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macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Apple is reportedly looking to nearly double the size of its in-house creative design team, seeking to bolster its brand image with new advertising content from dedicated designers, according to a report from Ad Age.
Longtime observers say after years of capping the size and type of internal creative talent, the tech giant is significantly expanding its in-house design group. One executive familiar with the company said the group could grow to 500 or 600 staffers from about 300. [...]

t is now seeking talent to work on the brand itself and wants to bulk up its ranks of high-level creative directors and heads of innovation. As part of its recruiting efforts, Apple has approached senior creatives known for innovative work.
The report notes that Apple plans to continue working with its outside ad agency partners, but that it is boosting its internal team to help with such website design, video tutorials, and more.

designed_by_apple_in_ca.jpg
Ad Age also suggests that Apple faces some challenges in recruiting creative designers, given the company's distance from the San Francisco advertising community as well as potential concerns about designers feeling limited in working with a single client that so closely defines its own advertising messages.

Aside from its own advertising efforts, Apple has also been boosting its iAd team in recent weeks and months in order to support the launch of the company's ad-supported iTunes Radio service in the coming weeks. The iAd team not only serves as account managers but also works closely with advertisers in some cases to help them develop effective ads for Apple's various ad services.

Article Link: Apple Looking to Nearly Double Headcount of In-House Creative Design Team
 

Jsameds

Suspended
Apr 22, 2008
3,525
7,987
More computery & functionny, and less trash canny & thinny on your desktop machines please.
 

argybargy

macrumors newbie
Jun 11, 2012
9
0
Double a lot of teams

Perhaps they could double their Mac Pro Design Team? Or their iOS icon design team? Or, really, anything but marketing. Apple's products used to be their own marketing and advertising.
 

Tankmaze

macrumors 68000
Mar 7, 2012
1,707
351
potential concerns about designers feeling limited in working with a single client that so closely defines its own advertising messages

If my one single client is Apple, I would take it.
 

Meandmunch

macrumors 6502
Jan 3, 2002
496
143
I am not sure this is such good news. In my experience as 20 year ad industry veteran, quite often internal teams succumb to internal squabbles and incestual thought processes that quickly stagnate the brand. Hiring external agencies/talent in my experience consistently yields a broader range of ideas and approaches to marketing problems.
 

Rogifan

macrumors Penryn
Nov 14, 2011
24,083
31,014
I'm not sure who is running Apple branding and PR right now but they suck at it. One case in point: IDSA (Industrial Design Society of America) held its annual conference this year in August. This conference is a big deal and well known and respected designers attend/speak at it. What tech companies were included in the list of event sponsors? One would assume a company like Apple, which is pretty famous for its design culture. But no, Apple was no where to be found. However, Microsoft, Google, Samsung and LG were.

Apple really needs to do a better job on the brand front, needs to do a better job of selling the company. Of course this isn't Cook's strength so maybe he needs to hire someone for that role. Or maybe that's why he hired the former YSL CEO.

----------

So what happened to the good designers (who designed everything prior to iOS7)?

I think this article is about advertising, not iOS or hardware designers.
 

winston1236

macrumors 68000
Dec 13, 2010
1,902
319
"but that it is boosting its internal team to help with such website design, video tutorials, and more."


This is bad, internal corporate designers are the worst!
 

talmy

macrumors 601
Oct 26, 2009
4,725
332
Oregon
Apple needs to double the size of their technical design teams, not marketing! Marketing doesn't "create" anything.
 

TheRealTVGuy

macrumors 6502a
Jul 21, 2010
704
1,156
Orlando, FL
One case in point: IDSA (Industrial Design Society of America) held its annual conference this year in August. This conference is a big deal and well known and respected designers attend/speak at it. What tech companies were included in the list of event sponsors? One would assume a company like Apple, which is pretty famous for its design culture. But no, Apple was no where to be found. However, Microsoft, Google, Samsung and LG were.

Have to respectfully disagree. There's a reason Apple pulled out of trade shows and the like...

And besides, why would they want to spend time on the muck and the mire with the companies you listed?

Is Apple a little on the high-horse? Perhaps. But they deserve to be. Their products are still the most original (stop crying about the smaller companies whose tech they purchased), smoothest operating, most user friendly, and best designed.
 

bloggerblog

macrumors regular
Jun 27, 2007
103
21
More designers = better

More != always mean better.

Designers are very opinionated, see what happened with Scott Forstall. The guy was so stubborn that he lead a multibillion dollar company down a laughable path. Apple will be ok if they have a handful of open-minded and creative people leading their design teams.
 
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