Apple has promoted Jony Ive, from his previous position of vice president of User Interface and Industrial Design, to a newly created position as the Chief Design Officer. In a memo from Tim Cook, Ive will be handing over managerial duties of both software design and industrial units to two new leaders beginning in July 1st.
The new role will enable Ive oversee Apple’s hardware and software design teams without focus on management duties, which was the case previously. According to Cook, Jony is “one of the most talented and accomplished designers of his generation, with an astonishing 5,000 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.”
The memo goes on to describe Jony’s previous involvement in the look and feel of Apple’s retail stores, the new campus under construction and how all of this experience qualifies him for his new position. The new position will now see Jony take over all the company design with a particular focus on current design projects, new ideas, and future initiatives.
The previous role of Industrial Design will now be run by Richard Howarth, who has been with Apple’s industrial design team for two decades. Alan Dye will oversee the User Interface Design department bringing with him nine years of experience. He has also previously collaborated with Jony in the design and development of iOS and the Apple Watch.
Jony played a key role in the design of the original iPhone and has also been revealed to have had a major input in the design of the Cupertino “spaceship” campus that will house over 12,000 Apple employees.
Apple is now the most valuable company on Earth standing at $764B. With Tim Cook reinforcing the element of design even more, Apple is expected to be the first company in history to be worth a trillion dollars. The role of Jony as the Chief Design Officer will no doubt play a role in this.
