Inside Apple's Industrial Design

[3282872]

Jonathan Ive went to my uni and one of my design Lecturers studied with him although the uni was renamed abit back. He came in early 2006 I believe to give a presentation.

Wow, that must have been awesome. I would love to meet Ive and pick his brain, if I ever had the chance something tells me I'd be in awe of what he can come up with...

 

[stainlessliquid]

Jonathan Ive is an amazing Industrial Designer whom in my mind deserves a lot of the credit for putting Apple back on the map. Ives' design for the iMac and then iPod set the bar for technological computer innovations, blending flawless minimalist design with superb ergonomics and cutting edge technology.

http://www.designmuseum.org/design/jonathan-ive

I think he deserves most, if not all the credit. I dont know why people worship Jobs like a god but could care less about the man who made Jobs what he is today and brought Apple out of the **** hole. I mean Jobs is even getting all the credit for the iPhone. All he did was approve the concept that the design team came up with! The best thing about Jobs is that he cares about good taste, which is a rare trait among corporate figure heads who just care about how much something costs to make.

 

[slffl]

I think he deserves most, if not all the credit. I dont know why people worship Jobs like a god but could care less about the man who made Jobs what he is today and brought Apple out of the **** hole. I mean Jobs is even getting all the credit for the iPhone. All he did was approve the concept that the design team came up with! The best thing about Jobs is that he cares about good taste, which is a rare trait among corporate figure heads who just care about how much something costs to make.

Wow, you sure do know a lot about what goes on at Apple. Is this Johnny?

 

[QuarterSwede]

I think he deserves most, if not all the credit. I dont know why people worship Jobs like a god but could care less about the man who made Jobs what he is today and brought Apple out of the **** hole. I mean Jobs is even getting all the credit for the iPhone. All he did was approve the concept that the design team came up with! The best thing about Jobs is that he cares about good taste, which is a rare trait among corporate figure heads who just care about how much something costs to make.

From what I've heard Jobs is "insanely" critical. A lot of designs simply don't get by and he makes the programmers program over and over again until it's, what he considers, perfect.

 

[notjustjay]

Jobs, and thusly Apple as a whole recognizes people want stuff to LOOK good, not just function well. Seems as though most PC manufacturers have repeatdely missed that concept. Oh, and before someone brings up Sony laptops, how hard is it to make a laptop look good when you're ripping off Apple?

So, you're saying more companies should do what Apple does and make products that look good... but that the most prominent example of a company doing that doesn't count, because they're doing what Apple did.

Right.

I think it's pretty clear that Apple focuses on design (and premium price is acceptable) while other companies focus on price (and design compromises are acceptable). Apple's in a position to do so BECAUSE of its small market share and premium brand status.

If Dell suddenly spent as much time as Apple making good looking machines, Dell computer prices would skyrocket accordingly, and instead of Dell turning into a popular premium brand, everyone would just buy other brands and Dell would suffer serious losses.

Instead what we actually find is something one could almost dub "The Wal Mart Phenomena" whereby you can literally actually feel the cheapness of imported consumer goods that are made of ultra-cheap plastics. But hey, they're $10 cheaper than last year's model.

 

[Jim Campbell]

totally agreed....

Rarely a truer word spoken (or neatly illustrative graph offered).

A few years ago, I was tasked with producing the media pack for a sales team. The Sales Director and I sat in a room and he gave me thirty minutes of vague ideas. I brought him six designs. He picked three. I amalgamated what I thought was the best of each into one and he loved it. We printed it and everyone loved it.

It was so widely admired that I was asked to replicate it for another sales office in the same company. Having done so, the Sales Manager asked to be allowed to have input. I cautioned against this on the "too many cooks" argument but was over-ruled.

The Sales Manager invited feedback from the 12-strong sales team.

Net result: I had to fight a losing battle to keep the merest shred of individuality, the project (which should have been a done deal) took four times longer than the original and -- guess what? -- it looked like bland, unoriginal $h!te at the end.

Design by committee does not work. Pay attention, computer industry at large!

Cheers

Jim

 

[Rot'nApple]

What makes Apple Apple and not Sony, says Rolston, is clarity of voice and vision.

Clarity of voice and vision. = 'nuff said!

That is, as long as Steve is happy and having fun and in good health. I suspect another 10 maybe 15 years, maybe, who knows...

BUT... What will become of Apple after life without Steve? Who is being groomed to keep the voice and vision going? Phil? Jonathon? Who????

 

[Rot'nApple]

Get Used To It!

everyone kneel down and kiss Job's and I'ves [censored], so they will get off their [censored] and design us some new computers, instead of consumer devices...

how great is this design process when the whole company shuts down to produce that #&$P(#*&$% iPhone?..

While Apple will still produce computers, remember, they took the name "Computer" out of Apple Computer to better reflect the comapny and it's future strategy of other electronic devices that will tie in more with their OS as the hub, in some way I bet...

like maybe the Apple TV will eventually evolve into an actual large flat screen television that will have an enhanced version of today's Apple tv designed in to it running a more enhanced version of software and the tv can have flash storage and do DVR or copy your classic DVD library... ramblinig on... among other things

 

[SMM]

What the heck is wrong with the current design?

It's almost becoming cliche with how many people are dissing the iPhone. So sick of seeing this response to the iPhone. It's amazing how many people out there have completely closed minds...

I am with you on that one. The iPhone has little interest for me. I am not part of the 'mobile world'. However, I am happy for those who have been waiting for this type of technology. I certainly do not see any reason to whine because MY immediate needs are being met.

 

[SMM]

I think he deserves most, if not all the credit. I dont know why people worship Jobs like a god but could care less about the man who made Jobs what he is today and brought Apple out of the **** hole. I mean Jobs is even getting all the credit for the iPhone. All he did was approve the concept that the design team came up with! The best thing about Jobs is that he cares about good taste, which is a rare trait among corporate figure heads who just care about how much something costs to make.

Post your supporting facts. I would like to read them.

 

[guzhogi]

This complaint is heard over and over... and I still don't quite get it. I mean, all it really says is "Gee... I want all the benefits of a company's product without actually buying the whole thing from them like I'm supposed to do!"

News flash: Attempts to "have your cake and eat it too" usually don't work out very well.

Even if you do know how to modify OS X to work on generic, non-Apple hardware, you're violating the license agreement for starters. Second, you're running an unsupported configuration. What's the point in switching to OS X as your main computer operating system if it causes you more hassle and trouble keeping it working right (downloaded OS updates and patches keep breaking it, etc.) than it's worth?

Finally, I thought this whole message thread was about *design*? Putting OS X on generic PC hardware means you're running an elegant OS on dull, boring equipment. That's sort of like putting Z-rated performance tires on a Geo Metro or something....

I can see your point, but a few things: first off, Apple isn't the end all and be all of style. While I love Apple style, there are different things that have good style, too. Plus, who's to say people can't soup up their cases to their liking?

Also, who's to say Apple absolutely must keep OS X on Apple hardware? They had clones before. Sure, Apple stopped that, but could do it again. Also, some people may want options not available to Macs like SLI graphics. If Apple allowed OS X to run on non-Apple hardware, people can decide which features they want/need instead of having to be stuck w/ what Apple has. If Apple doesn't have a feature you need, you're screwed. That's one good thing about Windows (and many other OSes): they can run on different hardware. Okay, it's not 100% reliable, but it works.

Just because something is the way it is doesn't mean it has to stay that way. Sure, change can be bad in some ways, it can be good, too.

 

[AlBDamned]

I love a lot of Apple's designs and they are well ahead of the rest in the pure aesthtics of their hardware (software is well ahead, of course) but too many of them are flawed:

• PowerBook/MacBook Pro: Warped cases, rarely a unit where the lid closes flush, paint peeling (on the tiBooks), so much heat they fry your balls.
  
• MacBook: Warping, discoloration, greasy fingerprints all over the black version.
  
• iPod/iPod Nano: Screen so poor it scratches in a second unless you get a protector, back casing so poor it scratches in seconds unless you get a case (Compare to mobile phones which rarely suffer either unless they're dropped or really abused).
  
• iPod Mini: Microdives that simply never lasted.

To name just a few....

Ok most of these are small complaints but they are flaws in the deisgn and materials used - both points that the article is highlighting.

A designer once said to me form shouldn't follow function, form is function. "No point in making a product look flash if it doesn't do what it should do or stand up to the abuse it's designed for."

I dread to think how many "my iPhone is scratched to pieces from my pocket/cracked when I dropped it" threads we'll see. (How many times have you dropped your mobile phone by accident? Most would say once or twice I'm sure).

 

[Lone Deranger]

No thanks... Apple's approach works so well because it is a closed system. Allow any old hardware/software combo to be plugged into a Mac and you'd end up with the same crap you get from your average windows/linux box. Overcomplication and unreliability. Last thing the computing world needs is more of that. Since switching to Apple the one thing I have learned is that I don't need 10 billion choices of hardware and the ability to run every conceivable bit of software out there. I am much more productive on my Macs than I ever was on Windows... Quality over quanity made that happen.

If Apple allowed OS X to run on non-Apple hardware, people can decide which features they want/need instead of having to be stuck w/ what Apple has. If Apple doesn't have a feature you need, you're screwed. That's one good thing about Windows (and many other OSes): they can run on different hardware. Okay, it's not 100% reliable, but it works.

 

[zakatov]

They obviousely don't have too many people, if the iPhone team needed people from the Leopard team in order to finish on time.

 

[jwa276]

They obviousely don't have too many people, if the iPhone team needed people from the Leopard team in order to finish on time.

There is a big difference between designers and developers/engineers. Designers (Industrial or Interface) create the concept, form, and function. The developers/engineers are solely responsible for having the know how to make the technology happen in the final phase of any design based project.

One good designer can keep several developers (or engineers for industrial design) very busy.

As in apple's case, the design has been set for seemingly some time now. It is now up to the developers to make sure it works smoothly and just how the designers want.

 

[MikeTheC]

As I've repeatedly heard from designers in the auto industry, design is cheap. When buildding a car, you have to bend the sheetmetal no matter what, so you might as well make it look good. Granted, there is cost involved in having ateam of designers, but when you sell millions of, say, iPods, the design cost per piece is insignificant.

Jobs, and thusly Apple as a whole recognizes people want stuff to LOOK good, not just function well. Seems as though most PC manufacturers have repeatdely missed that concept. Oh, and before someone brings up Sony laptops, how hard is it to make a laptop look good when you're ripping off Apple?

I personally take exception to this comment, on the grounds that I've yet to see Sony produce ANYTHING which looked "good" in either their desktop or laptop lineup. Their short-lived eVilla (what a name) looked like a Mac 128/iMac rip-off, and other than the AiBO, there isn't one single thing I've seen come from Sony that didn't look like crap, or look like it was a total rip-off of someone else's design. And usually even the duplicative effort was obviously not all that good. And if you look at their latest line-up of high-end LCD TVs, they all look like black-colored iMac G4 screens.

There's about as much originality in Tokyo as there is in Redmond.

 

[twoodcc]

that's pretty cool.

 

[SamIchi]

Someone ban Shinlake ^^ Damn Spam

Anyways, I can't wait to see the new design of the iMac, DAMN! alright.... yea, I hope it's nothing like the ones we have now. The lip kills it.

 

[Whistleway]

I personally take exception to this comment, on the grounds that I've yet to see Sony produce ANYTHING which looked "good" in either their desktop or laptop lineup. ...

There's about as much originality in Tokyo as there is in Redmond.

Don't just spread FUD. Check this out,
http://www.gadgets.si/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/ux_2.jpg

 

[AlBDamned]

Don't just spread FUD. Check this out,
http://www.gadgets.si/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/ux_2.jpg

You have a point there. I saw one of these for real for the first time last weekend and was blown away by it, instantly starting to justify how I could buy one (final outcome - not a chance!). They are very smart pieces of kit and the one running Vista looked great too.

Of course it's a Windows machine and I have no use for it, plus I'd rather spend the AU$2500 on a new Mac Portable, but it's a highly desirable piece of kit if you're not biased!

 

[Evangelion]

[*]iPod Mini: Microdives that simply never lasted.

Really? I never really heard any such problem with the Mini. Mine has lasted for two years now without any issues.

 

[AlBDamned]

Really? I never really heard any such problem with the Mini. Mine has lasted for two years now without any issues.

Count yourself lucky then, seriously. I know many people who've suffered failures with them (me included). The worst case being a friend recently returned her 4GB silver Mini under Applecare thinking she'd get a Nano by now (this is the third one to go) and they sent her yet another Mini .

 

[donoshea]

How Technology Review Doesn't Do It

The title of the article is "How Apple Does It." It should have been titled "Who Does It at Apple." The author, Daniel Turner, is, at least, honest about the fact that he was rebuffed by Apple when he asked them to be able to look over their designers shoulders as they designed the iPhone. As he points out: "Company representative declined to speak to me, and sources only tangentially engaged with the industrial-design process said they could not talk either."

So, with the basis of his original article destroyed, Turner soldiers on, by turning it into a discussion of personalities. The best he can do is to invoke Steve Jobs' taste. It's a Deus Ex Machina answer to the implied question, how does Apple do it?

What is the basis for the "simplicity," mentioned in the article, found in Apple products that distinguishes them from competing devices? There are professionals who can throw light on how Apple does it. If one product (iPod, Apple TV, one of the laptops, OS X, etc.) were examined in detail, deconstructed, and other examples from other products were use to support the analysis, an article could be produced that would might satisfy the curiosity that causes us to open the Technology Review to page 54 upon reading the teaser, "How Apple Does It" on the front cover.

 

[oscuh]

You missed the point

So, you're saying more companies should do what Apple does and make products that look good... but that the most prominent example of a company doing that doesn't count, because they're doing what Apple did.

Right.

Some of Sony's designs are good, but my comment was pertaining more to computer design. The ONE Sony laptop I saw that looked "cool" was obviously a Mac Rip-Off.

My point was that Apple leads and everyone else follows. Remember the original iMac and how many companies jumped on the Bondi bandwagon?

If a company is going approach design the way Apple does, they need to be innovative at the end of the day, not just plagarize.

 

[oscuh]

Relax, we're on the same page

I personally take exception to this comment, on the grounds that I've yet to see Sony produce ANYTHING which looked "good" in either their desktop or laptop lineup. Their short-lived eVilla (what a name) looked like a Mac 128/iMac rip-off, and other than the AiBO, there isn't one single thing I've seen come from Sony that didn't look like crap, or look like it was a total rip-off of someone else's design. And usually even the duplicative effort was obviously not all that good. And if you look at their latest line-up of high-end LCD TVs, they all look like black-colored iMac G4 screens.

There's about as much originality in Tokyo as there is in Redmond.

I agree with 99.9% of what you said. See my response to JustJay ... ONE Sony product in the computing realm has looked even remotely/potentially "cool" IMO, and that was a blatant copy of a Mac laptop ....

Beyond the realm of Computers, the PS3 looks kind of cool, but that's about it ... I certainly wouldn't have designed it to look the way it does ... or the XBOX360 for that matter, and we all know who that belongs to ...