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Jonathan Ive Named Designer of the Year
no_demons writes "Jonathan Ive, the man behind the iMac and the iPod, has won the first Designer of the Year award from the Design Museum in London. The Independent has the scoop, and BBC2 has the documentary on Wednesday, June 11th."
Now we just need this guy to design a universal remote control since most designs suck!
Is that "Ive" as in "I've got an idea?"
taken! (by Davidleeroth) Thanks Bingo Foo!
Now I want this guy to Design a PDA... Palm should hire him for their high end devices...
Are we all so running out of stories these days?
hmm...
How about talking about them Crazy Congolians eating each other? Sick, aint it?
Almost any room you put a new Mac in is going to look ugly by comparison.
I want to see the iRoom. With an iDesk, an iLamp, and an iSeat.
Them maybe we talk about awards and such.
Is this truly the only Earth I can live on?
Though I love the industrial designs of the iPod and the new iMac, I can not seriously consider the professional opinion of any entity whose website is so damned ugly.
Regarded as one of the world's most influential product
designers, Jonathan Ive is vice-president of industrial
design at Apple in California. By combining what he
describes as "fanatical care beyond the obvious stuff"
with relentless experiments into tools, materials and
production processes, he and the Apple design team
have designed and developed such ground-breaking
products as the iMAC, iBook, the PowerBook G4,
the Cube and the iPod MP3 player.
Born in London in 1967, Ive studied art and design at
Newcastle Polytechnic before co-founding Tangerine,
a design consultancy where he developed everything
from power tools to televisions. In 1992, one of his clients -
Apple - offered him a job at its headquarters in Cupertino,
California. Ive has described his first years at Apple as
"frustrating" because the company appeared to have
lost its earlier commitment to design and innovation.
Apple's culture changed when Steve Jobs, one of the
original co-founders, rejoined and restored its original
values. The first project on which Ive collaborated with
Jobs was the iMac. Not only did it help Apple financially
by selling more than 2m units in its first year, the iMac
transformed product design by introducing colour and
light to the drab world of computing where, until its
arrival, new products were routinely encased in
opaque grey or beige plastic.
The Apple design team has since applied the same
lateral thinking and passionate attention to detail to
the to inserting innovative new products
such as the Cube, the iPod and the PowerBook G4 into cowboy neal's ass. Jonathan
Ive was nominated for the Designer of the Year prize
for his exceptional record of ingenuity and innovation.
See more of Jonathan Ive's work at Apple: www.apple.com
IIRC ID (industrial design) is about aesthetics and functionality. Looking at the other three contestants, most are very skewed in one of the two. Actually I have no idea why Vice-City was in there altogether.
Anyway, well deserved regardless. After all the attempts of copy-cat manufactures from Korea and Taiwan, nothing beats the simple and elegance of Apple products.
My life in the land of the rising sun.
was responsible for the new bug? (No, I'm not blaming software glitches on him -- I mean the new beetle)
so creative and you might end up with a price that competes with Intel/AMD based machines.
Good. I think he deserves this. The iPod/iMac are/were "innovative". Even if that word has lost most of it's meaning with the use of it by a certain Northwest company.
I think it goes without saying that this guy has changed the way a lot of people look at computers today.
They aren't just mindless machines that perform a task, thanks to him and apple they are elegant pieces of art and form met with function.
I mean come on, take a look at the iPod for example. It uses a radial menu -- the most efficient menu design, combined with the scroll wheel and a large LCD. It's completely intuitive, and so simple to use that it justifies the extra $100 compared with other mp3 players of it's class.
- tristan
1. Take an existing product
2. Slap an Apple logo on it
4. Wait for the Apple fanclub to cream their pants over it
5. ????
6. Profit!
Anyhow, you deserve it!
Vance McKillson.
Is this the Jonathan I've named designer of the year?
I believe that he has been fundamental in Apple's recent successes. It also speaks well of Apple's management. Love him or hate him, Jobs seems to be making some excellent decisions, including personnel decisions. I'm sure HP would love to get him in to FIX the Athens PC. It's one thing to have visionaries at the helm, which I don't doubt that most execs have visions for their companies, but its another to be able to build a team that will bring it to brilliant fruition.
Pudge, please don't use the slashdot main page to send me messages.
Too many fuckin links, you fuckin tools! I'm looking at the story going, "shit, what the fuck do I click?" I try one. Shit! It's the goddamn iMac site. I KNOW what an iMac looks like, you morons, I'm from EARTH. So I try another one. Augh! Fuckin "Design Museum" site! Bitches! Screw this!
This reminds me of 19-fuckin-93, when hyperlinks were this new and kewl thing. D00D! I can make words to things! So whenever I type "iMac" I should make it link to the iMac site! KEWL! I AM MAD SKILLZ WEBMASTAR!
You guys suck. Oh, you guys suck.
Congratulations to Mr. Ive.
I'm glad there are still companies that care about DESIGN and the feel of something in your hand.
I was thinking of this today when I saw the ugly new Canon G5, an otherwise great camera that looks like a shrunken down 1970's rangefinder, complete with gratutious and useless chrome trim.
The best designs are MINIMAL. The best designs have no more buttons than necessary, that have a screen just large enough, that focus on small details and never add elements unless they are absolutely necessary. If they are held in the hand, they should be smooth and inviting and free of buttons to accidentally press, and not sharp or cold, which may look beautiful, but subconciously you want to avoid touching it.
Although Apple doesn't get 100% right all the time (the best designs are also EGOLESS as well as minimal, and do not draw attention to themselves) they are trying hard where most manufacturers are content to use ugly swooping plastic or cold sharp metal.
Nobody told me this design award was up for grabs. If they had, I would have sent in photos of my cool case mod, which is entirely made of potato chips and twine. That would have easily clinched it.
The radial menu of the iPod is really efficient, but evidentally Apple doesn't know/care. The latest revision of the iPod does away with the buttons laid out around the edge of the wheel, replacing them with 4 similarly-labeled buttons above the wheel. (And they're "touch" buttons, rather than mechanical ones, allowing for easier accidental pushing than the mechanical ones, besides the fact they no longer guard the touch wheel... all in all, meaning you had better have the thing locked when it's in your pocket.)
It seems like they're willing to throw away good design to get upgrades.
Of course this is all just as bad is the newspapers, TV stations, and websites who run these sort of garbage polls and tout them as having any sort of validity. In reality they're just calculated come-on's for for the website being used and anyone with half a clue knows to discount this sort of trivially rigged "slacktivism". Nonetheless I keep getting emails asking me to vote in blahblahblah.com's poll to show my support for #cause.
My advice is not to play sucker for these folks & their fake poles, when you come across them ask the sponsors exactly how valid they consider their results to be. Then ask if this is really the "news" they pretend or are they just being slimers, do they feel this discredits their entire operation?
I don't read ACs: If a post isn't worth so much as a nom de plume to its author then I wont bother either.
If anyone deserves this award, it's probably him. It's very hard to say with a straight face that the tiBooks and iPods aren't sexy, sexy hardware. (And they're incredibly functional, too!) I may be a little biased (consider my nickname), but the amount of buzz heard about these products (including on /.), is astounding. They're like fad items whose popularity never seems to decline.
Mr. Ive, congratulations!
If a man's character is to be abused there's nobody like a relative to do the business. -Thackeray, William
I love my 12" powerbook, not just because it's cool, it works. Anybody wanna buy a P4 2.26 custom built paper weight....
He damn well deserves it.
I went to a talk given by British invetor James Dyson (check out their Home Page) a few weeks back. He invented the "bagless vacuum cleaner" and one of his engineers' "inovations" was to have a clear case round the rubbish it sucked up. They thought it was cool. One of the most interested people in the design was Steve Jobs...The rest is history.
-- Free software on every PC on every desk
WTF is the briefcase / tophat / circa '95 cordless phone icon supposed to be?
As we're talking about Apple design ( heh ) this is one of the things that really surprised me when first using the e - the keyboard has very clean lines, nice key size and elevation, and very satisfying tactile response. The special keys are well laid out and chosen ( even if the contrast ones don't seem to be marked? ) and it even shipped with little plastic end-caps over the connector to protect it from dust / particles in shipping.
Its possibly one of the best keyboards I've ever used, including an old "clicky" IBM one I had in one of my old jobs. Is this also one of Ives designs? The only problem I have with it is that if it gets crap in it ( e.g., if you eat crackers at the keyboard while you're working ) the curvature of the transparent plastic optically blows them up into huge Godzilla Scale crumbs, which then attact mockery from nearby friends.
-- YLFI
One god, one market, one truth, one consumer.
I slipped my iPod in my cargo pants "leg" pocket one day as I was getting out of the car. I had totally forgotten that it was there. The car door was partly shut and locked; so, I have it a good body slam with my thigh. My iPod took it head on and it was not broken, not dented, not nuttin.
Buying quality never paid off so well. A cheap mp3 box from Radio Snack would have been flat as a pancake.
Harpo Tunnel Syndrome--my wrist feels funny.
Remeber folks, this is the man who is responsible for the aisles and aisles of "blueberry" and "lime" and other fruit colored office suplies in the past few years.
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
I have to admit the iPod design is pretty slick, but I remember a reading a story several months ago with a very convincing accusation that this guy stole the new iMac design from a European Mac enthusiest. Apparently a Mac webpage asked for people to submit designs and some guy posted pictures almost identical to the new iMac, long before the new iMac was released. Anyone know what ever happened to that story?
-Now we just need this guy to design a universal remote control since most designs suck-
- wo zniak/
http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/hackers/steve
The Woz was one of the pioneers in the universal remote kick. Im suprised someone trolling wouldnt know such basic facts....
---- The real Slashdot is still here. You just have to browse at -1 to read the comments.
And there are just so MANY of those darned Mac users out there! Gimme a break. Are we a niche market, or are we capable of rigging elections. Take your pick. You can't have it both ways.
Was this guy, RockStar Games, and some swedish dude I never heard of.
Wtf?
How do you compare GTA Vice City to the iMac?
I smell a pretentious pulled-out-of-your-ass award.
Besides, GTA: VC, Max Payne, SOE, etc are all much cooler than anything Apple has ever put out.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
if you think thats funny imagine a beowulf cluster of idiots making lame /. jokes
---- The real Slashdot is still here. You just have to browse at -1 to read the comments.
n/t
there is an ocean of difference between an idea and an implementation of complex electronic or mechanical devices. all sorts of ideas are introduced, but actually getting people to invest in them, collaborate on them, and finally getting them out the door to a receptive audience is an effort just shy of miraculous. now add the requirement of utterly high standards. how many car companies pull this off?
The iMac and the iPod are products introduced more than a year ago. He's the designer of what, then, last year?
You're a niche market capable of rigging niche elections.
im not discriminating against win3.1, 95, 98, 98SE, ME or 2K.... i hate them all as well. but when picking a new name i needed something that would last a bit.....
and i have to recant..... im ashamed to admit it but i only loathe win2k (but probably only because ive used it the least of their offerings).
I very rarely use Apple products for reasons I don't feel like debating right, now but I think this guy does deserve an award. Apple compensates for some of its downfalls with excellent design and the iMac and the iPod are prime examples of this great design. If a sleek design is your primary concern when purchasing electronics then Apple is your company. I wish I got the BBC, I would definately check it out.
FoundNews.com - get paid to blog.,
appled recently released the information that they bought out the Designer Meuseum in London.
I find it interesting that a computer designer could draw so much attention. It is not often that people will wonder "what's next"... This guy manages to generate the kind of design that makes people dream of what could be next... more like a car company around autoshow time, and less like a traditional computer maker.
For me this raises two important questions. Firstly, why doesn't Apple push the design edge further? Maybe not production models, but "concept" designs. I remember like 10 years ago Macworld ran a story about prototype designs that were passed over... I (and I bet a good chunk of the computer community) would love to see some of the Apple Prototypes...
Secondly, why are the traditional "beige box" makers so reluctant to follow? I mean Dell's big move was to black boxes identical to their beige cousins... HP tried a less bland grey... Only the enthousiast market has taken to "neato" cases (e.g. Alienware, et al.)...
Prediction, PPC 970 Macs with neon lighting...
_CMK
Bad spellers of the world untie!
The "Dyson" computer
:)
Skynet?
The coolest voice ever.
I personally prefer a little color to soul-killing, sterile office greys. I for one would love it if they went Fisher-Price (Windows themes excepted).
The coolest voice ever.
Dear pudge.
Ive been wondering whether youd made your decision yet. Next time, please email me directly.
Jonathan
why are the traditional "beige box" makers so reluctant to follow?
The key word in that question is 'box'. For most manufacturers, since they use more off-the-shelf components than Apple as an example, ID choices are limited by the least common denominator 'container'...the box that will house all those standardized components they buy from different suppliers.
With HP and Dell, the outside is dictated by more of the inside than with Apple. That, and the almighty bottom-line.
Say it with me: friends don't let friends use flash.
Care about electronic freedom? Consider donating to the EFF!
You know damn well they make good coffee. Or were you talking about the Jimi Hendrix Foundation?
I'm still saving up for an iPod, but I've been reading up, asking around, and visiting my local Apple Store.
The original, circular arrangement of the iPod buttons makes for one of the most gorgeous, pure-Ive creations ever, but the outermost circle of buttons (top: menu; left: skip back; right: skip forward; bottom: play/pause) are just that, the outermost, which makes them inefficient for one-handed operation -- say, in your jacket pocket. You've got to slide your thumb (or other finger, if you like RSI) all the way across the middle of the circle to reach the other side, which (1) is too much of a stretch and (2) risks messing with the scroll wheel.
The linear arrangement of those four buttons on the new-design iPod, while not nearly as visually elegant, makes for a much more ergonomic interface. The wheel-touchpad and its center button get their own dedicated space, and the transport controls get theirs. As a user of several past Sony VCRs, I can tell you that having your transport controls separate is far more sensible than having them visually melded with, and thus placed too damned close to, a rotary control.
Actually, the "touch" buttons are harder to accidentally push than the mechanical ones. I've been told that you have to set the hold button on an original iPod just to put it in your pocket; otherwise, something gets pressed, or the scroll wheel (on the early, mechanical-wheel models) gets spun, none of which is good for uninterrupted listening. The new "touch" buttons don't trigger on contact with clothing or even an accidental brush with a finger. The touch wheel doesn't need to be guarded, and you don't have to lock it for your pocket.
The original design has a beautiful geometric simplicity, but don't mistake geometric simplicity for higher usability.
Don't get me wrong: I love the look of the original iPod, and someday I'll pick up a dead one on eBay just to hold and ogle. The thick transparent faceplate, with its sharp edges, is too gorgeous for photographs to convey. But, as with the buttons, it's not a better design.
Something tells me that optical mouse isn't gonna work to well on that entirely glass desktop...
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
The ad designers responsible for the "I Switched To Mac" commercials was beaten to a bloody pulp for making America listen to idiots who can't plug in a damn printer correctly. Ellen Feiss could not be reached for comment.
It's not stupid. It's advanced.
Did anyone else read the headline as "Ive named Jonathan Designer of the year," then immediately went to look for comments on not putting an apostrophe in Ive, then realize what the headline actually said? I know I did.
bananas like monkeys.
In keeping with Apple naming, shouldn't his name be Jonathan iVe?
-twb
Sorry man, no way!
Actually, the whole idea of capitalism is that you work all day and get rich yourself. If you're working all day and making somebody else rich, then you're either (1) not smart enough, (2) not motivated enough, or (3) missing the whole point.
Get out there and get rich, then stop your whining. The system works.
Just call it the Secret of Mana menu system.
I'd like to nominate this
for design of the year. It really makes everything around it look so much better.
the iPod and the PowerBook G4 into cowboy neal's ass.
This Moderator fails it! Please read the whole comment first!
Why don't the engineers who fit the stuff into these designs get any credit? Sure he comes up with a neat good looking idea, but it takes a hell of a lot more than a good idea to make a sucessful product. Someone actually needs to implement it and make it possible. I really doubt it was easy to fit a full computer inside the iMac base w/o a fan. Kudos to the 'geers.
Random is the New Order.
boxes and string?
What you need is the Invincible Desk, or iDesk for short. ;-)
Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
The worst thing about design websites is trying to figure out how to navigate them and get to the interesting content -- usually of which there is none.
..is British (from Stafford), and not a bad drummer. Don't know if he still plays. My then drummer had bought his kit off him. Apple nabbed him in the very early nineties (or possibly the late eighties even), and dragged him off to the US. Prior to Apple, he was working for a design studio, in London I think.
-- Steve
What we need now is a reward that recognises functionality and efficiency. Ive/Apple's designs wouldn't even be shortlisted for such a thing.
The original iMac was hailed (by some) as a 'design classic'. Surely if this were actually the case, it would have had a lifespan of longer than five years?
Preferences > Homepage > Customize stories on homepage > Authors > Zonk > Uncheck
Am I the only one who doesn't give a fuck what his computer looks like? I mean seriously, it's a productivity/fun tool. If I want ornaments I'll go and buy some. My 2 XP boxes live under my desk, the monitors on top, loads of room for documents, keyboards etc. That's minimalist design. At a fraction of the cost.
Hmmm.
I've gotta post this anonymously. My friend had his iPod and I was working on my car. He had a look at something and handed the iPod to me. I had to look under the car as well so I set the iPod next to the hood latch. 30 seconds later I try to close the hood, it won't latch. So I try harder, 2 more times...arg stupid hood....oh holy crap, what have I done I thought to myself. So I grab his iPod (which was only protected by that little bag apple gives you) and give it a quick run through- everything was fine! I never told him. Am I a jerk or what? Thanks apple for quality construction.
oh and after that my hood closed fine as well.
Tell that to the guy who did the Lara Croft case mod!
When I am king, you will be first against the wall.
Should be:
Jonathan: I've Named the Designer of the Year
"iMacs are for fucking fags!"
Strange. I know a lot of people that use their
iMacs to get work done, and access the internet.
You're the first person I've heard of that uses
an iMac to fuck fags.
You don't need Geeksintraining if you're on Slashdot.
The design of the iMac has a fundamental flaw - it lacks enough expansion slots. Among the reasons why the original IBM PC design became so popular (apart from clones) was the fact that it was future proof by virtue of having a large gang of expansion slots. Any PC that ignores this golden rule of design is an automatic failure in my opinion and shows Mr Ive just does not understand the real world needs of a PC user i.e. his design places form over function.
Beg to differ, Sir.
Drives, RAM and cables...of course not. Motherboard...as we agree. The power supply in a new dual processor G4 is BTO from Samsung, and no other manufacturer uses it. The video cards are not PC compatible, nor do they have identical feature sets or ROMs. Lesser commonality means more cost. An aluminum laptop... Who else? Titanium...no one.
No other manufacturer will spend the money for proprietary connectors, switches, tooling, fasteners. most expensive cartons and low yield assembly runs...money is most definitely a factor, and with Dell and HP chasing each other's tails, they will never spend the same...not to mention that Dell has no R & D to speak of...why? Oh, yet again....money. Even Sun is balking at spending the kind of money Apple does these days. I know, I work for the largest electronics manufacturer in Korea, supporting OEMs.
While ID may be the iceing on the cake, unit cost and ROI are the plate that cake is served on.
Jonathan, I've Named Designer of the Year ...and was confused?
The cube. 'nuff said. One of the coolest looking little computers ever, off the market about a year later.
Boom Shanka
The implications are yours, not mine. Read them any way you wish.
Nice try to use your lack of position to debate me with, but I'm not biting. Thanks for taking a run at me...try again when you've got a point.
But, it is possible to go below the minimum. The most egregious Apple example of this recently was the original G3 tower "hockey-puck" mouse, which sacrificed function nearly completely on the altar of form. I have one of these on a hand-me-down computer, and I can't use it without curling my fingers down over the front edge to find the cord - you can't orient it otherwise. ARGH!
The no-button pro mouse, on the other hand, is a work of art that works.
To a Lisp hacker, XML is S-expressions in drag.
Yes, you are in fact the only one. Kinda sucks, huh?
...lieber mal sein Werk vollendet, und ein paar hübsche Ohrenschützer als Zubehör für die G4s designt.
Micro$oft ist nicht die Antwort. Micro$oft ist die Frage. Und die Antwort ist NEIN.
Penny Arcade's critique of the iPod?
No.... more like
Jonathan Ive designs YOU!
Running on the treadmill at the gym, I had my (10GB) iPod on one of those little shelves they provide for whatever player you're toting. I'm going at a pretty good clip when my wildly pistoning arms happen to catch the remote cord - which, very stupidly, I had wrapped around the clip-case to keep the extra cordage out of the way. This had the effect of preventing the minijack from harmlessly disconnecting, as it should have done; instead the iPod goes flying. I'm talking 15-20 feet away, dropping from the elevated platform with the treadmills onto the lower gym floor. Crash.
It's fine. Totally fine, nary a scratch. It was still in the case which helped a bit, but I am still amazed that any kind of hard drive, Apple-designed or no, could survive that sort of fall. Truly a tough little bastard, that iPod. I'll send Ive a nice Christmas ham.
If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.
have you realized so many people are caught up with designs, i mean, who cares if the ipod is white and simple. just buy something u can use, people are way too excited over something that has a very insignificant meaning. It's just a mp3 player it ain't no piece of art. People who give such extravagant comments to Ive's award is just licking his balls. There are more things in life to appreciate than how the new design of ipod is "changing" the way we look at computing. Just drop it alright.
Apple keyboards are unsuitable for UNIX users!
(That's just my little joke for those of you who remember that crank from about a year back!)
quiquid id est, timeo puellas et oscula dantes.
When iMacs came out, it was like that one Mac commercial where the woman destroys the huge screen with a hammer. iMacs totally changed the computing world. Who cares about expandability? Anyone who knew enough about computers to want to expand theirs probably knew this and shyed away. The iMac was not designed for the real world. When Apple pulled that off so successfully, the PC makers scrambled to catch up and make their own easy to use computer, because Apple had set the bar high.