Adweek has released its Creative 100 list, honoring the people it views as the “current masters of the creative idea” across advertising, branded content, technology, products, and pop culture.
While it’s no surprise that Apple would make such a list, what is interesting is that none of the usual suspects appear. There’s no sign of Jony Ive, Angela Ahrendts, or even Tim Cook. Instead, the people Adweek claim are driving Apple’s creativity today are Richard Howarth and Alan Dye.
In case you don’t immediately know the names, this is the pair who now control Apple’s Industrial Design studio and UI departments, after Jony Ive was promoted to chief design officer to do more “blue sky thinking.” Here’s what Adweek has to say about Howarth and Dye:
“While Tim Cook and Jony Ive may be household names to most Apple aficionados, the real duo behind the brand’s product portfolio these days are Howarth and Dye. Recently elevated in the company, the two now report directly to CEO Cook and are tasked with creating the next generations of Apple gear. Howarth has been a lead designer on every iteration of the iPhone and guided creation of the Apple Watch, while Dye (who has a background as a design director for Ogilvy and Kate Spade) has been central to the creation of operating systems like iOS 7, iOS 8 and the watchOS.”
You can read more about Howarth and Dye here and here. While we’ve written previously about how Jony Ive’s new role at Apple will actually mean more design for him, not less, it’s interesting to see that Apple’s new creative masterminds are already starting to rack up plaudits for their work.
In short — at least according to Adweek — Apple’s creative future is in good hands. We can’t disagree there!
Other tech names to make the Creative 100 list include Oculus CTO John Carmack, Google X director Astro Teller, and NIT robotics professor and Jibo founder Cynthia Breazeal.
Source: Adweek
