Apple design chief Jonathan Ive awarded knighthood

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Jonathan Ive, Apple's senior vice president of industrial design, has been named a Knight Commander of the British Empire in the U.K.'s 2012 New Year Honours list, an honor he has described as "absolutely thrilling."



The BBC reported on Friday that Ive can now go by "Sir Jonathan." The knighthood, which is for "services to design and enterprise," is a step up from his previous title of Commander of the British Empire, which was awarded in 2005.



Ive responded that he was "both humbled and sincerely grateful" by the commendation.



"I am keenly aware that I benefit from a wonderful tradition in the UK of designing and making," he said. "I discovered at an early age that all I've ever wanted to do is design."



Ive, who grew up in Chingford, a town northeast of London, credits his silversmith father with inspiring him as a designer.



"He's a fantastic craftsman," Ive said, as noted in Jobs' biography. "His Christmas gift to me would be one day of his time in his college workshop, during the Christmas break when no one else was there, helping me make whatever I dreamed up."







Ive went on to study Industrial Design at Newcastle Polytechnic, now called Northumbria University. It was there that he first realized the potential of designing on the Mac.



"I discovered the Mac and felt I had a connection with the people who were making this product," he said. "I suddenly understood what a company was, or was supposed to be."



After graduating, Ive worked as a designer in the U.K., eventually founding a design agency. Apple hired the firm to do design work and was so impressed by Ive's work that it offered him a full-time position.



During his 19 years at Apple, Ive grew to become a "spiritual partner" of co-founder Steve Jobs, according to Jobs' biography. Jobs confided that he had left Ive with "more operational power" than anyone else at the company.



"There's no one who can tell him what to do," Jobs told biographer Walter Isaacson. "That's the way I set it up.'"



While Jobs and Ive were close friends, Ive did admit to Isaacson that he felt Jobs had stolen the credit for some of his ideas.



"[Jobs] will go through a process of looking at my ideas and say, 'That's no good. That's not very good. I like that one,'" Ive told Isaacson in an interview. "And later I will be sitting in the audience and he will be talking about it as if it was his idea. I pay maniacal attention to where an idea comes from, and I even keep notebooks filled with my ideas. So it hurts when he takes credit for one of my designs."



Ive has received numerous industry awards for his work as a designer, including the title of smartest designer in tech by Forbes Magazine, Designer of the Year by the Design Museum London and Royal Designer for Industry by The Royal Society of Arts. Earlier this year, Ive and his designs were featured in an exhibit at a German art museum.



Interestingly enough, Jobs himself was considered for an honorary knighthood by the Queen of the United Kingdom, but the proposal was blocked by a former Prime Minister because Jobs declined to speak at a Labour Party conference.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 79
    He looks thrilled by the news.
  • Reply 2 of 79
    Well deserved award. Truly talented.
  • Reply 3 of 79
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    It's too bad that knights don't have a suit of armour any more, else he could have designed his own.
  • Reply 4 of 79
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacVicta View Post


    He looks thrilled by the news.



    In that Chuck Norris kinda way.
  • Reply 5 of 79
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ascii View Post


    It's too bad that knights don't have a suit of armour any more, else he could have designed his own.



    Out of a single piece of anodized aluminum.
  • Reply 6 of 79
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,238member
    We should have known this was coming, with the release of Sir-I.



    Actually, it's Apple that takes the credit for Ive's ideas. Jobs was just a spokesman.
  • Reply 7 of 79
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    Out of a single piece of anodized aluminum.



    Now that *would* take a design genius.
  • Reply 8 of 79
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    Out of a single piece of anodized aluminum.



    I was about to request no one make such obvious jokes. Missed it by that much.
  • Reply 9 of 79
    shevshev Posts: 84member
    Well deserved. WHAT a man
  • Reply 10 of 79
    bigbig Posts: 36member
    First of all, I'm very glad for Ive - well-deserved recognition!



    I just feel like rambling about a couple things: and that's all this is - rambling.



    1. I still haven't had a chance to read the Jobs biography. But Ive's comments about Jobs taking credit for some of his ideas bothers me. I just don't know what to think of Jobs - a man the press simultaneously calls genius and mercurial. I'm concerned that Apple's success may have resulted from his hard-driving, unreasonable approach... and now that Mr. Jobs is gone?! What now? I want Apple to continue to make great products and experience phenomenal success! I hope things will not deteriorate in his absence.



    2. The English, to me, are an enigma. They have some wonderful car designs - the Jaguars and the Range Rovers are beautiful and the MG Midget my dad drove in his youth was splendid - but their build quality and reliability are terrible! And it's not for lack of smarts: the English built the Colossus computer during the World War II which decoded Nazi ciphers. I just don't understand why their designs are so good but their quality can be so bad! But I'm so glad that in the case of Apple Ive's wonderful designs are backed by outstanding quality!



    All in all this is wonderful news about Ive and congratulations to him!!! :-)
  • Reply 11 of 79
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post


    I was about to request no one make such obvious jokes. Missed it by that much.



    Oh, don't worry. It would have one button on it so that you could take it off.



    And if you're fighting in daytime, it would reflect sunlight into your enemies' eyes!



    Oh, and it would only work with proprietary undersuits.



    90s Apple jokes; I have a million of 'em!
  • Reply 12 of 79
    It would have been an honorary Knighthood, you need to be British for a real one!!
  • Reply 13 of 79
    tbelltbell Posts: 3,146member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Cpsro View Post


    We should have known this was coming, with the release of Sir-I.



    Actually, it's Apple that takes the credit for Ive's ideas. Jobs was just a spokesman.



    Last I checked Apple has a whole design team. Ive would tell you as much.
  • Reply 14 of 79
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacVicta View Post


    He looks thrilled by the news.



    Between Tim Cook's upside down smile and Ive's omnipresent dour look, Apple's executive meetings must be quite lively.
  • Reply 15 of 79
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by big View Post


    2. The English, to me, are an enigma. They have some wonderful car designs - the Jaguars and the Range Rovers are beautiful and the MG Midget my dad drove in his youth was splendid - but their build quality and reliability are terrible! And it's not for lack of smarts: the English built the Colossus computer during the World War II which decoded Nazi ciphers. I just don't understand why their designs are so good but their quality can be so bad! But I'm so glad that in the case of Apple Ive's wonderful designs are backed by outstanding quality!



    Would manufacturers in a nation of nerds necessarily develop a tradition of quality? I mean, you could assume the public could fix anything that breaks...
  • Reply 16 of 79
    gtrgtr Posts: 3,231member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    Oh, don't worry. It would have one button on it so that you could take it off.



    And if you're fighting in daytime, it would reflect sunlight into your enemies' eyes!



    Oh, and it would only work with proprietary undersuits.



    90s Apple jokes; I have a million of 'em!



    It doesn't bear thinking about where he'd put the touch-sensitive, graphic user interface...
  • Reply 17 of 79
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by big View Post


    I still haven't had a chance to read the Jobs biography. But Ive's comments about Jobs taking credit for some of his ideas bothers me. I just don't know what to think of Jobs - a man the press simultaneously calls genius and mercurial. I'm concerned that Apple's success may have resulted from his hard-driving, unreasonable approach... and now that Mr. Jobs is gone?! What now? I want Apple to continue to make great products and experience phenomenal success! I hope things will not deteriorate in his absence.



    Read the biography. Ive's comments quoted here are not out of context, but they'd bother you less (probably not at all, to be honest) after you read the biography. You'll also have a better sense of Apple's future.
  • Reply 18 of 79
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,851member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Cpsro View Post


    We should have known this was coming, with the release of Sir-I.



    Actually, it's Apple that takes the credit for Ive's ideas. Jobs was just a spokesman.



    Very clever.
  • Reply 19 of 79
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post


    Missed it by that much.



    Okay, Maxwell Smart...



    "Out of a single piece of anodized aluminum"... I was thinking a 'UniBody' design!



    Did you know there was video of the ceremony?!!!...



    Is Siri the 'damsel in distress'?



    Congrats, Sir Jon!

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  • Reply 20 of 79
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,238member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by TBell View Post


    Last I checked Apple has a whole design team. Ive would tell you as much.



    But it was Ive himself talking about "his" ideas.
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