Jony Ive

How Jony Ive almost gave up his industrial design course in college

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 20, 2014

Jony Ive, Apple's Senior Vice President of all Design across the company, is the world's top industrial designer and likely the most powerful figure inside Apple: Tim Cook may be steering the ship and making sure the trains run on time, but it's Jony Ive calling the shots in terms of product development and hardware/software design.

But more than twenty years ago, Ive almost gave up on his industrial design course in college, prompting renowned designer Tom Karen to meet with Ive's father and talk some senses into his teenaged son...

Jony Ive’s brief removal from Apple’s Leadership page blamed on a technical glitch

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

After being promoted to Apple's Senior Vice President of all Design, London-born industrial designer Jony Ive's prominence both internally and externally has raised tremendously as a result. Ive's become arguably the most important Apple exec as he now gets to control and oversee key aspects of the company's product development efforts.

According to Walter Isaacson's bio book on Steve Jobs, the Apple co-founder ensured there was no one at the company to boss Jony around. Small wonder then that the blogosphere went into overdrive as Ive's bio photo disappeared from Apple's corporate Leadership web page earlier this morning, albeit only briefly.

The page wouldn't show Ive among the high-ranked Apple executives, such as CEO Tim Cook and SVP of Worldwide Marketing, Phil Schiller. Making matter even more peculiar, the URL never stopped working and would continue to take visitors to Ive's bio page.

Shortly after Ive's photo was back up again, an Apple spokesperson said in a written statement that the brief removal was the work of a technical glitch and cautioned bloggers not to read too much into it...

Nest founder Tony Faddell spotted with Jony Ive’s (RED) Mac Pro

Cody Lee ∙ December 11, 2013

Remember last month when we told you that Jony Ive's one-of-a-kind Mac Pro sold for nearly $1 million at his Product (RED) auction? And do you remember thinking who in the world would pay that much money for a computer? Well it looks like the answer is Tony Faddell.

Photographer Kevin Abosch posted a handful of tweets this afternoon with photos of the 'father of the iPod' and Nest founder posing next to the (RED) Mac Pro, as well as the solid gold EarPods from the same auction. The two items combined sold for close to $1.5 million...

Red Mac Pro designed by Jony Ive, Marc Newson sells for $977,000 at auction

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 15, 2018

Remember that beautiful, one-of-a-kind red Mac Pro designed by Apple's Jony Ive and Marc Newson we told you about last month? Well it and several other items designed by the pair sold this weekend at their Sotheby’s (RED) Auction in New York.

And as with most high-profile charity auctions, the selling prices for most of these items were pretty ridiculous. The Mac Pro, for example, was expected to sell for between $40,000 and $60,000, but it ended up selling for just shy of a million dollars...

Jony Ive on Charlie Rose on the value of simplicity

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 23, 2017

Apple's SVP of Design Jony Ive along with his good friend, industrial designer Marc Newson, has lent his magic touch to a few one-off items for Sotheby’s (RED) charity auction to help fight AIDS in Africa. Some of the unique objects the two men designed include a one-off red-colored Mac Pro, a unique aluminum-clad desk and a gorgeous Leica M camera.

Ahead of tomorrow's charity, Ive and Newson sat last night with American television talk show host and journalist Charlie Rose to discuss how they interacted to create these unique objects of affection that'll end up being used by their highest-paying owners...

Good deal: 55% off Jony Ive bio and Inside Steve’s Brain book combo

Cody Lee ∙ November 15, 2013

It's been a big week for Apple-related book releases, with two major titles hitting the shelves: Dogfight: How Apple And Google Went To War And Started a Revolution and Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple’s Greatest Products.

The latter is a full-length biography on Ive, Apple's senior vice president of design. And if you've been thinking about picking it up, you'll be interested to know that you can snag it at a nice discount in this two-book combo deal...

New Jony Ive bio book hits iBooks Store, here are juicy bits

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

I've been following Leander Kahney for quite some time now, going all the way back to his Wired and The Guardian years. Kahney now runs the Cult of Mac Apple blog and he's already published three books about technology and Apple's culture: Inside Steve’s Brain, the New York Times bestseller about Steve Jobs, Cult of Mac about the creation of the Mac and Cult of iPod which chronicles how Apple's music player came to be.

Building on the experiences in writing these books, Kahney has now taken a crack at demystifying Apple's arguably most powerful executive after Tim Cook, the guy who put sexiness in Apple's gadgets and flattened all your icons - 46-year-old British industrial designer Sir Jonathan Ive.

I've skimmed through the book and cherry-picked a few interesting anecdotes...

Jony Ive talks designing for Sotheby’s (RED) charity

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 31, 2017

Apple's SVP of all design, Jony Ive, recently contributed to a couple unique items conceived specifically for Sotheby's (RED) charity auction. These include, among other objects of affection, a one-off red-colored Mac Pro, a unique aluminum-clad desk and an awesome retro-looking Leica M camera.

Ive already talked about creating that camera and working with influential industrial designer, Australia-born Marc Newson, and now we get to see the two men discuss the intricacies of working with Sotheby's on making these nice auction items a reality...

One-of-a-kind Mac Pro designed by Jony Ive to be auctioned off for charity

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 14, 2018

A one-of-a-kind Mac Pro is scheduled to go up for auction by Sotheby's next month. Designed by Apple senior vice president of design Jony Ive and friend Marc Newson, the red, aluminum-clad Mac is expected to sell for as much as $60,000.

The two designers have teamed up on a number of other one-off products for Sotheby's upcoming benefit. And the proceeds from these and other items will go to Product (RED), a long-time Apple partner that fights AIDS and other diseases...

Here’s Jony Ive-designed, aluminum-clad (RED) Desk

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 11, 2013

If I had tens of thousands of dollars to burn on various objects of affection, I'd make a bid for this ultimate work desk, created by Apple's senior vice president of design Jony Ive and industrial designer Marc Newson. It's another item among the more than 40 limited-edition objects designed by Ive and Newson and slated to be auctioned off on November 23 on the behalf of Bono’s Product RED initiative, well-regarded for its long-running partnership with Apple...

Jony Ive on designing the one-off Leica M for (RED) camera

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 10, 2013

Apple's SVP of Design Jony Ive recently teamed up with Australia-born Marc Newson (another influential industrial designer who conceives designs for aircraft, furniture, jewelry and clothing) to create a one-of-a-kind, aluminum-clad Leica Rangefinder for Product (RED).

Vanity Fair sat with the two men to discuss various topics ranging from design in general to collaborating on the special-edition Leica camera to how it felt creating a product that'll ultimately be enjoyed by just one user...

Beautiful Jony Ive-designed Leica M camera revealed ahead of charity auction

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 13, 2018

It's been more than a year since we first received word that Apple's design wizard Jony Ive was going to be helping Leica design a limited-edition camera. The device, along with many others, was to be auctioned off for charity.

But the radio silence on the project ended today, with the German optics company revealing the 'The Leica M for (RED).' It's a one-of-a-kind camera, designed by Ive, and it's set to be auctioned off at Sotheby's late next month...