Apple Hires Nike Design Director With Experience in Wearables

[MacRumors]

Apple has hired former Nike design director Ben Shaffer, claims 9to5Mac, citing a source at Nike. Shaffer worked as the Studio Director of the "Innovation Kitchen", Nike's research and development lab, which produced popular Nike products like the Nike Fuelband and the Flyknit shoe.

While it is unknown what position Shaffer will take on at Apple, it seems likely that he will be involved in the development of the iWatch, given his expertise in wearables. Apple has been aggressively hiring for its iWatch team in recent months, acquiring a number of experts in the health sensor field. The company also recently hired fitness expert and former Nike consultant Jay Blahnik.

At the D11 conference in May, Apple CEO Tim Cook called the idea of smart watches and other wearables "incredibly interesting" saying the market was "ripe for exploration." Since then, Apple has filed for "iWatch" trademarks in a number of countries across the world, including Jamaica, Russia, Japan, Taiwan, Mexico, Turkey, Colombia, Chile, and India.

The most recent rumors have suggested Apple's iWatch will not make an appearance until late 2014 due to "hard engineering problems" that have yet to be solved.

Update: According to Fast Company's Austin Carr, though Shaffer did oversee Nike's Innovation Kitchen, he was not a part of the Nike Fuelband team, making it unclear what his role at Apple will be.

Article Link: Apple Hires Nike Design Director With Experience in Wearables

 

[Sky Blue]

som interesting hires for this project!

 

[CiccioAtSea]

Reminds me Steve somehow...

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

Watch is coming.

 

[FrizzleFryBen]

I'm holding out for the iCombover

 

[KdParker]

maybe more than a watch....

that would be nice.

 

[Tiger8]

Apple Makeover

Would be interesting when he's onboard how different he will look with the 'Apple look'; white background, haircut, and designer glasses can do wonders! , like that John Brownett dude - he looked 10 years younger in his 'after' pic

 

[Jalopybox]

You'd think he could design a better outfit.

 

[tbrand7]

With all of these new hires, from fitness to fashion expertise, this iWatch better be the ultimate wearable.

 

[iSpock]

Ok I may be dating myself but who else immediately thought "shoe phone" and in Maxwell Smart's voice ...."missed it by that much!"

 

[Rogifan]

Interesting hire. I also saw an interesting job posting on Apple this week for an "experimental designer":

Key Qualifications

The HIg Experimental Designer is an interdisciplinary prototyping expert. He or she has the sensibility of a designer, ingenuity of an engineer, the ability to converse fluently with creative and technical teams, and a limitless passion for learning and tinkering with unproven and cutting edge technologies and user interaction models. Top candidates will have an understanding of user interface design principles as well as a sensitivity to composition, typography and color, experience in a programming environment like Objective C/HTML (or equivalent), and a practical grasp of animation. Bachelors in Graphics Design, User Experience Design, Industrial design or equivalent.

Along with Ive's comment about wishing he could show people the stuff they're working on I'm really looking forward to 2014.

 

[Popeye206]

"hard engineering problems"????

I'm guessing size and battery life.... two things that kill the Samsung beast.

 

[neoelectronaut]

Looks a bit like a heavyset Jim Henson.

Betcha he's rollin' in the cash.

 

[jafingi]

With all of these new hires, from fitness to fashion expertise, this iWatch better be the ultimate wearable.

Agreed! Apple has really hired some heavyweights in many different areas. This can be a killer project! Way better than those half-hearted attempts from Samsung and Sony (really... they should have announced them on April 1st).

I'm looking much forward to seeing (and probably buying) the iWatch.

 

[troop231]

I'm thinking the iWatch will be priced at $199.00 And yes, it will sell incredibly well at that price.

 

[MacFather]

Deleted.

 

[Tankmaze]

Cook is on Nike Board Of Directors

this kind of thing kinda reminds me when Steve showed Pixar movies in a demo, and were very proud of it.

Like Craig said in an interview, doing something new is easy, doing it right... is hard.
Hope they got it right for this iwatch!!!

 

[mw360]

Why bother with all this expense - just copy the Samsung design.

 

[shiseiryu1]

Old or new Photo

Could someone please tell me if this guy is a hipster or if his photo is from the 70's?...

 

[mizaco]

experienced at wearing that beard

 

[davys]

I'm holding out for the iCombover

Wicked man, just wicked...but made me laugh all the same.

 

[rosujin]

This is getting interesting. The new wearable devices are going to be very cool. This new hire, along with Paul Deneve (head of Yves Saint Laurent), are good moves for Apple.

 

[dBeats]

Apparently Samsung is about to announce that they hired some dude with a beard who worked at NewBalance, or was that Sketchers?. Ah it doesn't matter just get SOMEONE from a shoe company with a beard already! C'mon Samsung do your best copycat hire impression!

 

[madmin]

Shouldn't be long before he gets things up and running

 

[UnfetteredMind]

Why bother with all this expense - just copy the Samsung design.

Because they want it to not be a piece of crap