Jonathan Ive's design direction

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
He and his industrial design team have developed a very distinct and minimalist look for recent Apple products.



Much speculation on what the new iMac might look like. My understanding was that the current iMac was not his baby.



Given the look of the iPod and iBook, it would surprise me if the new iMac retained it's multi-colourful heritage. (and recent iMac colour themes have been more subdued)

But then again, wasn't that what made it distinct? (no more beige)
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 46
    The current design scheme of the Apple product lineup is a very sleek solid sophisticated look. The new iMac may be available in different colors but they will be silvery reds, blues graphite, etc. I can picture a sophisticated bondi blue with a silvery look to it.



    Apple wants to make the best products in the world and Jonathan Ive is as much responsible for the product as anybody and I think that he is a proven winnner as a designer. The Apple philosophy is one in which they intend to make uncompromised products that fall into very similar category with each other. The iMac is next to join the sophisticated yet un-dellish look of the current line up.
  • Reply 2 of 46
    That's a particuarly interesting question when put in the context of the new iMac. People still associate it with "fruit flavors." I wonder if Apple will try to bring this "flavor" theme back in any way? It won't be fruit, I'm pretty sure, but some choice in the line will be necessary.



    Gold, Silver, Bronze?



    - Pook :cool:
  • Reply 3 of 46
    Jonathan Ive designed bathtubs and sinks before joining Apple.... the current iMac was a great transitory design to the new aesthetic.





    I think it was his baby...
  • Reply 4 of 46
    I doubt there will any color choice with the new iMac. Who seriously won't buy a computer because it isn't the right color? And from Apple's perspective, it's good not to release colors. It will reduce overhead (especially important now that Apple has retail stores it needs to stock). Colors are one their way out. The current iMac is the only one left w/ them.
  • Reply 5 of 46
    jrcjrc Posts: 817member
    [quote]Originally posted by discstickers:

    <strong>I doubt there will any color choice with the new iMac. Who seriously won't buy a computer because it isn't the right color? And from Apple's perspective, it's good not to release colors. It will reduce overhead (especially important now that Apple has retail stores it needs to stock). Colors are one their way out. The current iMac is the only one left w/ them.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    I certainly won't buy an ugly colored computer. Lime iMacs - NEVER.
  • Reply 6 of 46
    I think that, now that the color thing has caught on with the rest of the world, it's not cool enough for Apple anymore.



    Seriously.
  • Reply 7 of 46
    satchmosatchmo Posts: 2,699member
    [quote]Originally posted by JasonPP:

    <strong>I think it was his baby...</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Hmmm...somehow I find it difficult believing Mr. Ive would allow for Flower Power and Dalmation colour schemes under his watch.
  • Reply 7 of 46
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    I've only been saying this for SIX MONTHS now.



    Colors...bye! Look at the iBook. It was colored and curvy once too, but like all trends/fads, they die down and go away.



    I'd bet the farm that the new iMac is white, with perhaps some silver or gray accents. Think iBook and iPod.



    No blue, no green, no tangerine.
  • Reply 7 of 46
    i would like to see 2 colors for the imac. like a white and a silver....something on those lines.....it won't be too much more expensive and would be nice.....(they should also do that with the ibooks)
  • Reply 10 of 46
    I second that of everyone here... Colors are so last three years. Apple isn't a crazy iPlastic color company anymore, and the iMac should reflect that. It'll still be the coolest-looking computer, only now it'll be more sophisticated. I'm expecting some stainless steel-looking reflective surfaces and the iBook-like white plastic with clear glossy plastic on top, plus the flat surfaces and lines with rounded edges. It's gotta fit in.



    P.S. Does anyone else have the AirPort 2 Base Station? They changed it I believe, it's no longer silver/grey--it's white with a silver/grey Apple on it. Looks real classy.
  • Reply 11 of 46
    For all you people still thinking that the new iMac will be anything but white and/or silver...



    Go to Apple.com and click on hardware... you see ANY color except white or grey? My point. Apple has been and is done with colors. The industry killed them with all those George Foreman iGrills, etc.



    My guess... iBook white.



    Mac Guru
  • Reply 12 of 46
    What is an iMac, from a purely design point of view?



    I think it is definitely defined by:



    1) It's colours - the colours will change but I doubt very much they will stop. Look how the Nintendo Gamecube's sales went through the roof in Japan when they released the orange 'spice' colour. Or look at how popular cell phone skins are. There is an appetite for colour in hi-tech devices and it is integral to the iMac.



    2) Curves. It's been called the Volkswagen Bug of computers for a reason. I think even though an LCD iMac will be much straighter than the current one (for obvious reasons), I think we can expect some curvey flare - more than the G4 or the iBook, which are notebooks and are better served by straighter lines (though I have to admit I still like the pismo case best of all).



    3) All-in-one. You can pick it up with one hand. I think it wouldn't be an iMac unless it were all in one. Apple has had an all-in-one machine at every point through its history, beginning with the 512k, Plus, SE, Classic, Classic II, Color Classic, Performas, Educational G3 and then the iMac. The computer is aimed at new users, education and younger and older people. It's gonna be an all-in-one.



    4) Simplicity. This runs through everything else, but is a MAJOR part of the iMac's marketing. It should be a no-brainer. So that will influence all other aspects of design.



    The Mactivist
  • Reply 13 of 46
    emaneman Posts: 7,204member
    I think that White and Silver will be the colors of the new iMac. If you look at the iMac now, the only color left is Indigo. The iBook looks so much better with this design rather them the colorful clamshell design of the old iBooks. Same thing will happen with the iMacs.
  • Reply 14 of 46
    proxyproxy Posts: 232member
    I'm not sure that colour imacs will be completely ruled out. To those who find the bubblegum colours repulsive, remember that apple was (to many people) a dead company.

    Apple had to make a strong impact. To make everyone sit up and take note that Apple was back and 'thinking different' again.



    Things are different now and although I think colour may be subtley introduced, it has served it's purpose for now. J. Ive like most great designers,can take neglected or passe materials/colours and turn them into design classics. No real guesses from me about the way things will go, just fairly sure that I'll love whatever they bring out.
  • Reply 15 of 46
    torifiletorifile Posts: 4,024member
    [quote]Originally posted by pscates:

    <strong>I've only been saying this for SIX MONTHS now.



    Colors...bye! Look at the iBook. It was colored and curvy once too, but like all trends/fads, they die down and go away.



    I'd bet the farm that the new iMac is white, with perhaps some silver or gray accents. Think iBook and iPod.



    No blue, no green, no tangerine.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    pscates,

    I think that if the old AI was around, I would show everyone that I first announced that "Curvy is out" I've been saying this from before the new ibooks were released. About March, I believe... But, whatever, it's all the same now.
  • Reply 16 of 46
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    Yeah. In either case, it's simply tired and played out...and is in no way the novelty and "oh cool!" thing it was 2 years ago.



    It's simply time and trends marching on, people. No big deal.



    It WAS a bold statement and hallmark of the line upon its introduction, but I don't think it's carved in stone anywhere at Cupertino that the iStuff HAS to have colors.



    As I've said already, look at the iBook. When they released the new dual USB iBook last May and IT still had color elements in its design, then okay...I'd think "maybe they're maintaining it for the iStuff...". But to me, the two go hand in hand, stylewise, and I simply can't see one of them going all white (or color free) and not the other.



    In much how the iMac influenced the original iBook (translucent plastics, bright colors, swoopy curves, etc.), I believe the ball has changed hands and the iBook's new simple design is a pointer of where the iMac is also heading.



    For the record (because too many of you always go "silver is a color...". Spare me, okay? When I say "the iMac won't have colors, I'm SPECIFICALLY talking about colors in the sense of blue, green, gold, red, etc. You know...COLORS. I fully expect it to have elements of white, gray, clear and/or silver. So let's get that one straight, okay?







    Hell, guys...even the color thing OUTSIDE the computer world seems to winding down. Going to Target lately isn't the parade of orange and blue and green see-through stuff that it was 2 years ago.



    Apple kick-started and got that whole trend going (followed by other computer makers, as well as appliance makers, electronics, etc.).



    I guarantee you...to Apple's eyes, it's old hat and time to move on. They're not going to lazily and in a cheese-like manner hang on to some dated, tired trend.



    First one in, first one out.







    Look at the Apple retail stores. Look at their website. I think they're entering a clean, stark minimalist period right now. Which only makes sense, right? I mean, once you put radioactive lime green on a laptop and LSD-induced flower patterns on a desktop computer, about the only way you can top that or "rewrite the rules" is to simply go sharply the other way.



    In short...white iMacs. With accents of grays, silvers and so forth.



    You're in the final month of blue computers from Apple, so enjoy it.



  • Reply 17 of 46
    macgregormacgregor Posts: 1,434member
    White-and-black is the color theme for the stores and white for the iPod, but I have to say, I never liked the white iMac and the iPod will start looking dingy quickly.



    I like the use of tempered metal colors or the ice on graphite look still. White is just too much of a bathroom color and it ain't that far from beige to me.



    I really hope there is a grey/clear kind of contrast thing that is going to happen with the iMac. Something you can focus on.
  • Reply 18 of 46
    jrcjrc Posts: 817member
    Ive's previous work must explain the 'toilet seat' iBook design!
  • Reply 19 of 46
    emaneman Posts: 7,204member
    [quote]Originally posted by JRC:

    <strong>Ive's previous work must explain the 'toilet seat' iBook design!</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Yeah. Now it all makes perfect sense.
  • Reply 20 of 46
    Ives and his team aren't a bunch of one-trick ponies. They can and obviously did do both the TiBook and the Flower Power iMac. There's no reason to think that they can't be that versatile. They both follow their ideas to their logical ends (actually the Ti has some room left in its development), and the ideas are both strong ones. Despite trying to pin these guys to a style, they've obviously shown that they go for ideas over any kind of stylistic pigeon-hole. It's part fashion, and largely ideas -- good ideas can wear any style, and good ideas create their own rationale.
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