Apple's Legendary Designer: Who is Jony Ive?

Jony Ive was born in London on February 27, 1967. Ive's father was a silversmith. His grandfather was an engineer. His grandfather's profession was one of the most important factors that influenced Ive's creativity.

Jony Ive completed his primary education at Chingford Foundation School. After completing his education here, Ive enrolled in Walton High School in Stafford. When he moved on to his university years, there was a situation of indecision.

At first, he wanted to study an automotive-related department because of his curiosity about cars. That's why he enrolled at the Royal College of Art, which taught car design.

Sir Jonathan Paul Ive (born 27 February 1967) is a British industrial and product designer, as well as businessman. Ive was the chief design officer (CDO) of Apple Inc. from 1997 until 2019 (known as senior vice president of industrial design until 2015), and serves as Chancellor of the Royal College of Art.

However, when he could not find what he expected here, he abandoned his education. He later decided to study industrial design at Northumbria University.

Even while studying, Ive made very successful designs. In fact, some of his designs were exhibited at the Design Museum in London. Ive, who produced very successful works, also attracted the attention of managers. That's why he won a scholarship from competitions and went to the United States to gain experience.

Here, Ive met with executives of many companies, including Apple executives. He had the opportunity to examine the designs of many companies. Later, he returned to England and started to intern at a company called Roberts Weaver Group.

After his internship, Jony started working at a UK-based company called Tangerine. This company produced appliances such as toothbrushes and microwave ovens. Ive's creative acumen was far above this company. So much so that the products Ive designed received negative feedback from customers. Because Ive was not suitable for this industry.

Realizing this, Tangerine executives decided to part ways with Ive. From this point on, Ive's journey with Apple began.

Jony Ive is married and has two children. Apart from this, Ive is not a person who likes to stand out in his private life. That's why he doesn't share much information about his private life.

Apple Career

Ive's Apple career began in 1992. Ive, who started working in Apple's industrial design group, played a role in the design of many of the company's products.

Jony took part in the design of the second generation of the Apple Newton, which was first introduced as a small pocket computer, and the MessagePad 110 developed for the Newton.

The company did not achieve the expected success with the first products. This situation brought Ive to the point of leaving his job many times. However, after a short time, Steve Jobs took over the company. A new page opened for Apple when Jobs took over the company.

Jobs appointed Ive to head the industrial design team. Thus, Ive began leading the team that designed the company's key devices. The team's first design was the iMac, introduced in 1998. The team designed a translucent case and received admiration for this design.

Over time, Ive and his team began to become popular with the designs of devices such as iMac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad. Ive and his team are known for designing the first iPod and the first-generation iPhone model with a middle button.

The designs created by the team were highly appreciated by both the company management and the users. This enabled Ive to rise in the company in a short time.

In 2012, Apple officials announced that Ive's responsibilities within the company had been expanded. In 2013, at Apple's annual Developers Conference, it was announced that Ive would now become Senior Vice President of Design.

Ive and his team continued to make innovative and creative designs for Apple. This enabled them to constantly rise within the company. However, Ive did not define himself as a designer. According to Ive's definition, Ive and his team were not just designing; They were producing products.

Apple executives appreciated Ive's successful work. For this reason, company executives appointed Ive as the company's CDO, or chief designer, in 2015.

Jony Ive accomplished many successful works during his time at Apple. These achievements enabled Ive to win many design awards around the world. Ive left his position at Apple in 2019.

LoveFrom

After Jony Ive left his job at Apple, he and his friend Marc Newson, a designer at Apple, founded their own design company. There is no detailed information about the company yet. Because Ive aims to keep the company in a small profile for now.

Therefore, there is no clear information about how many employees the company has and what kind of designs it makes. However, according to the available information, Apple is claimed to be a customer of LoveFrom. It is even said that Jony Ive contributed to the new iMac models. However, it is not known exactly when Ive made this contribution.