Designer Investigation Part 03

Jonathan Ives:

Source: http://www.gearlog.com/2009/02/birth_of_an_apple_product_behi.php

            Jonathan Ives was born in London in 1967 where he spent his childhood until 1985 where he studied design and art at Newcastle Polytechnic University.  After graduation he worked shortly for a London design firm called Tangerine before moving to San Francisco to work for Apple Incorporated in 1992.  He was then appointed vice-president of industrial design at Apple in 1998 after the return of one of the company’s co-founders (Steve Jobs) as CEO.  Since his appointment to this position he and the Apple design team have produced many wonderful products that beautifully combine form and function.  Most notable among these products was the iPod in which Ives sought to provide a compact medium for digital music storage and playback, but understood that it was not only about functionality and appearance, it was also about creating an intuitive, useable interface.  Ives and Apple are a personal source of inspiration for me because of their attention to detail when it comes to designing their products, from the quality of the materials to the (almost) seamless interaction of all of the components, including the operating system which sets them apart from other companies.

Classic iMac, I have one of these sitting in my room.  Unlike my old PC's I can still boot it up and play some classic Age of Empires if I like...despite it being almost 11 years old. 

Never had one of the original ones considering it cost almost $1000 dollars, but I own many versions of later models...and I love them.  

Finally, the original iPhone.  My favorite so far because of the brushed metal backing with the shiny, contrasting Apple Logo. Source: http://www.xtraaz.com/iphone-evolution/