Ever wondered what gave Apple products their premium design? His name does not echo in internet corridors, but he has been the brain behind the look and feel of the iPhones and iMacs that people use today. Jony Ive, a British-origin executive who worked at Apple for almost 30 years, will now be concentrating on an independent design firm called LoveFrom. Ive’s biography along with photo has been removed from Apple’s Leadership page.
‘Ive 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,’ Apple CEO Tim Cook had said when Ive announced his own venture in June. Ive was one of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs’ closest friends and has played an important role in designing Apple products as well as the company’s ‘spaceship campus’.
Apple was having a bad time in the early 1990s. However, late Steve Jobs, who was ousted by the company in the mid-1980s, returned to take the company to new heights. Ive had played an important role in that success. In 1997 when Jobs returned, he contacted Ive and made him the senior vice president of industrial design. Ive first designed the iconic iMac in 1998, and later he was instrumental in designing the iPod, iPhone and the iPad.