Former Apple design boss Jony Ive has hired at least four of his former Cupertino colleagues to work at his LoveFrom design firm, according to The Information.
Since leaving Apple in 2019, Ive reportedly hired Chris Wilson, Patch Kessler, Jeff Tiller and Wan Si. All four worked with Ive in Apple’s design team. Wilson created GUI elements such as icons and menus. Kessler worked in product design and helped create the MacBook Force Touch trackpad. And Tiller is a communications specialist who worked for the Apple design team.
The latest hire is Wan, who designed on app icons, home screens and buttons.
It’s not clear exactly what they’re working on at LoveFrom. The company remains pretty secretive, which — given its Apple pedigree — is hardly the world’s biggest shocker. In 2020, it was reported that LoveFrom was working with Airbnb to design “the next generation of Airbnb products and services.” That’s about it, though.
Intriguingly, Ive also supposedly played a part in designing Apple’s new M1 iMac. A recent review of the 2021 iMac by Wired says, “Jony Ive was involved in the design of this new iMac, despite having left Apple back in 2019. Hardware design is a long process, so perhaps it’s not surprising that Ive’s fingerprints are all over this new desktop. But, interestingly, Apple would not confirm or deny if he worked on the 2021 iMac after he left the company — just that he had worked on it.”
Ive recently reappeared (as a floating head, at least) in a virtual commencement address to graduating students from the California College of the Arts. Ive talked up the power of imagination and new thinking during his address.
Source: The Information
