It has been some time since Jony Ive, the legendary design lead at Apple, left the company. But his impact is still being felt. Both with new products like the 24-inch iMac, and apparently recruiting his former colleagues to become current colleagues all over again.
According to a report today from The Information, Apple’s former design head has recruited at least five former Apple colleagues to join him at his new design firm, LoveForm. The report states that, at the time of publication, Ive has recruited “at least five” former Apple colleagues to join him at the firm.
The five individuals cited in the report are Wan Si, Eugene Whang, Patch Kessler, Chris Wilson, and Jeff Tiller. Each of these designers apparently worked with Ive during their time at Apple. Si, for instance, worked at Apple for a total of 16 years. She worked on home screens and software buttons and app icons while at Apple.
From the report:
Wan Si, a 16-year veteran of Apple’s famed design team who worked on numerous Apple app icons, buttons and home screens, recently joined the consulting firm founded by Apple’s former design chief Jonathan Ive, The Information has learned. She is one of at least five Apple design team members Ive has recruited to his firm since last year as he seeks to work with some of his longtime collaborators.
Meanwhile, Wilson worked on various projects as well, including designing the Apple Watch interface and the iCloud icon. Kessler worked on the Force Touch trackpad for the MacBook Pro (and left Apple in 2017), while Tiller worked on administrative tasks related to the design team.
Ive is a legendary figure across the design industry as a whole, and especially at Apple. He left Apple in 2019 to form his own design firm, LoveForm. However, since creating the new outfit, the company has kept pretty quiet and hasn’t launched any major projects. However, LoveForm has worked with other companies like AirBnB.