and CEO Steve Jobs. They shared many of the same design philosophies targeting ease of use and minimalism.

Even though Jony Ive's designs are celebrated worldwide, some of his decisions caused quite a lot of controversy among users. He became a character attached to Apple, to the point that his "white room" videos were parodied to great effect.

Outside of consumer products, Ive also influenced the design of Apple Stores and the spaceship campus known as Apple Park. By the end of his career at Apple, it seemed the man was ready to design something that wasn't a consumer computer.

Steve Jobs Archive

Even though Jony Ive is no longer at Apple, the company and his legacy there still play a major role. He is working with current Apple CEO Tim Cook and Laurene Powell Jobs to launch the Steve Jobs Archive.

The hope is that the Archive will be a place to draw inspiration from Steve Jobs's life and work. The Archive is a simple website showing a series of quotes and an email Steve Jobs sent to himself.

"I think care is very often felt, and not necessarily seen," Jony Ive said about Jobs's attention to detail. "And I think, and I know it's something that I think the three of us feel strongly about that sort of care, that is, I mean Steve talks about the carpenter, the cabinet maker that would finish the back of the drawer, and it's that you're bothered beyond whether something is actually publicly seen."

Visit the Steve Jobs Archive.

LoveFrom (2019 - present)

After leaving Apple, Jony Ive started a design consulting company named LoveFrom. One of the first clients was Apple, though that relationship ended in 2022.

Little is known about Ive's involvement at Apple after he departed the company. However, the LoveFrom team was confirmed to be working at Apple, though details of what they worked on were kept under wraps.

When the contract came up for renewal, LoveFrom and Apple mutually decided to end their relationship. Neither party was pleased with the existing deal, and LoveFrom had a habit of poaching designers from Apple.

Many see the consultancy firm working with Apple as a sort of PR stunt. One that would convince investors and pundits that Ive still had influence at the company.

LoveFrom has also worked with Airbnb and Ferrari. The consultancy's involvement in design at these companies is unknown, but Ive is involved at some level.

Chief Design Officer at Apple (2015 - 2019)

When Apple gave Jony Ive the title Chief Design Officer, it was the beginning of the end. It was a move to provide Ive more freedom, as he was allegedly growing tired of product design.

On the surface, it seemed Ive left Apple after a mutual agreement. However, a book, "After Steve: How Apple Became a Trillion-Dollar Company and Lost Its Soul," detailing internal accounts surrounding Ive's departure, states it was much more one-sided than that.

Ive allegedly left Apple because of an increasing difference in opinion and internal structural changes. After Steve Jobs died and Tim Cook took over, Ive slowly receded from day-to-day operations.

Ive focused his efforts on Apple Watch until its release in 2015, then was transitioned into the new title — Chief Design Officer. This allowed Ive to step away from his team and focus on building Apple Park.

One of the last proposals made by Steve Jobs before his death was Apple Park's spaceship campus. So, it was fitting that Ive put all his energy into designing the park before his exit.

Apple Park opened in April 2017, and reports of Ive's absenteeism and lack of input continued internally. It isn't clear how much involvement Jony Ive had with Apple product design until his eventual departure in 2019.

SVP of Industrial Design (1997 - 2015)

Apple is an incredibly secretive company and very rarely lifts the curtain on its internal operations. One thing was well known for decades, however, and that was Jony Ive's influence.

Ive was made Senior Vice President of Industrial Design in 1997 upon Steve Jobs's return to Apple. His influence on products would create the Apple renaissance that saved the company from bankruptcy.

The first iMac G3 released in 1998 had a translucent plastic case, which Ive is credited with designing. This iconic product was built to make computers feel more friendly and approachable by consumers.

Ive headed the industrial design team that consisted of about 15 people. They would be responsible for designing Apple's most important products, including the iPod, iPhone, and iPad.

Apple Watch would be the last new Apple product Ive was apparently deeply involved in. He was behind the decision to sell the $10,000 Apple Watch Edition model.

While many of Ive's designs are celebrated, some have been controversial. He is credited with pursuing device minimalism at all costs, even reduced functionality and ports.

This was in evidence, especially in the 2016 MacBook Pro with all USB-C ports, the disastrous butterfly keyboard, and display issues. The products were made to be thin above all else, which led to sticky keys and broken displays.

Ive is also credited with the abrupt move away from skeuomorphism in iOS 7. The release made the operating system flatter, focusing on readability rather than realism.