Jony Ive Levels Up

Stephen Fry, writing for The Telegraph:

Until now, Ive’s job title has been Senior Vice President of Design. But I can reveal that he has just been promoted and is now Apple’s Chief Design Officer. It is therefore an especially exciting time for him.

Inside the fabled design studio (cloths over the long tables hiding the exciting new prototypes from prying eyes like mine) Jony has two people with him. They too have been promoted as part of Ive’s new role.

One is Richard Howarth, English as Vimto. “Richard is going to be our new head of Industrial Design,” says Jony. “And this is Alan Dye, the new head of User Interface.” Dye is a tall, amiable American.

This is a difficult story to digest. Why give the scoop to Stephen Fry, for example? (My guess: Ive picked him.) Part of the story is that Ive is going to “travel more”, which I take to mean “live in England”. But I do not believe that he’s taking a figurehead position or a ceremonial role — I think he truly is taking a serious C-level role as CDO. But this is definitely different and new.

★ Monday, 25 May 2015