Design

New Jony Ive bio book hits iBooks Store, here are juicy bits

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

I've been following Leander Kahney for quite some time now, going all the way back to his Wired and The Guardian years. Kahney now runs the Cult of Mac Apple blog and he's already published three books about technology and Apple's culture: Inside Steve’s Brain, the New York Times bestseller about Steve Jobs, Cult of Mac about the creation of the Mac and Cult of iPod which chronicles how Apple's music player came to be.

Building on the experiences in writing these books, Kahney has now taken a crack at demystifying Apple's arguably most powerful executive after Tim Cook, the guy who put sexiness in Apple's gadgets and flattened all your icons - 46-year-old British industrial designer Sir Jonathan Ive.

I've skimmed through the book and cherry-picked a few interesting anecdotes...

Jony Ive talks designing for Sotheby’s (RED) charity

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 31, 2017

Apple's SVP of all design, Jony Ive, recently contributed to a couple unique items conceived specifically for Sotheby's (RED) charity auction. These include, among other objects of affection, a one-off red-colored Mac Pro, a unique aluminum-clad desk and an awesome retro-looking Leica M camera.

Ive already talked about creating that camera and working with influential industrial designer, Australia-born Marc Newson, and now we get to see the two men discuss the intricacies of working with Sotheby's on making these nice auction items a reality...

Here’s Jony Ive-designed, aluminum-clad (RED) Desk

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 11, 2013

If I had tens of thousands of dollars to burn on various objects of affection, I'd make a bid for this ultimate work desk, created by Apple's senior vice president of design Jony Ive and industrial designer Marc Newson. It's another item among the more than 40 limited-edition objects designed by Ive and Newson and slated to be auctioned off on November 23 on the behalf of Bono’s Product RED initiative, well-regarded for its long-running partnership with Apple...

Jony Ive on designing the one-off Leica M for (RED) camera

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 10, 2013

Apple's SVP of Design Jony Ive recently teamed up with Australia-born Marc Newson (another influential industrial designer who conceives designs for aircraft, furniture, jewelry and clothing) to create a one-of-a-kind, aluminum-clad Leica Rangefinder for Product (RED).

Vanity Fair sat with the two men to discuss various topics ranging from design in general to collaborating on the special-edition Leica camera to how it felt creating a product that'll ultimately be enjoyed by just one user...

This beautiful coffee table book showcases Apple’s industrial design prowess

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 7, 2013

Much ink has been spilt about Apple's industrial design skills and the polarizing look and feel of its unapologetically sexy gadgets. Jonathan Zufi's photographic shrine of Apple's design work is taking it all to the next level. The 42-year-old Australian native has managed to put together a massive 326-page coffee table sized book containing detailed photographs he's meticulously taken over the years.

It showcases Apple products and their packaging from the designer's point of view, unlike any Apple book you've ever held in your hands. This has got to be the most original and detailed tribute to Apple's design prowess I have seen to date, check it out right past the fold...

Apple hires Nike’s design director for wearables

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

It's been barely a little more than a month since news broke of Apple hiring a prominent Nike FuelBand developer and now comes word that Tim Cook has managed to lure away another high-profile Nike executive. Ben Shaffer, Studio Director of Nike's research and development lab dubbed Innovation Kitchen, is working for Apple in unknown capacity.

It certainly doesn't take a genius to figure out Apple hired him for his expertise in wearables. Nike is Fast Company's 2013 most innovative company and the Innovation Kitchen is where Shaffer and his team conceived such wearable smash hits as the popular Nike Fuel Band and the Flyknit shoe...

KitKat pokes fun of Apple’s design prowess

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 3, 2013

You've likely learned by now about this morning's surprise Google announcement, clearly conceived as a novel way of busting up Apple's news and diverting attention from the brightening of your day.

I'm talking about the upcoming Android version 4.4, code-named KitKat after the famous chocolate-covered wafer biscuit which has apparently "been a favorite candy" on the Android team.

The though process behind the delicious partnership has now unravelled itself in a cringeworthy KitKat clip.

Not only does it spoof Apple's elaborate product videos, it does so by ridiculing the way Jony Ive and his industrial design team go about agonizing over the minutiae. Wait, a confectionery maker is parodying Apple's presentation mojo? What has this world come to?

Apple revamps its bug-reporting tool Radar

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 2, 2013

Apple's Bug Report is among more than a dozen services that were disrupted during a ten-day Dev Center outage earlier this month. The web-based tool, also known under the 'Radar' moniker, gives Apple's registered iOS and OS X developers the official venue to file all sorts of bug reports.

The improved version of Bug Reporter went live after this year's WWDC, but soon got pulled because- oh, the irony - it was riddled with bugs. The old, pre-WWDC Bug Report had long been a running joke.

Seriously, it was so bad that a few hundred developers signed a 'Fix Radar or GTFO' petition demanding that Apple squash pesky bugs and rethink the tool with a more intuitive approach. The redesigned version has now gone live for all developers with an Apple Developer Account, featuring improved searching, attachments and other improvements...

Ahead of September’s reveal, Apple now asking devs to submit app icons at new iOS 7 sizes

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 3, 2017

With less than two weeks left until the looming iPhone 5S/5C event, Apple is now reportedly asking developers to submit larger app icons optimized for the new iOS 7 resolutions. Because Apple has slightly enlarged app icons in iOS 7, third-party applications which support only iOS 6 icon sizes appear with a small white border on the iOS 7 Home screen.

The company wants to avoid this so it's now demanding that developers submit app icons in the new iOS 7 120-by-120 pixel resolution for the iPhone and 152-by-152 pixels for the iPad...

Apple rolls out revamped AppleCare support website with 24/7 live chat

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 29, 2016

Earlier this month a reliable blogger asserted Apple would be making changes to its support website. The new experience was to be focused on a simpler and cleaner design that's iOS-friendly so customers could access the many support materials and browse the various sections comfortably from their iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. Sure enough, and right on cue, Apple this morning has started rolling out a redesigned Apple Support website with non-stop live chat support.

The redesign calls for large thumbnails providing easy access to the product hubs, such as Macs, iTunes, iPods, iPhones, iPads and more, with each section containing a wealth of related support materials, like downloads, manuals, frequently asked questions and lots more...

Apple revamps Education mini-site

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 23, 2013

Slowly but surely, Apple has been revamping sub-section by sub-section of its website to bring the visual language, navigation and overall design in line with the flattened and cleaned up iOS 7 look and feel.

We've just received a word that Apple has redesigned the Apple and Education mini-site with a much simpler navigation and layout that revolves around larger teaser images and less text.

The mini-site strives to provide resources for teachers and parents about how Apple products can help them educate their kids...

iCloud Beta revamped with iOS 7 style design, here’s your gallery

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 14, 2013

Apple's streamlining, redesigning and flattening efforts go beyond iOS 7 or Jonny Ive's title. Today, the company has issued a major revamp to its iCloud.com Beta website. The enhanced experience focuses on an all-new yet familiar look which takes more than a few clues from iOS 7, to put it mildly.

But rather than draw snippets of inspiration from the forthcoming iOS 7 refresh, Apple has taken it upon itself to actually recreate the complete iOS 7 look and feel, right in your web browser and down to the flattened icons, minimalistic look and light fonts.

I've taken a bunch of screenshots so do check out the full gallery right below...