Why Giving Jonathan Ive Too Much Power Is A Great Idea

And just like that, the old Apple is dead, and a new Apple is born. I believe you’ll see massive changes to Apple products by next summer.

Apple had to re-create its products to correct a recent string of failures, including the catastrophic Maps debacle and the ongoing train wrecks that are Siri and skeuomorphic design.

Here’s why putting Jonathan Ive in charge of software design was an insanely great idea.

(Picture courtesy of Eyevine) 

8 Tacky Design Crimes That Jonathan Ive Should Set Right In iOS 7 [Feature]

So long, Scott Forstall. Don’t let your crappy skeuomorphic designs hit your ass on the way out.

Skeuomorphism, or the tendency to deliberately make something new look like something old and familiar. Some people love it, some people hate it and think it’s tacky.

No matter how you feel, his love for skeuomorphism is one of many reasons that former iOS chief Scott Forstall was fired yesterday. Replacing him is Apple’s Senior VP of Design, Jonathan Ive, who will lead a new Human Interface Group in Apple… and whom reportedly loathes skeuomorphism with every fiber of his being.

All that fake leather stitching, those hideous textures, those bizarre font choices in iOS’s stock apps? If Ive gets his way – and we think he will — they’re all about to change.

Here are the eight skeuomorphic apps in iOS 6 we hope Jony Ive is going to change in iOS 7, along with some third-party apps we hope he takes inspiration from.

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Jony Ive Talks Apple Design: Our Competitors Have The Wrong Goals

Sir Jony Ive hasn’t agreed to too many interviews during his time as Apple’s senior vice president of industrial design. But the London Evening Standard has managed to tie him down for a rare interview in which he talks about Apple’s design process, and why its competitors have the wrong goals.

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Apple Has An Entire Room Dedicated To Testing Product Packaging

We know Apple puts a lot of effort into its product packaging to ensure it’s almost as beautiful as the product within, but you may be surprised to hear that an entire room within the Cupertino company’s headquarters is dedicated to testing different variants of product packaging.

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Jonathan Ive Is Working On 50-Inch HDTV In His Design Lab, And Woz Thinks iTV Is Inevitable [Report]

Even in the New Year, those iTV rumors just won’t quit. The latest word is that Jony Ive has been working on a 42- to 50-inch Apple television in his secret Cupertino design studio; probably the Siri-controlled Apple HDTV the whole industry has been quaking over for the last few months.

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Does Apple’s Jonathan Ive Want To Return To U.K.?

Steve Jobs is on medical leave and now one of his key lieutenants reportedly wants to return to his native U.K.

Apple’s head designer Jonathan Ive wants to return England to live, reports the Sunday Times. Ive, of course, is one of the key geniuses behind Apple’s string of blockbuster hits and is perhaps the world’s most influential industrial designer.

British-born Ive has reportedly proposed a plan to “commute” to Cupertino, Calif., from his $4 million manor house in Somerset, but Apple’s board is none too thrilled with the idea. Ive is said to be at “loggerheads” with the board, reports the Sunday Times.

A friend of the family told the paper: “Unfortunately he is just too valuable to Apple and they told him in no uncertain terms that if he headed back to England he would not be able to sustain his position with them.”

According to The Times, Ive has just reaped about $30 million from a ‘golden handcuffs’ deal signed in 2008, which has now expired. He and his wife Heather want to educate their twins in their native country.

Apple refused to comment on Ive’s employment status and said it was “speculation” that he wanted to return to the U.K.

The Sunday Times: I created the iPad and iClaim my £18m (Story behind pay wall).

Via Daily Mail.