In 2019, Jony Ive, the legendary designer of Apple, left the company after nearly 30 years of creating a reputation for this technology giant and a series of cult product designs. It was a shock, but for those in the know, the departure was inevitable given the change in the company’s culture.
Recently, a New York Times article based on Tripp Mickle’s book, “Post-Steve: How Apple Became a Trillion Dollar Company and Lost Its Soul” went into more detail. on the cause of Jony Ive’s death. For Ive, that departure is the end of years of frustration that has seen Apple transform itself from a design-centric entity into something more utilitarian.
Together with Steve Jobs, Ive created the legendary iMac computer. The famous duo worked side by side when Jobs regularly visited the company’s design studio.
After Mr. Jobs died and Tim Cook became Apple’s CEO, Ive’s experience at the company changed over time. Mr. Cook rarely cared about product design, even making a few visits to the design studio during the creation of the Apple Watch.
After the Apple Watch changed its focus from a fashion product to a fitness-oriented product, Mr. Ive spoke to Mr. Cook about his fatigue and plans to retire from the business. In addition, having to argue with colleagues about promotions and manage hundreds of employees instead of the design team of less than 20 people previously drained Mr. Ive.
Fearing that this would hurt the stock price, Cook made Ive Apple’s chief design officer and relieved him of his responsibilities. At the time, very few people at Apple knew about Ive’s frustration and burnout.
The change in position made Ive work in a different way. From reviewing products almost daily, now sometimes Ive doesn’t even give a design review for weeks.
For the iPhone 10th anniversary, Ive called the entire software design team to a product review at a club in San Francisco. Finally, after arriving nearly 3 hours late, Ive only evaluated the designs and provided feedback, but made no final decision at the time.
While Ive virtually disappeared from the company, Cook continued to move Apple in new directions, including bringing in former Boeing CFO James Bell as company director to replace marketer Mickey Drexler. Ive did not endorse this change in comment”He’s just one of those accountants.”
Mr. Cook also allowed the finance department more say – to Mr Ive’s displeasure – by moving to audit outside contractors as well.
Regarding Mr. Ive’s decision to leave Apple, the article is about a June evening in 2019, when Mr. Ive gathered his design team for a private screening of the movie “Yesterday” – the film is considered “2-hour exploration of the conflict between art and commerce.”
After the film, Mr. Ive told his team: “Art needs the right space and support to thrive. When you get big, this is especially important.” A day later, the design team was informed by Mr. Ive that the new Apple building was completed, his time at the company was also over. However, Mr. Ive said he would continue to work with the company. acting as a consultant to the company through his design agency LoveFrom.
After Mr. Ive left, one by one other veteran Apple designers also quit. After that, Apple’s signature design also seems to fall behind, making way for feature and performance. The designers say that Ive’s absence has prompted more collaboration with colleagues in the engineering field, but at the same time, they have also faced more cost pressures on the job.
Refer to AppleInsider