Jony Ive, the mastermind behind some of Apple’s greatest creations, has been promoted from Senior VP and will become Apple’s first Chief Design Officer. The promotion will see him oversee the company’s broader design efforts, and reduce the amount of time he spends on day-to-day managerial duties.
Two others will be overseeing the design of user interfaces (Alan Dye) and industrial design (Richard Howarth), when Ive takes up his new post on 1 July. Ive describes the move as freeing him up from some of the administrative and managerial work that he was not put on this earth to do. Which is perhaps one of the most accurate things ever said, considering the amount of work that he puts into the design and look of every thing Apple (which includes the patio furniture and design of the new Apple campus).
This shuffling of roles is not expected to change anything about Apple, but it may lead to more interesting devices as Ive is given more room to do his thing. Howarth has also been involved in the design of the iPhone, while Dye was responsible for putting the interface team. That being said, there is no saying how much more input these two will have in the design process.
[Source: The Telegraph via Engadget]
