Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple's Greatest Products
by Leander Kahney. Simple and inspiring biography of the greatest designer around - A must read !!
On that special bond with his Dad:
“Mike’s influence on his son’s talent was purely nurturing,” said Tabberer. “He was constantly talking to Jonathan about design. If they were walking down the street together, Mike might point out different types of street lamps in various locations and ask Jonathan why he thought they were different: how the light would fall and what weather conditions might affect the choice of their designs. They were constantly keeping up a conversation about the built environment and what made-objects were all around them . . . and how they could be made better.”
In the years that followed, Gray had more opportunities to observe father and son. “They were so alike; shy but very focused and [they] always got things done without fuss,” he said. “I never recall raised voices ! My memories are mostly of smiles and the pleasure of being with them rather than raucous laughter. Mike’s pride was there to see but never spoken about. It’s unusual but talent and modesty can go together.”
On Design - Jony would have made Darwin smile:
Grinyer said the differences from one model to the next were subtle, but the step-by-step evolution betrayed Jony’s drive to thoroughly explore his ideas and get it right. Building scores of models and prototypes would become another trademark in his career at Apple. “It was incredible that he had made so many and that each one was subtly different,” Grinyer said. “I imagine Charles Darwin would have connected with them. It was like watching a piece of evolution really . Jonathan’s desire for perfection meant that every single model had a tiny change and the only way he could understand if it was the right change or not was to make a physical model of it.”
According to Kunkel, Jony avoided styling his products to protect them from dating too quickly. “In an era of rapid change, Ive understood that style has a corrosive effect on design, making a product seem old before its time. By avoiding style, he found that his designs could not only achieve greater longevity, he could focus instead on the kind of authenticity in his work that all designers aspire to, but rarely achieve.”
On Biomimicry:
As he threw himself into the work for Ideal Standard, Jony bought marine biology books for inspiration and scoured them for influences from nature. “Jony was very fascinated with water, and he looked a lot at water flow,” recalled Grinyer. “He took his inspiration for the bowl he designed as almost a Greek religious artifact. “He talked about the worshipping of water. That water was going to become a scarce resource. That water was something that must be honored. So he made an elliptical bowl, with an incredible architectural pillar. It was beautifully radical.”
According to Walter Isaacson’s biography, Jobs left Apple HQ early to think it over at his home in Palo Alto . Jony dropped by and they took a walk in Jobs’s garden, which Jobs’s wife, Laurene, had planted with sunflowers. Jony and Steve were riffing on their design problem, when Jony wondered what the iMac might look like if the screen was separated from the other components like a sunflower on its stalk. Jony became excited and started sketching ideas. “Ive liked his designs to suggest a narrative,” wrote Isaacson, “and he realized that a sunflower shape would convey that the flat screen was so fluid and responsive that it could reach for the sun.”
On Environmentalism:
Although Jobs got public credit for the greening of Apple, one source inside the company said a lot of the impetus came from Jony, who was “really stung” by Greenpeace’s initial criticism. “Jony felt that Apple had very positive stories about its environmental impact,” the source said. Jony’s commitment to not making junk products certainly puts him in a stronger environmental light: His products tend to be used and cherished for years, just the opposite of throwaway products with their more immediate and detrimental environmental impact.
by Leander Kahney. Simple and inspiring biography of the greatest designer around - A must read !!
“A big definition of who you are as a designer, it’s the way you look
at the world. And I guess one of the curses of what you do, is you are
constantly looking at something and thinking, ‘Why? Why is it like that?
Why is it like that and not like this?”
- Jony Ive
“Mike’s influence on his son’s talent was purely nurturing,” said Tabberer. “He was constantly talking to Jonathan about design. If they were walking down the street together, Mike might point out different types of street lamps in various locations and ask Jonathan why he thought they were different: how the light would fall and what weather conditions might affect the choice of their designs. They were constantly keeping up a conversation about the built environment and what made-objects were all around them . . . and how they could be made better.”
In the years that followed, Gray had more opportunities to observe father and son. “They were so alike; shy but very focused and [they] always got things done without fuss,” he said. “I never recall raised voices ! My memories are mostly of smiles and the pleasure of being with them rather than raucous laughter. Mike’s pride was there to see but never spoken about. It’s unusual but talent and modesty can go together.”
On Design - Jony would have made Darwin smile:
Grinyer said the differences from one model to the next were subtle, but the step-by-step evolution betrayed Jony’s drive to thoroughly explore his ideas and get it right. Building scores of models and prototypes would become another trademark in his career at Apple. “It was incredible that he had made so many and that each one was subtly different,” Grinyer said. “I imagine Charles Darwin would have connected with them. It was like watching a piece of evolution really . Jonathan’s desire for perfection meant that every single model had a tiny change and the only way he could understand if it was the right change or not was to make a physical model of it.”
According to Kunkel, Jony avoided styling his products to protect them from dating too quickly. “In an era of rapid change, Ive understood that style has a corrosive effect on design, making a product seem old before its time. By avoiding style, he found that his designs could not only achieve greater longevity, he could focus instead on the kind of authenticity in his work that all designers aspire to, but rarely achieve.”
On Biomimicry:
As he threw himself into the work for Ideal Standard, Jony bought marine biology books for inspiration and scoured them for influences from nature. “Jony was very fascinated with water, and he looked a lot at water flow,” recalled Grinyer. “He took his inspiration for the bowl he designed as almost a Greek religious artifact. “He talked about the worshipping of water. That water was going to become a scarce resource. That water was something that must be honored. So he made an elliptical bowl, with an incredible architectural pillar. It was beautifully radical.”
According to Walter Isaacson’s biography, Jobs left Apple HQ early to think it over at his home in Palo Alto . Jony dropped by and they took a walk in Jobs’s garden, which Jobs’s wife, Laurene, had planted with sunflowers. Jony and Steve were riffing on their design problem, when Jony wondered what the iMac might look like if the screen was separated from the other components like a sunflower on its stalk. Jony became excited and started sketching ideas. “Ive liked his designs to suggest a narrative,” wrote Isaacson, “and he realized that a sunflower shape would convey that the flat screen was so fluid and responsive that it could reach for the sun.”
On Environmentalism:
Although Jobs got public credit for the greening of Apple, one source inside the company said a lot of the impetus came from Jony, who was “really stung” by Greenpeace’s initial criticism. “Jony felt that Apple had very positive stories about its environmental impact,” the source said. Jony’s commitment to not making junk products certainly puts him in a stronger environmental light: His products tend to be used and cherished for years, just the opposite of throwaway products with their more immediate and detrimental environmental impact.
Jony’s ultimate goal is for his designs to disappear.
The shy boy from Chingford is happiest when the user doesn’t notice his work at all.
“It’s a very strange thing for a designer to say, but one of the things that really irritates me in products is when I’m aware of designers wagging their tails in my face. Our goal is simple objects, objects that you can’t imagine any other way. . . . Get it right, and you become closer and more focused on the object. For instance, the iPhoto app we created for the new iPad, it completely consumes you and you forget you are using an iPad.”
The shy boy from Chingford is happiest when the user doesn’t notice his work at all.
“It’s a very strange thing for a designer to say, but one of the things that really irritates me in products is when I’m aware of designers wagging their tails in my face. Our goal is simple objects, objects that you can’t imagine any other way. . . . Get it right, and you become closer and more focused on the object. For instance, the iPhoto app we created for the new iPad, it completely consumes you and you forget you are using an iPad.”
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