Apple - The Design Legacy of Jony Ive (Full Documentary)
Look at your iPhone. Pick it up. Feel the curves.
The materials and the textures. The design is so simple and clean. And not just the iPhone.
The same design transcends to MacBook, iPad, and every other Apple product you've ever used. All shipped by one man. You might think that all of these were made by Steve Jobs, which is kind of true. It was Steve's vision. But behind Steve's vision was the men who actually designed them. And his name is Jony Ive.
Ideas. By definition, are always fragile. If they were resolved, they wouldn't be ideas, they would be products that were ready to ship. This is a story of how one designer not just created products. He redesigned the tech world.
He took tech from Boring Beige boxes to works of art. And not just Apple products. Even the devices that don't have the Apple logo. In this video, we'll explore how Jony Ive got into Apple, how he and Steve Jobs together designed the Apple ecosystem, why he left, and how his designs still shape the industry today. But before we dive deep into the details, don't forget to, like, subscribe and hit the bell icon.
If you like to watch more content related to Design and Science behind the products. And now let's go back and see how the Jony Ive became a designer. While growing up. Jony Ive was very influenced by his father, who was not just a teacher.
He was a craftsman, a designer, and a perfectionist. Most of the father son time used to be in the workshop designing and building things. And by high school, Johnny knew exactly what he wanted to study industrial design.
In 1985, he joined the Newcastle Polytechnic, one of the UK's top design school. The 1980s were full of bold, flashy designs, bright colors, sharp angles and over the top details. But Johnny was not interested in trends. He became obsessed with Dieter Rams philosophy of making everyday products minimal and functional. And for one design competition, he designed a slim, microphone like handset that you could naturally speak into almost like holding a studio microphone. It was bold, futuristic, and it looked like nothing else on the market.
There was a problem when people picked up his phone. They hesitated because they were not sure how to hold it or how to use it. And for the first time, Johnny learned a crucial lesson. Product is not just about aesthetics.
It has to be instantly understandable. But from the prize money, he went to us for job interviews in design studios like lunar that used to work for Apple. And then he felt the difference in design between England and US here. Ideas were valued and innovation was rewarded. And in that exact same moment, he knew that he had to be a part of it. But for the time being, he came back to London and started working at Tangerine, which is still a very renowned studio even today.
At that time, Robert Bruner was in charge of all the product design at Apple, and he already knew Johnny from his interview at Lunar Designs. He proposed that Tangerine take on a project designing four speculative Apple products, a tablet, a mobile keyboard, and two desktop computers. The project was named as juggernaut, and Johnny was given the chance to work on the tablet called the Macintosh Folio.
It was a chunky, notebook sized tablet with pen based screen and huge built in stand. He also worked on a special Smart Keyboard for this tablet called the Folio Keyboard. So the whole team at Tangerine worked on it for days and made some prototypes and models. And then came the day to present it to Robert Brunner at Apple headquarters. While everyone else just packed their models in cardboard boxes filled with packaging, peanuts.
Johnny wrapped the models nicely in bubble wraps. Then he laid corresponding sketches on each model and then top it up with a T-shirt printed with the orange tangerine logo. This care and attention to detail in packaging and presenting impressed not only his teammates, but also Robert Bruner.
He said that Johnny's designs stood out because they were not based on anything that Apple or any other computer companies has done before. At the end of the presentation, he took Johnny to the side and said, the doors always open here. Think about it. Most of the concepts of the project never came to life.
But one good thing that happened for Apple and for us is that Johnny decided to move to California and join Apple. At this time, Apple had just moved away from Frog Design, the firm responsible for Apple's early look, and now Apple was building its own in-house design team under Robert Brunner. The goal was to create a fresh, unified design language for Apple products because Apple itself was a mess. Every product line up had its own design language.
Printers did not match desktops, and monitors looked completely different from keyboards. Apple felt like four separate companies instead of one. The company had spent years searching for a new superstar designers. They approached Porsche, Ferrari, and even the legendary Giorgetto Giugiaro.
But nobody was the right fit. Eventually, they realized they already had the right guy. Robert Bruner. Bruner accepted the role only on one condition that he would build Apple's design team like a small independent design studio inside Apple. And now, with Johnny on board, the studio was starting to take shape and join first big project.
The second generation Newton message pad. The first Newton had been rushed to the market. It was bulky, had design flaws, and worst of all, it was a joke. Literally, a Doonesbury cartoon mocked It's terrible handwriting recognition. And that single joke killed its reputation overnight.
And Apple had to fix it fast. Johnny took on that challenge and worked on the next Newton message pad 110. Oh, he redesigned the lid so it flipped up like a notepad, making it more intuitive. He crafted a new spring loaded stylus that popped out with the push, making it feel premium. He even obsessed over the opening motion. He wanted it to feel satisfying, like opening a luxury notebook.
It was Apple's first product, completely outsourced to Taiwanese manufacturers. And Jonny camped out at the factory, fine tuning every little detail. And finally, when it was launched. It won many design awards. But the product itself was a flop. Jonny felt frustrated, he was designing, but he was not in control.
At that time, Apple's culture was engineering driven. See there are two kind of companies. One who changed the design according to the available engineering, and second, who changed the limits of engineering to bring the designs to life.
Now Apple is in the second category, but not at that time. Then came his next project, the 20th anniversary Mac. This was supposed to be a statement piece celebrating Apple's legacy. Johnny designed it with a thin profile, built in studio speakers and a futuristic all in one look. It was beautiful, but it was also a disaster.
Apple turned it into a luxury limited edition machine. Pricing it at $9,000. Nobody bought it. And within a year, price dropped $2000.
Meanwhile, Apple itself was falling apart. Sales are plummeting. Windows 95 was crushing the Mac. Apple tried licensing its software to third party PC makers, but it did not work. The company was running out of money. And its CEO, Jill Amelio, was about to get fired.
Apple computer has claimed another victim. Continue to lose money and market share. Johnny was on the verge of quitting.
He felt that Apple had lost its vision. It was stuck making uninspired and forgettable products. Then everything changed. Steve Jobs returned on January 7th, 1997. Jill Amelio, Apple CEO, came on the stage of Mac Expo.
And after some initial product announcements, Steve Jobs took the stage. He had been brought in as an advisor after Apple acquired next. But now he was back in charge.
Jobs looked around and asked, tell me what's wrong with this place? And before anyone could answer, he said, it's the products. The products suck. There's no sex in them anymore. Johnny was sitting in the back thinking about quitting and returning to England. But then jobs said something that stopped him.
Apple's goal is not just to make money. It's to make great products. Johnny had never heard Apple's leadership talk like this before. And that was the moment he decided to stay. Jobs wasted no time fixing Apple. First, he slashed the product line up from 40 to just 4 products.
consumer desktop, consumer laptop pro desktop and pro laptop. Then he shut down dozens of failing projects, including the Newton John, his first major project at Apple. Rather than being frustrated, he saw something else for the first time. Design was driving the company, not engineering.
Then one day, jobs walked into the design studio. So Johnny and his team mate had prepared like a booklet showcasing the best work. Jobs flipped through it. And then he found that the ideas were bold, fresh, and different from anything Apple had done before.
And for the first time since return. Jobs was impressed. He pointed at Johnny and said, you, you are in charge now. And that moment changed everything.
Because just after that, Johnny started working on his big project. Under jobs, the iMac. Before this, computers were just big boxes. Dull, complicated and boring that looked like office equipments.
Not something that you would want in your home. And Jony Ive changed that. He designed a computer that felt fairly exciting and alive. He started with the shape instead of a standard rectangular box. The iMac was curved and organic. From the top, it looked like a bell, smoothly tapering towards the front.
From the side. It followed the shape of the CRT tube, so that no space is wasted inside the housing. At the base, there was a white translucent housing strapped around the machine. It was not just for the aesthetics. It gave the iMac a floating appearance, making it look lighter than it actually was.
The ports were placed in a slot shape, cut out on the side, a simple but effective way to keep them accessible without ruining the clean design. And they even added a port cover, so when not in use, everything can stay neatly concealed. But the biggest challenge was to go with the USB port instead of a floppy drive. Because this was the future. And Apple never looked back. Also, from the side you can see the slot shaped ribs on the inside that complemented the external slot shaped cutout.
Then there was the clear Bondi blue colored shell. This was the real statement. Instead of hiding the components, Johnny celebrated them. The translucent plastic made technology feel approachable. It removed the barrier between the user and the machine.
For the first time, you could actually see inside your computer. And that changed everything. On top, he added a handle not because people were expected to carry the iMac around, but because it made it feel personal and encourage interaction. If you're scared of something, you don't touch it. They had to fix that. And for the cooling, Johnny didn't want you to make normal vents.
So he designed slot shaped cutouts with subtle ventilation holes that blended into the body. The color placement was also intentional. The front and the handle shared the same color, subtly guiding the users on where to interact. And that interaction was seamless. Those stripe lines on the back slots towards the front, leading you right naturally to the display and controls. At the front,
Everything was designed for ease of use. ATFT screen set at the center flanked by two speaker grills, continuing the slot shape design language in Bondi blue below, a CD drive with the sliding tray replaced the floppy drive, signaling Apple's shift towards digital media. Then there were 3.5mm jacks for headphones
and a microphone, making it more multimedia friendly. The iMac was not just about design. It was a business masterstroke. Within six weeks, Apple had sold more than 270,000 units and by the end of that year, that number jumped to 800,000. It became the fastest selling Apple computer in history. It gave Apple enough money, then the start looking for more opportunities.
And finally they found the music industry. Apple lacked a digital music strategy like Napster. So they acquired soundjam and turned it into iTunes. But Steve Jobs wanted a hardware companion for iTunes, so they made the iPod. Early MP3 players of that time were bulky, ugly, and had limited storage that can only hold one album worth of music.
And then Toshiba launched a 1.8in five TB hard drive. This tiny drive could hold 1000 songs, making it the missing piece for Apple's MP3 player. After that, Jony Ive, together with Tony Fadell, started the development of the first iPod under the name Project Dulcimer.
The design of the iPod was very simple and minimal. It was about the size of a cigaret pack with the triangular shape and round edges. It fit comfortably in one hand or a pocket, reinforcing Apple's marketing slogan 1000 songs in your pocket. The front of the iPad was made from high gloss white polycarbonate, while the back was polished stainless steel. White color made the device feel less tech heavy and more approachable, almost like an everyday object rather than a complex gadget. The stainless steel back was beautiful, but was prone to scratches, which later became one of its main criticism.
In the front, it had a small black and white LCD screen positioned at the top with text based navigation. The iPod also keep the UI very simple. Just a list of songs, artist and playlist.
And to navigate the simple UI, Johnny added a scroll wheel similar to Braun T3. The wheel allowed for fast and fluid navigation. The more you spun, the faster you scrolled, and right at the center was the slick button, creating a simple yet powerful injection method.
Instead of cluttering the design with extra controls, Apple placed four essential buttons play Pause Menu, and two forward and backward buttons around the wheel. This layout made the interface even more intuitive, keeping all controls within easy reach. And then they packaged all this into a seamless closure with no battery lid and no screws. Johnny did not just design the iPod.
He designed the entire ecosystem, including the iconic white earbuds. At a time when all headphone cables for black white earbuds made the iPod instantly recognizable in public, this was a genius marketing move. Because when we saw someone wearing a white headphones, you knew that they had an iPod. It turned Apple users into walking advertisements. And then in the coming years, Apple launched multiple versions of iPod and introduced touch sensitive newer ports, more storage, bigger and color touch screens, smaller sizes, and by the end of 2007 iPods for very similar to a smartphone.
Because the iPod was getting influence from the development of the iPhone that started in 2003, designer Duncan Kerr introduced multi-touch technology at an Apple design meeting. So Johnny created multiple prototypes and presented it to Steve Jobs in private. He immediately saw the potential and called it the future. Then Apple secretly acquired Finger Works, a company specializing in multi-touch gestures. It started working on a tablet, not a phone.
And they created the first prototype called as model 035. But soon they realized they were the future of mobile devices was in phones, not standalone music players or tablets. So Apple partnered with Motorola to create the Rocker E1, an iTunes compatible phone. The device was a disaster. Clunky interface, limited to 100 songs and slow transfers.
This failure convinced jobs that Apple needed to make its own phone. And Johnny's team started working on the iPhone. Initially, they crated two prototypes P1 and P2. P1 was based on iPod like rotating wheel based interface, and P2 was based on iOS touch interface that was still used today, and for the physical design, They also created multiple prototypes like extruder, which had aluminum body like iPod mini, but had sharp edges, and sandwich which had a plastic body with a metal band and was more comfortable but bulky.
These prototypes had the plastic screen. But Steve pushed for a glass screen and Apple finally worked with Corning to come up with the Gorilla Glass. And after all hundreds of prototypes, this was the iPhone that jobs presented or the stage of Macworld 2007. It had a front black glass body with just a home button, which made the screen's central element with no distraction. The back was anodised aluminium, with the curved shape making it feel premium and easy to hold. The bottom section was plastic for antenna at signal reception and the polished stainless steel joining the front and the back added strength to this beautiful device.
On the iPhone launch day, jobs turned to his friend Alan Kay and casually asked, what do you think, Alan? Is it good enough to criticize? And he answered, Make the screen at least five inches by eight inches and you will rule the world. And that's when Steve decided that he will continue with the iPad. Jobs always wanted a tablet. But whenever I was publicly, he denied. But John and his team was always secretly working on the iPad. From early 2000.
Then in 2008 and 2009, with the rise of netbooks, Apple was pressured to offer an alternative. But Steve dismissed netbooks as low quality and instead saw a tablet as a perfect lightweight alternative. So Johnny and his team started experimenting with multiple sizes and shapes, testing various screen ratios by laying out 20 models, and finally the settle on the size of a legal notepad with a focus on education and e-reading. This particular prototype, called as model 035, was made public a few years later when jobs launched the first iPad in 2010. The iPad one had a clean, uninterrupted surface with no unnecessary elements, focusing entirely on the screen, with just the home button at the bottom. Similar to the iPhone 3G, this made the iPad instantly recognizable as an Apple product without any branding on the front.
On the back, the entire body was made from milled aluminum similar to MacBooks. Johnny initially wanted a polycarbonate back like the iPhone 3G, but warping and shrinking during manufacturing led them to aluminum. But it also led them to the first unibody metal design that Apple still use today. But overall, the iPad was an instant success, even bigger than the iPhone. They sold 1 million units in under a month, twice as fast as the iPhone's early sales. IPads even outsold the netbooks with 63 million iPads shipped versus 30 million netbooks by 2011.
Johny himself said that iPad is a single product that has defined an entire category of product. But little did he know that this would be the last major product that he would do together with jobs. Apple co-founder, Chief Wizard and former CEO Steve Jobs has died at age 56. But for Johnny, losing jobs was deeply personal. They had worked side by side for over a decade, sharing an almost telepathic understanding of design and product vision.
He once said there were things we would not have done without Steve, but that all the things we would have done that we chose not to. So despite the emotional toll, Jony led the development of one last iconic product and the jobs influence, the Apple Watch. The Apple Watch, released in 2015 was a departure from Apple's previous devices. It was not just a piece of technology. It was a fashion statement.
a health tracker and a personal device unlike anything Apple had done before. It had a compact square form factor. Unlike traditional round watches, Jony chose a rectangular display for better readability of digital content. But then he made the edges rounded so that it filled organic and approachable. And the unibody design from the iPad even continued here.
Case was made from a single block of aluminum, stainless steel, or even gold. The interface was also somewhat inspired from traditional watches, just like a watch crown. Johnny designed a digital crown that allowed users to scroll, zoom, and navigate without touching the screen. It also reduced the smudges, which can compromise the visibility of the screen.
It was the first rotary input mechanism Apple ever used in a touchscreen device. And of course, it was a fashion accessory. So the fit is very important.
So Johnny and his team also worked extensively on different bands for the watch, they designed trhe Fluroelastomer band to be sweatproof and durable for the sport fans. Then they offered a leather loop, a classic buckle for users who want to wear Apple Watch like a traditional watch. And finally, to give it a high end, jewelry like finish, they offered a milanese loop and a link bracelet First Generation Apple Watch was not just a smartwatch. It was a statement of design, personalization, and luxury. But it was Johnny's final major project at Apple, marking the end of an era. While he continued working on products like the MacBook and the iPhone, his passion for Apple was not the same.
After Steve Jobs passing. In 2019, after nearly 30 years, Johnny left Apple to start his own design studio, Lovefrom with the Apple as his first client. Even that partnership ended soon, and in 2022, Johnny and Apple completely parted ways. Closing the chapter of one of the most influential design legacy in tech history. But Johnny Ive's influence on tech industries extends far beyond Apple. His design principles reshaped how products look, feel, and function across various categories.
Before the iPhone, most phones had physical keyboards and complex design. After 2007, the fullscreen button free smartphones became the standard. Companies like Samsung, Google, and Huawei followed Apple's design approach. Clean unibody designs with glass and metal materials. The iPad success killed netbooks and pushed brands like Microsoft to make surface. Samsung to make Galaxy Tab and Amazon to make Kindle.
The MacBook air introduced the thin unibody aluminum laptop, which became the industry standard. Companies like Dell came up with XPS. HP came up with specter, and Microsoft came up with Surface Laptop.
All of them adopted this minimal metal design, reducing bezels and bulky ports. The Apple Watch defined the modern smartwatches, pushing competitors like Samsung to make Galaxy Watch. Google to make Pixel Watch, and even Garmin to rethink their design. The story of Jony Ive is not just about iconic products. It's about a fundamental shift in how we view technology not as cold, functional tools, but as an extension of ourselves.
And today, as Ai rapidly evolved with ChatGPT and Deep Seek, we face a new design frontier. These algorithms are powerful, but they lack a physical form. They are invisible, abstract, and the live inside our devices that's standing beside us. We need someone who can do for artificial intelligence, but needed for computing.
Make it human. Because in a world where technology can often feel overwhelming. Jony Ive gave us something better technology that feels like it belongs. That's all for today.
I'll see you next time. Thank you.
2025-04-01 11:43
