Another Ive-Era Designer Leaves Apple

[MacRumors]

Yet another industrial designer that worked under Jony Ive is leaving Apple, reports Bloomberg. Peter Russell-Clarke has stepped down from his role at Apple after 17 years, and he plans to join space technology company Vast.

Under Ive, Russell-Clarke worked on the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple Park campus. He left Apple earlier in the year in order to "pursue passion projects," according to a press release put out by Vast.

As Bloomberg points out, almost all of the designers who worked under former Apple design chief Jony Ive have departed. Ive left Apple in 2019 to start his design firm LoveFrom, but he continued to work with Apple as a consultant until 2022. Apple paid Ive more than $100 million to be LoveFrom's primary client, but Ive was not able to work on projects that Apple felt were competitive, leading to the dissolving of the partnership.

Several Apple designers that worked with Ive opted to join LoveFrom, and in February 2023 when Ive replacement Evans Hankey left, Apple opted to drop the Product Design Chief role, restructuring its product design team under operations chief Jeff Williams.

Article Link: Another Ive-Era Designer Leaves Apple

 

[Armada2]

So all the "make it thin" designers have left now?

 

[19callum93]

I actually miss Jony Ive.

 

[Rychiar]

Jonly might as well have just retired for all he’s done in the last decade

 

[eicca]

Can they please hire some designers that will get rid of the horrendous camera protrusions?

Not only is it a hilarious ergonomic joke that a premium phone can't lay flat on a surface, the bump is creating wear spots in all my jeans.

 

[grantishere]

Who? I have not heard of any Apple designers other than Jony Ive.

 

[kc9hzn]

“Space habitation technology”? Talk about a passion project, seeing as that’s a technology very few people now living will ever use. Personally, I’ve always gotten a kick out of people actually using the things I work on, so I’d rather be designing for Apple than Vast myself. But to each his own!

 

[bollman]

Product design is now part of "operations". Doesn't sound like "design" is as much of a thing at Apple anymore.

 

[Eldaerenth Faexidor]

iPhone FatBoy incoming…

 

[MBAir2010]

I cant waits for the new VastBook Air with a whapping .003cm inch thickness,
spiced silver tone,
and a white bezel on the screen display!

 

[GuyDouche]

Apple Inc are loosing their OG crew that created products we all grew up to experience and love. Fingers crossed that they fire up and reclaim the definition of the word “innovation”, since that term appears to have lost its meaning and is now ubiquitously used for incremental updates.
Here’s hoping…

 

[SanderEvers]

Honestly I hated most of Ive's design choices, removing ports, making everything thinner because "they can", butterfly keyboard, etc.

In recent years Apple has been moving away from this, and it shows.

 

[KaliYoni]

almost all of the designers who worked under former Apple design chief Jony Ive have departed

Or they've all been moved to undocumented parts of the Apple campus that are only accessible by following a specific, unmarked path that leads to a door that has no visible handle...

;-)

 

[coolfactor]

At this point, I can understand it. Apple has reached a pinnacle of design perfection. Future changes are just for change's sake.

 

[cicalinarrot]

Product design is now part of "operations". Doesn't sound like "design" is as much of a thing at Apple anymore.

I've complained when that happened to car manufacturers like Audi.
But when Audi started giving less creative control to its genius designer (Walter de Silva) and selling the dullest, least inspired cars ever, sales went sky high.
Apparently, consumer want familiar, reassuring, predictable product from well established companies. They cannot risk, that's just how it works.
And we all know this isn't the worst aspect about very successful corporations (Audi had Dieselgate, Apple had some little kids making their little electronics...) but it's a good reminder of what they're all about: money.

 

[kc9hzn]

At this point, I can understand it. Apple has reached a pinnacle of design perfection. Future changes are just for change's sake.

Well certainly, smartphones and smartwatches are pretty much incumbent, mature technologies these days. Probably little room for the kind of “I want to design the world!” sorts Johnny Ive probably attracted. And most of Apple’s computers are laptops, there’s little room for groundbreaking design there. Really, with the exception of the Mac Mini and Mac Studio, most of Apple’s hardware is pretty constrained by its form-factor and usage patterns. VR/AR is probably where Apple’s engineers and designers wanting to try something new all are these days.

 

[goobot]

Can they please hire some designers that will get rid of the horrendous camera protrusions?

Not only is it a hilarious ergonomic joke that a premium phone can't lay flat on a surface, the bump is creating wear spots in all my jeans.

I’ve been thinking a tapered design would be good. Would also let you angle the screen toward you while laying flat

 

[springsup]

Yeah you can definitely feel that a new generation has taken over at Apple.

It’s been apparent for a while, really. Stuff like the horrible Safari redesign really made it obvious.

To be honest, I feel that Apple is stagnating. Their products just lack soul, the pricing ladder is so BS that a lot of their products are just plain crap, and now they’re in to everything from TV shows to credit cards. It’s just so corporate. It doesn’t feel like Apple any more.

 

[avkills]

I’ve been thinking a tapered design would be good. Would also let you angle the screen toward you while laying flat

What? Isn't that what the screen hinge is for. If anything it would make typing easier.

 

[Marty80]

Ive and Jobs brought Apple out of bankruptcy, they gave the company a new direction.

Product launches where always WOW, with bold new designs & great concepts.

Fast forward to today under Cook, we have a company with no direction, no bold new designs.

Everybody is bailing out. With Apples only Widcard iVision pro!.

 

[kc9hzn]

And we all know this isn't the worst aspect about very successful corporations (Audi had Dieselgate, Apple had some little kids making their little electronics...) but it's a good reminder of what they're all about: money.

I dunno, the “little kids making their little electronics” bit is probably an unavoidable aspect of Chinese manufacturing, there’s no way to 100% verify Chinese supply chains’ compliance with international labor standards.

 

[goobot]

What? Isn't that what the screen hinge is for. If anything it would make typing easier.

I’m talking iPhone not Mac. So make the top flush with cameras and then bring the thickness down as you go down the device. The device is ‘flat’ and would even be pointed towards you if laying flat on a table in front of you. Imagine this photo but less extreme

 

[mdriftmeyer]

Can they please hire some designers that will get rid of the horrendous camera protrusions?

Not only is it a hilarious ergonomic joke that a premium phone can't lay flat on a surface, the bump is creating wear spots in all my jeans.

Most of Ergonomics [Human Factors] is an Ergonomic Joke, and I see it as by design.

 

[avkills]

I’m talking iPhone not Mac. So make the top flush with cameras and then bring the thickness down as you go down the device. The device is ‘flat’ and would even be pointed towards you if laying flat on a table in front of you

Might work ok. Although it would probably feel odd in a pocket. I don't buy the massive phones, 13 mini here.

 

[contacos]

Probably boring doing the same design every single year after a while