Apple design guru featured in German exhibition

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Apple's chief designer Jonathan Ive is being featured in an exhibit at a German art museum, which for the first time will gather together in one show all of the Apple products designed by him.



The Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe (Arts and Crafts) in Hamburg, Germany opened the design-focused exhibition (via Google Translate) this weekend, with plans to run it until Jan. 15, 2012, as noted by TUAW.



Entitled "Stylectrical: On Electro-Design That Makes History," the exhibit will examine "the complex development processes of industrial electrical design in a cultural studies context." More than half of the museum's 300 exhibits during the show are Apple products, tracing the in-house development design of the company. Fittingly enough, the museum has commissioned an iOS app that will lead visitors through the exhibition.



The exhibition will also feature works by former Braun design lead Dieter Rams, who has influenced the design theories of Ive and Jobs. For Rams, the respect is mutual, as the renowned designer said in a 2009 documentary that Apple is the only company designing products according to his ten principles of "good design."



Collection of Apple designs | Credit: Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe



Other designers featured during the exhibition include Herbert Hirche, Hans Gugelot, Peter Raacke, Michele De Lucchi, Hadi Teherani and Tobias Grau.



This isn't the first time that the company's designs have been featured in museums, as Apple products have made their way into a number of permanent collections around the globe, including MOMA in New York and the Pompidou in Paris. It is, however, reportedly the first time that all of the products developed under Ive's supervision have been showcased together.



Ive has served as Senior Vice President of Industrial Design at Apple, working together with former CEO Steve Jobs on a number of its core products, such as the iMac, iPod, iPhone and iPad. He joined Apple in 1996 and has served in his current capacity since Jobs returned to the company in 1997. According to a recent report, Jobs and Ives are listed as inventors on more than 200 of Apple's patents.







Ive has been rewarded handsomely for his design work at Apple, as he is said to be worth more than $128 million. In February, rumors surfaced that he was considering leaving Apple to move back to the U.K. A 44-year-old native of London, Ive studied Industrial Design at Newcastle Polytechnic, now called Northumbria University.



However, such a move would be a blow to the company, which is in transition after Jobs resigned as CEO on Wednesday. Though Wall Street and investors have taken a liking to Tim Cook, he is viewed mainly as an gifted operations leader. Analysts have said they expect Cook to lean heavily on Ive to continue Apple's winning track record in design as Jobs shifts to the Chairman of the Board role.



Apple design chief Jonathan Ive somewhere in Apple's design studio | Source: Objectified



In 2009, Ive was named the smartest designer in tech by Forbes Magazine. "With the launch of his first product, the iMac G3, Ive turned the utilitarian gray desktop computer into a translucent, gumdrop-shaped fashion statement," the publication wrote.



He was also named Designer of the Year by the Design Museum London in 2003 and awarded the title Royal Designer for Industry by The Royal Society of Arts, as noted by Apple in his executive bio on the company's website.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 39
    Heh. Museum? Just walk into an Apple Store to view Ive's best work...
  • Reply 2 of 39
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton View Post


    Heh. Museum? Just walk into an Apple Store to view Ive's best work...



    Apple Stores are his current modern art exhibits. This is a museum, a historic view into his past works of art.
  • Reply 3 of 39
    If Steve Jobs was the Crown of Apple, then Jony Ive is one of the Crown Jewels. Apple attracts people like Mr. Ive like bees to honey, which is why the retirement of Steve Jobs has been taken so well. Good on you, Mr. Ive, and good on you, Apple employees!
  • Reply 4 of 39
    nice title for the writing



    i wonder how does Ive feels about being a featured exhibit in a museum.
  • Reply 5 of 39
    I hope the photo provided doesn't reflect the mounting of the exhibit. Maybe an example of German industrial minimalism--a neo-Dada approach to gallery display. The works of Ive in their natural environment--a cluttered office.
  • Reply 6 of 39
    chabigchabig Posts: 641member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Robin Huber View Post


    The works of Ive in their natural environment--a cluttered office.



    Strange photo, I agree.
  • Reply 7 of 39
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    Apple Stores are his current modern art exhibits. This is a museum, a historic view into his past works of art.



    Objectified is a good documentary about industrial design, how it affects our lives. The first speaker on this movie trailer is Jony Ive, if you aren't familiar with his voice:

    http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi795871001/
  • Reply 8 of 39
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by danielchow View Post


    nice title for the writing



    i wonder how does Ive feels about being a featured exhibit in a museum.



    Most industrial designers are the type to look ahead, not behind. Ive would probably find the notion "quaint" (to use a quaint English term).
  • Reply 9 of 39
    cgjcgj Posts: 276member
    Good on Jony, still annoyed that he's worth less then Simon Cowell.



    But seriously, he's ana amazing designer and si probably the reason I bought what I did from Apple.
  • Reply 10 of 39
    I hope his iphone 5 design is killer. :
  • Reply 11 of 39
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post




    In 2009, Ive was named the smartest designer in tech by Forbes Magazine. "With the launch of his first product, the iMac G3, Ive turned the utilitarian gray desktop computer into a translucent, gumdrop-shaped fashion statement," the publication wrote.



    The iMac G3 was far from his first product.

    It was the first to recieve wide spread acclaim but he had been at Apple a while before Steve returned.

    In my humble opinion, His first breakthrough design was the eMate.
  • Reply 12 of 39
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Apple's chief designer Jonathan Ive is being featured in an exhibit at a German art museum, which for the first time will gather together in one show all of the Apple products designed by him....



    He is indeed a great designer but there is a whole team of folks at work on those designs and a lot of them not only have Steve Jobs' input, they also have Jobs' name on the design patent.



    It's not right to think that Ive actually designed all this stuff himself. I mean just a day or two ago there was a big Internet piece on all the computers that Steve Jobs invented/designed and now there is this exhibition of all the stuff Ive designed. It's basically a list of the same items.



    Also, if I have to hear his droning voice with the phoney uper-crust accent on one of those "passionate" product videos where he goes through the same set of adjectives about every single thing he's made, I will have to be sick. He is a great designer, but he really comes off as pretentious and fake when he talks about it IMO.
  • Reply 13 of 39
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Johnny Mozzarella View Post


    The iMac G3 was far from his first product.

    It was the first to recieve wide spread acclaim but he had been at Apple a while before Steve returned.

    In my humble opinion, His first breakthrough design was the eMate.



    I think Ive was heading the division that designed the eMate but he wasn't the lead designer... to the best of my knowledge the designer was Thomas Meyerhöffer.



    [On edit: http://www.businessweek.com/1997/22/b352913.htm ]
  • Reply 14 of 39
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Prof. Peabody View Post


    He is indeed a great designer but there is a whole team of folks at work on those designs and a lot of them not only have Steve Jobs' input, they also have Jobs' name on the design patent.



    It's not right to think that Ive actually designed all this stuff himself. I mean just a day or two ago there was a big Internet piece on all the computers that Steve Jobs invented/designed and now there is this exhibition of all the stuff Ive designed. It's basically a list of the same items.



    Also, if I have to hear his droning voice with the phoney uper-crust accent on one of those "passionate" product videos where he goes through the same set of adjectives about every single thing he's made, I will have to be sick. He is a great designer, but he really comes off as pretentious and fake when he talks about it IMO.



    Ive actually gives a lot of credit to Jobs on the design of the iMac. I've done a lot of research on Ive in the last day...
  • Reply 15 of 39
    joelsaltjoelsalt Posts: 827member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by danielchow View Post


    nice title for the writing



    absolutely nothing wrong with the title
  • Reply 16 of 39
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    partial quote



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Prof. Peabody View Post


    Also, if I have to hear his droning voice with the phoney uper-crust accent on one of those "passionate" product videos where he goes through the same set of adjectives about every single thing he's made, I will have to be sick. He is a great designer, but he really comes off as pretentious and fake when he talks about it IMO.



    You must be a Brit still living in UK. Gosh, after over 20 years living in the US with no other Brit in sight I had all but forgotten the class system and prejudices you exhibit and exemplify in this paragraph. Not something I miss to be sure. To me he sounds exactly like all the kids I heard at grammar school in Essex many moons ago.
  • Reply 17 of 39
    Heh, I like the fact that he is always wearing G-Star in these pics... Justifies my personal style choices
  • Reply 18 of 39
    gromitgromit Posts: 37member
    As a Brit, I have never had a problem with Ive's accent or his choice in T-shirts. As soon as either of those things impinge on his work then I might get upset.



    As it is, Apple do interesting things engineering wise, and Ive recipricates with stylish designs conbined with high quality materials and manufacturing are an alluring combination
  • Reply 19 of 39
    hill60hill60 Posts: 6,992member
    I wonder if he designed this, which was part of the inspiration for the house I just built:-



  • Reply 20 of 39
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hill60 View Post


    I wonder if he designed this, which was part of the inspiration for the house I just built:-







    1) That's a standard mug with a corporate logo.



    2) Was the inspiration a water tower, because homes from old water towers are pretty damn cool: http://www.newlaunches.com/archives/...lassy_home.php



    3) You need to link to the image. Here's the medium size image:
    4) You can buy the house from Up: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/24/mo...e-in-utah.html
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