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Jony Ive Officially Takes 'Chief Design Officer' Title at Apple
Apple senior executive Jonathan Ive has officially assumed the role of "Chief Design Officer" at Apple effective today, after being promoted from his previous role of "Senior Vice President of Design" nearly six weeks ago. Apple has updated Ive's executive profile on its leadership website to reflect the design chief's new position as Apple's third active C-level executive alongside CEO Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri.
Apple announced in a company-wide email last month that Ive would be promoted to Chief Design Officer on July 1 and turn over his day-to-day management of the company's design teams to Richard Howarth and Alan Dye, who have both been elevated to vice president positions. Ive will remain responsible for all of Apple's design, with a focus on redesigning Apple Stores and other larger projects.
Ive spoke with The Telegraph journalist Stephen Fry last month about his decision to relinquish some of his control, stating that he is still in charge of Apple's design departments without needing to focus on administrative and management work, responsibilities that will now fall under his lieutenants Howarth and Dye. The move had been widely expected for several years.
Jonathan Ive is Apple’s Chief Design Officer, reporting to CEO Tim Cook. Jony is responsible for all design at Apple, including the look and feel of Apple hardware, user interface, packaging, major architectural projects such as Apple Campus 2 and Apple’s retail stores, as well as new ideas and future initiatives.
Apple announced in a company-wide email last month that Ive would be promoted to Chief Design Officer on July 1 and turn over his day-to-day management of the company's design teams to Richard Howarth and Alan Dye, who have both been elevated to vice president positions. Ive will remain responsible for all of Apple's design, with a focus on redesigning Apple Stores and other larger projects.
Jony is one of the most talented and accomplished designers of his generation, with an astonishing 5000 design and utility patents to his name. His new role is a reflection of the scope of work he has been doing at Apple for some time. Jony’s design responsibilities have expanded from hardware and, more recently, software UI to the look and feel of Apple retail stores, our new campus in Cupertino, product packaging and many other parts of our company.Apple has also added executive profile pages for design vice presidents Howarth and Dye.
Ive spoke with The Telegraph journalist Stephen Fry last month about his decision to relinquish some of his control, stating that he is still in charge of Apple's design departments without needing to focus on administrative and management work, responsibilities that will now fall under his lieutenants Howarth and Dye. The move had been widely expected for several years.
When I catch up with Ive alone, I ask him why he has seemingly relinquished the two departments that had been so successfully under his control. “Well, I’m still in charge of both,” he says, “I am called Chief Design Officer. Having Alan and Richard in place frees me up from some of the administrative and management work which isn’t … which isn’t …”Ive has been a full-time Apple employee since 1992, and rumors about him scaling back at the company have gained momentum over the years. Ive in the past has expressed his desire to spend more time in his native England, where he grew up, and his promotion will enable him to travel more often and possibly work remotely at times. Ive and his family currently live in an upscale neighborhood in San Francisco.
“Which isn’t what you were put on this planet to do?”
“Exactly. Those two are as good as it gets."
Tags: Jonathan Ive, Chief Design Officer
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48 months ago
Oh joy. Now to go along with my iPhone's boring unintuitive art and squinty hard to read thin blueish grey font on darkish grey background, perhaps Apple stores will replace the tables and Geniuses with an empty white space room with no intuitive door in front - instead you have to swipe and swipe and press and swipe to "discover" the door, and then let users rely on Siri to self-diagnose their phones.
"Function Over Form" & "It Just Works," RIP 2013.
Stake in the heart, 2015.
"Function Over Form" & "It Just Works," RIP 2013.
Stake in the heart, 2015.
48 months ago
Negotiations at Apple:
Jony says: It's been a blast, but I'm underpaid and under-appreciated. I want to go.
Jony thinks: Wow I'm doing well here - loving this place.
Tim says: We can give you a few more shares and let you make the iPhone even thinner, but that's it. There are many great designers here in the US.
Tim thinks: We'll give him anything to stay.
Jony says: It's not just money and recognition. I miss England so badly!
Jony thinks: I'd sooner die than go back there to live in the rain.
Tim says: Hmm... What if we made you Chief of Design?
Tim thinks: He's basically doing that already. Nobody tells him what to do.
Jony says: Wow, I'm, touched. Sure I'll stay. I love you guys.
Jony thinks: My masterplan is almost done. Now I will effectively run Apple, and it won't be long before a similar conversation gets me CEO. Then, finally, everything will be made as thin as a razor blade with a battery life of four minutes.
Jony says: It's been a blast, but I'm underpaid and under-appreciated. I want to go.
Jony thinks: Wow I'm doing well here - loving this place.
Tim says: We can give you a few more shares and let you make the iPhone even thinner, but that's it. There are many great designers here in the US.
Tim thinks: We'll give him anything to stay.
Jony says: It's not just money and recognition. I miss England so badly!
Jony thinks: I'd sooner die than go back there to live in the rain.
Tim says: Hmm... What if we made you Chief of Design?
Tim thinks: He's basically doing that already. Nobody tells him what to do.
Jony says: Wow, I'm, touched. Sure I'll stay. I love you guys.
Jony thinks: My masterplan is almost done. Now I will effectively run Apple, and it won't be long before a similar conversation gets me CEO. Then, finally, everything will be made as thin as a razor blade with a battery life of four minutes.
48 months ago
Somewhere, Scott Forstall is bitterly whittling a phone out of wood.
I just want to thank you for you witty comments that bring a smile to my face every day. Every time I see a new article on MacRumors, I scroll down to find you comment, usually within the first five. Thank you.
48 months ago
Bye bye Jony. Nice knowing you....NOT. Good luck designing widgets, chairs, buildings or whatever you're going to do. Just stay away from software.
48 months ago
Lets face the truth guys. Jony Ive is a worse designer without Steve Jobs. If Steve would be still around there is NO WAY this would be presented on the stage.
I use to think Steve had assembled a passionate team who cared almost as much as he did about making great products, but that's clearly not the case. It's almost like they couldn't wait to get rid of him so they could scrap of all Apple values and take the company in their own direction. Either that or they're just useless at their jobs. They took a company that had the best software, hardware and UI of the entire industry and they've managed to undo everything within just a few years. Just goes to show you what a difference one person can make.
48 months ago
Lets face the truth guys. Jony Ive is a worse designer without Steve Jobs. If Steve would be still around there is NO WAY this would be presented on the stage.
48 months ago
Somewhere, Scott Forstall is bitterly whittling a phone out of wood.
It's been said countless times before by people much smarter than me, but I would love to read the first intelligent argument of why an overly simplistic and minimalistic UI that strips down anything even remotely resembling real world appearance is better than a UI more resembling real-life? Wouldn't that also mean that the real world should be as stripped-down and minimalistic as possible? Paintings on the wall with no frames? Pool tables with a white Formica playing area instead of green felt? 21,000 paint colors in Home Depot, all of them being shades of white?
I do fear of the continued influence of Jony Ive in Apple design. IMHO He is not as good a designer as people dream him to be as he is good at somehow maintaining so much power.
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