Jony Ive

Early life and education

Jonathan Paul Ive was born on 27 February 1967 in Chingford, London, United Kingdom. His father, Michael Ive, was a silversmith who lectured at Middlesex Polytechnic, and his grandfather was an engineer. While attending secondary school, he was diagnosed with dyslexia.

Ive was inspired to become a designer by his teenage love of cars. He investigated car design courses in London, including one at the Royal College of Art, but was repelled by the students: "The classes were full of students making vroom! vroom! noises as they drew." He studied industrial design at Newcastle Polytechnic, where he was introduced to forms of design inspired by the Bauhaus. The Bauhaus expressed the idea of only including what is needed into designs. This philosophy can be seen in his work with Apple. While at Newcastle, some of his designs – including a telephone and a hearing aid – were exhibited at the Design Museum in London. He graduated with a first class Bachelor of Arts in 1989.

Career

Ive's designs at Polytechnic won the RSA Student Design Award in 1988 and 1989, which gave him a small stipend and travel expense account to use for a trip to the United States. He travelled to San Francisco, where he met designers including Robert Brunner, who ran a small consultancy firm that would later join Apple Computer. After returning to England six weeks later, Ive interned at the product design agency Roberts Weaver Group (his college sponsor), where he impressed executives with his attention to detail and work ethic.

Tangerine

After a year with Roberts Weaver, Ive joined a London-based design agency, Tangerine, in Hoxton Square. He designed a diverse array of products, such as microwave ovens, toilets, drills and toothbrushes for clients including LG and Ideal Standard. However, he became frustrated after he designed a toilet, bidet and sink for Ideal Standard, and the company rejected the work, stating that the products were too costly and looked too modern. He became unhappy with his clients who had different ideas.

From 1990 to 1992, Brunner tried to recruit Ive to Apple. During this time, Apple became a client of Tangerine. Ive worked on "Project Juggernaut" for Apple, investigating the future of portable computers and setting the stage for what would become the PowerBook.

Apple

File:Apple Newton-IMG 0454-cropped.jpg|Apple Newton MessagePad, released in 1993. Ive designed the smaller models following. File:Ipod 1G.png|First iPod, introduced in 2001. Jon Rubinstein assembled the original design team including Ive as lead design engineer. File:IPhone 1st Gen.svg|A vector rendition of the first-generation iPhone, first marketed in 2007. Its form factor is credited to Ive. File:IPad 3.png|Although Ive's studio began designing an iPad-like device before the iPhone, the iPad was first released in 2010.

He was formally recruited to Apple as a full-time employee in September 1992. Ive was initially apprehensive about joining Apple given the move from the UK to the US. His first major assignment in Apple's Industrial Design Group regarded the second generation of the Newton and the MessagePad 110. A lack of emphasis on design during the early 1990s prompted Ive to consider quitting.

Steve Jobs, who left in 1985 after being pushed away by John Sculley, was staging a return to the company and recruited Ive to join him in taking the firm in a different direction. Jon Rubinstein, Ive's boss at the time, managed to retain Ive as an employee by explaining that Apple was "going to make history" under Jobs in 1996.

Ive became the senior vice president of industrial design in 1997 heading up the industrial design team responsible for most of the company's significant hardware products. Ive's first assignment in this capacity was the iMac, introduced in 1998 (he is credited with designing its translucent plastic case). The iMac helped pave the way for many other designs such as the iPod and eventually the iPhone and the iPad. Ive became the first human to make a public phone call with Jobs after he introduced the iPhone on 9 January 2007. It was reported that Ive's desire for keeping the products as thin as possible may have led to the mechanically fragile butterfly keyboard and removing the Magsafe power connector, HDMI port, and SD card reader from the MacBook.

Ive was given his own design office at Apple during the early 2000s in which he oversaw the work of his appointed design team, and he was the only Apple designer with a private office. Only his core team—which consisted of around 15 people from the UK, the US, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand (who had worked together for around two decades)—and top Apple executives were allowed into the office, because it contained all of the concepts, including prototypes, that the design team was working on. Ive did not allow his children to enter the office.

In 2011, it was reported that Ive was paid $30 million in base salary with a $25 million stock bonus for the year. His compensation ceased to be publicly disclosed by the firm thereafter, rendering him the only Apple executive to be afforded such a provision. A year later, it was estimated that his net worth was £80 million.

Ive led the design and development of the Apple Watch beginning in early 2012. The product was released in April 2015 and has become the best-selling wearable device in the world with 115 million people estimated wearing one as of December 2022. Talking about the product, Ive said in 2018: "we were all routinely carrying around incredibly powerful products, in terms of their technical ability, in our pockets … an obvious continuation of this path that we’ve been on for so many years was to make technology more personal and more accessible."

On 29 October 2012, Apple announced that Ive would "provide leadership and direction for Human Interface (HI) across the company, in addition to his role as the leader of Industrial Design." With the 2013 World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) announcement of iOS 7 and Ive's role as principal, Apple press information was also updated to reflect his new title: senior vice president of design. In the same press update, Ive stated that he hoped his best work was yet to emerge and that he preferred to be identified as a maker of products, rather than a designer. On 26 May 2015, the firm announced that Ive was promoted to chief design officer (CDO), at the time one of only three C-level executives at Apple along with CEO Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri (Jeff Williams would be promoted to COO at the end of 2015). On 8 December 2017, Apple announced that Ive would resume direct responsibility for the company's product design.

On 27 June 2019, Apple announced that Ive would depart Apple after 27 years.

Relationship with Steve Jobs

Ive described his rapport with Jobs in 2014: "When we were looking at objects, what our eyes physically saw and what we came to perceive were exactly the same. And we would ask the same questions, have the same curiosity about things."

Jobs described Ive as his "spiritual partner at Apple", stating that"The difference that Jony has made, not only at Apple but in the world, is huge. He is a wickedly intelligent person in all ways. He understands business concepts, marketing concepts. He picks stuff up just like that, click. He understands what we do at our core better than anyone. If I had a spiritual partner at Apple, it's Jony. Jony and I think up most of the products together and then pull others in and say, 'Hey, what do you think about this?' He gets the big picture as well as the most infinitesimal details about each product. And he understands that Apple is a product company. He's not just a designer. That's why he works directly for me. He has more operational power than anyone else at Apple except me. There's no one who can tell him what to do, or to butt out. That's the way I set it up."

The offices of Jobs and Ive in Apple's Cupertino headquarters were linked by a covered corridor. Ive delivered the eulogy for Jobs at both the Apple employee memorial service and the family service in 2011.

Royal College of Art

Ive received an honorary degree from the Royal College of Art (RCA) in 2009. On 25 May 2017, Ive was appointed Chancellor of the RCA in London, effective 1 July 2017, succeeding Sir James Dyson. In this position he serves a fixed five-year term as the Head of college, where he will govern the college as an academic administrator. Ive began running committee meetings, attending faculty meetings, and conferring degrees in the summer of 2017. Ive said of the appointment: "I am thrilled to formalise my relationship with the RCA, given the profound influence the college has had on so many of the artists and designers that I admire." Ive was still chancellor in January 2023.

LoveFrom

In June 2019, Ive announced the launch of his own independent firm named LoveFrom, along with fellow designer Marc Newson. LoveFrom keeps a low profile but in October 2021 unveiled a minimalistic website.

Upon launch in 2019, Apple was a client of Ive's. In July 2022, the consulting agreement with Apple was ended, thus ending Ive's relationship with the company.

LoveFrom works with a number of brands including Ferrari and Airbnb. Ive is close friends with Airbnb chief executive Brian Chesky. Through Terra Carta Design Lab in 2021 and Charles's coronation in 2023, Ive has produced designs for Charles III.

In 2023, Ive led the development of a foldable red nose for Comic Relief. In the same year, LoveFrom announced its own scholarship programme, which is aimed at increasing representation in the design industry by supporting designers from all backgrounds. The programme covers the full tuition of a student at the California College of the Art, the Rhode Island School of Design and two students at the Royal College of Art each year.

In September 2024, LoveFrom announced the launch of a new outerwear collection in collaboration with Moncler. In the same month, the company unveiled a new logo in the latest iteration of its brand. The new logo includes the addition of a bear, which is LoveFrom's mascot called Montgomery, named after San Francisco's Montgomery Street where the company is based.

In September 2024, the New York Times reported that LoveFrom is working with OpenAI on the development of an artificial intelligence hardware device that is "less socially disruptive than the iPhone". In May 2025, it was announced OpenAI would acquire Ive's AI venture, called io, in a deal that values the company at $6.5 billion. Ive founded io in 2024 with Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey and Tang Tan. As part of the deal, OpenAI will become a customer of LoveFrom with Ive and LoveFrom assuming creative and design responsibilities across all of OpenAI's operations. LoveFrom will remain an independent company with other customers. On 9 July 2025, OpenAI and io announced the completion of the merger.

British Museum

In June 2025, Ive was appointed a trustee of the British Museum. Ive said of the appointment: "I am thrilled to be working with such a wonderful team, and look forward to supporting the Museum's appropriately ambitious Masterplan for transformation."

Public image

Ive is known for his minimalist, downplayed sense of style and presentation of self. Chief among his public image is his "nearly shaved head and tightly trimmed beard". It is estimated that Ive first shaved his head in a tight buzzcut and coupled it with stubble when, in 2001, aged 34, he was promoted to vice president of industrial design at Apple. His look had him referred to as one of the "100 Most Powerful Bald Men in the World" by GQ in their 2013 listing. Known for its minimalist look, it has inspired Halloween costumes, grooming regimens, and a small-scale fashion movement, among other things.

He has been known to sport "signature looks" that include: multi-coloured pied-de-poule suits, painter's pants, canvas pants, linen button down shirts, Clarks Wallabees, and mono-coloured t-shirts. His favourite tailor is reportedly British clothier Thomas Mahon. Ive's voice, used in Apple's marketing and promotional videos since 1994, has been noted for its Essex accent and reserved style of speech.

Influences

The work and principles of Dieter Rams, the chief designer of Braun from 1961 until 1995, influenced Ive's work. In Gary Hustwit's documentary film Objectified (2009), Rams says that Apple is one of only a handful of companies existing today that design products according to his ten principles of good design. Ive contributed an essay to a 2011 Rams monograph, Dieter Rams: As Little Design as Possible.

He is also said to have been influenced by the Bauhaus tradition (known for its credos form follows function and less is more), which emerged in Germany during the 1920s and became a staple design approach adopted by the Ulm School of Design during the 1950s. The Bauhaus / Ulm design style was also adopted during the 1980s by luxury automotive brand Audi, which also influenced Jonathan Ive's designs (particularly his work with Apple), and has garnered comparisons in colour stencil, structure, and lighting design.

Personal life

While he was attending secondary school at Walton High School in Stafford he met his future wife, British writer Heather Pegg in 1987. They have two sons. His family resides in the Pacific Heights neighbourhood of San Francisco, California. Their home was purchased for US$17 million in 2012. While at Apple, Ive commuted an hour and a half from San Francisco to Cupertino every day. He said in 2014 that if his work at Apple ever became substandard, he would "make things for [himself], for [his] friends at home instead". Ive also owns a house in the Cotswolds.

According to the Sunday Times Rich List in 2019, Ive was worth an estimated £192 million.

Ive is known to live a reserved, private home life and to shun publicity.

In March 2025, he was a guest on Desert Island Discs.

Automobiles

Since his early years in England, Ive has expressed an interest in automobiles and automotive design. While in university he drove a Fiat 500. He frequently attends car shows and exhibitions such as the Goodwood Festival of Speed, where he serves as a jury member for competitions.

It has been reported that Ive's preferred carmakers were all once-British: Aston Martin, Bentley, and Land Rover. Ive has been linked to owning an Aston Martin DB4, Aston Martin DB9, Aston Martin Vanquish, Bentley Brooklands, Bentley Mulsanne, Land Rover Discovery 3, and a Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud.

Charity work and public service

Ive has designed products for charitable causes, including a one-off Leica camera that set a world record auction price and a Jaeger-LeCoultre sports watch — one of only three — for an HIV/AIDS charity. During this auction, Ive and fellow designer Marc Newson raised $13 million for Bono's Product Red charity. With matching from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and additional matching from the UK and US Governments, the total raised was $46 million.

In 2023, Ive redesigned the Red Nose, the symbol of Comic Relief's Red Nose day, sold to raise money for charity. He also designed the emblem for the coronation of Charles III, which features a rose, thistle, daffodil, and shamrock— traditional symbols representing the four parts of the United Kingdom – in the shape of St Edward's Crown. Ive described the choice of these flowers as being "inspired by King Charles's love of the planet, nature, and his deep concern for the natural world," and that it is intended to refer to the "optimism of spring".

Honours and awards

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Jony Ive

Throughout his career at Apple, Ive has received nominations and garnered awards for his work. He has been appointed a Royal Designer for Industry (RDI), an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (HonFREng), a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2006 and Knight Commander of the same Order (KBE) in 2012.{{London Gazette

Notes

References

References

1. (14 October 2024). "Sir Jonathan (Jony) Ive: Awards.".
2. "Jony Ive Archives".
3. Leswing, Kif. (27 June 2019). "Apple's chief design officer, Jony Ive, is leaving the company".
4. (18 June 2025). "Sir Jony Ive appointed as new Trustee of the British Museum".
5. (20 July 2019). "Jony Ive, Apple designer who started career at tangerine, sets up studio".
6. Parker, Ian. (23 February 2015). "The Shape of Things to Come". [[The New Yorker]].
7. "Cambridge Union Society Hawking Fellowship 2018".
8. (12 February 2004). "iPod designer leads culture list".
9. Mickle, Tripp. (2024-09-21). "After Apple, Jony Ive Is Building an Empire of His Own". The New York Times.
10. Sullivan, Robert. (1 October 2014). "A Rare Look at Design Genius Jony Ive: The Man Behind the Apple Watch". Vogue.
11. Richmond, Shane. (23 May 2012). "Jonathan Ive interview: Apple's design genius is British to the core". The Daily Telegraph.
12. (29 November 2019). "The life and rise of Jony Ive, the legendary Apple designer who's now leaving to strike out on his own".
13. Kahney, Leander. (2013). "Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple's Greatest Products". Portfolio / Penguin.
14. Dormehl, Luke. (8 August 2012). "The Apple Revolution: Steve Jobs, the Counterculture and How the Crazy Ones Took over the World". Random House.
15. (25 May 2012). "Jonathan Ive and the RSA's Student Design Awards".
16. "Jony Ive, Apple designer who started career at tangerine, sets up studio".
17. John Arlidge. (17 March 2014). "Jonathan Ive Designs Tomorrow". Time Inc.
18. Seth Fiegerman. (6 November 2013). "10 Things You Didn't Know About Apple Design Chief Jony Ive". [[Mashable]].
19. Bell, Jonathan. (15 July 2022). "Jony Ive and Apple: three decades that changed design".
20. Ohannessian, Kevin. (18 May 2009). "100 Most Creative People in Business: No. 1 – Jonathan Ive".
21. Villas-Boas, Antonio. (18 July 2014). "One of Apple's most controversial product designs in years may have been the result of Jony Ive's obsession with making devices thinner". Business Insider.
22. Wong, Adrian. (18 July 2014). "2021 MacBook Pro Restores 4 Features Jony Ive Threw Out!". Techarp.
23. Phillip, Elmer-Dewitt. (6 January 2017). "How Much Does Apple Pay Jony Ive?". Fortune.
24. Phelan, David. "Apple Watch Secrets Revealed By Jony Ive, Health A Big Focus".
25. "Above Avalon: Apple Watch Is Now Worn on 100 Million Wrists".
26. Sumra, Husain. (2018-05-09). "Jony Ive talks origins and future of Apple Watch in new interview".
27. "Apple Announces Changes to Increase Collaboration Across Hardware, Software & Services".
28. (25 May 2015). "Jony Ive promoted to 'Chief Design Officer,' handing off managerial duties July 1st [Tim Cook Memo]".
29. Gurman, Mark. (8 December 2017). "Apple's Ive Regains Management of Design Team After 2 Years".
30. Ive, Jony. (4 October 2021). "Jony Ive on What He Misses Most About Steve Jobs".
31. Richmond, Shane. (31 December 2011). "Apple designer becomes Sir Jonathan Ive in New Year Honours". Daily Telegraph.
32. Yarow, Jay. "How Jony Ive Became The Most Important Executive At Apple".
33. "Apple's invisible aesthete emerging from Jobs' shadow".
34. Smith, Dave. "Steve Jobs and Jony Ive, once the two most important people at Apple, are no longer there. Here's how they became the most dominant duo in consumer tech.".
35. Gibbs, Samuel. (17 March 2015). "Apple's Jony Ive digested: 23 things we've learned".
36. Saheed, Sam. (25 May 2017). "Sir Jony Ive has been appointed chancellor of the world's number 1 art school". Business Insider.
37. Quito, Anne. (25 May 2017). "Apple design chief Jony Ive is the new chancellor of the world's best design school". Quartz.
38. (25 May 2017). "Sir Jony Ive KBE Appointed Chancellor of the Royal College of Art".
39. "Dr Paul Thompson to step down as Vice-Chancellor of the Royal College of Art in 2024".
40. Mickle, Tripp. (July 2019). "Jony Ive Is Leaving Apple, but His Departure Started Long Ago". Wall Street Journal.
41. "Jony Ive Is Leaving Apple".
42. (3 June 2021). "Jony Ive Recruited Four Former Apple Design Colleagues to 'LoveFrom'".
43. Douglas, Sarah. (2021-10-11). "Jony Ive's LoveFrom unveils official website".
44. Mickle, Tripp. (12 July 2022). "Apple Ends Consulting Agreement With Jony Ive, Its Former Design Leader". The New York Times.
45. (28 September 2021). "Ex-Apple designer Sir Jony Ive to style new Ferrari electric car".
46. Lipsky-Karasz, Elisa. (2 November 2022). "Jony Ive on Life After Apple".
47. Hartmans, Avery. "Famed Apple designer Jony Ive's advice to Airbnb's CEO during tough times: 'You aren't going to cut your way to innovation'".
48. "HRH Prince Charles and Sir Jony Ive's Terra Carta Design Lab Reveals its 20 Finalists".
49. (13 February 2023). "Jony Ive designs coronation emblem with "gentle modesty" for King Charles III".
50. Elliott, Martha. (4 February 2023). "Red Nose Day 2023: Sir Jony Ive designs folding red nose for Comic Relief".
51. Warren, Tom. (1 February 2023). "Jony Ive has designed a "magically transforming" Red Nose".
52. Dazed. (4 April 2023). "Jony Ive: 'I've always been fascinated by the creative process'".
53. "New scholarship in partnership with LoveFrom aims to increase representation in design".
54. "Royal College of Art announces LoveFrom Scholarship for underrepresented minority design students".
55. "Jony Ive HD 09 launches LoveFrom Scholarships {{!}} RISD Alumni".
56. Cross, Inès. (2024-09-07). "Jony Ive gets into outerwear". Financial Times.
57. Wilson, Mark. (23 September 2024). "Jony Ive is building his post-Apple brand the patient way".
58. Charara, Sophie. (29 September 2024). "An 'iPhone of AI' Makes No Sense. What is Jony Ive Really Building?".
59. Gurman, Mark. (May 21, 2025). "OpenAI to Buy AI Device Startup From Apple Veteran Jony Ive in $6.5 Billion Deal".
60. Eadicicco, Lisa. (2025-05-21). "Former Apple design chief Jony Ive is joining OpenAI {{!}} CNN Business".
61. (2025-05-21). "OpenAI Unites With Jony Ive in $6.5 Billion Deal to Create A.I. Devices". The New York Times.
62. Jin, Keach Hagey and Berber. (21 May 2025). "Former Apple Design Guru Jony Ive to Take Expansive Role at OpenAI".
63. Field, Hayden. (2025-07-09). "OpenAI closes its deal to buy Jony Ive's io and build AI hardware".
64. Zhang, Tianwei. (2025-06-18). "Jony Ive Named Trustee of the British Museum".
65. Kramer, Nimrod. (18 July 2014). "My night with Sir Jonathan Ive at a London nightclub". The Daily Dot.
66. Koerber, Brian. (9 September 2014). "The Evolution of Apple's Jony Ive". Mashable.
67. Geller, Sarah. (16 July 2013). "The 100 Most Powerful Bald Men in the World". GQ.
68. "10 Halloween Costumes For Geeks".
69. Editorial. (23 May 2012). "In praise of … Sir Jonathan Ive".
70. Van Camp, Jeffery. (5 January 2013). "Hey, look! HTC's designer looks just like Apple's Jony Ive". Digital Trends.
71. Foulkes, Nicholas. (19 October 2018). "Jony Ive on the Apple Watch and Big Tech's responsibilities".
72. Think Multiply. (19 January 2017). "Jony Ive's magical voice for Apple marketing".
73. (2009). "Design evolution". Braun GmbH.
74. (14 January 2008). "The Future of Apple Is in 1960s Braun: 1960s ''Braun Products Hold the Secrets to Apple's Future''". gizmodo.com (Gawker Media).
75. "Book Review: Dieter Rams: As Little Design as Possible, by Sophie Lovell".
76. (2011). "Dieter Rams: As Little Design as Possible". [[Phaidon Press]].
77. "Jony Ive's No Longer So Secret Design Weapon". Forbes.
78. (6 May 2022). "'It's a head office for tinkering': Jony Ive and Marc Newson talk tools". Financial Times.
79. The Sunday Times. (12 May 2019). "Rich List 2019: profiles 602–650, featuring Sting and Sir Rod Stewart". [[The Times]].
80. "BBC Radio 4 - Desert Island Discs, Sir Jony Ive, designer".
81. Colt, Sam. (14 February 2015). "Apple designer Jony Ive's favorite cars". Business Insider.
82. Lewsig, Kif. (17 July 2016). "Here's rare video of Apple designer Jony Ive talking about a gorgeous Ferrari". Business Insider.
83. Vincent, James. (16 February 2015). "Jony Ive laments 'shocking' state of modern car design". The Verge.
84. Michael Pritchard. (24 November 2013). "Leica camera sets a new digital record". Michael Pritchard.
85. Kahle, Laurie. "Jony and Marc's (RED) Design Auction Helps Raise $46 Million For Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria".
86. "Red Nose by Jony Ive, Design Burger".
87. Coughlan, Sean. (10 February 2023). "King Charles coronation logo created by iPhone designer". BBC News.
88. "RSA Current Royal Designers for Industry".
89. "List of Fellows".
90. (30 May 2012). "Apple creative guru and Walton High School alumni knighted for services to design". Staffordshire Newsletter.
91. (2009). "Jony Ive gets honorary doctor of fine arts degree from RISD". 9to5mac.
92. (1 May 2021). "Bigelow's Babble On by the Bay: The Cool Kids — And Their NFTs • The Nob Hill Gazette".
93. "CCA honors legendary designer Sir Jony Ive during the 2021 virtual gala celebration on May 14".
94. "Honorary Doctors".
95. (15 June 2016). "Leaders in fields from sport to computer design awarded University's highest honour".
96. "Encaenia and Honorary degrees 2016".
97. (12 February 2004). "iPod designer leads culture list". BBC News.