“Once viewed by many as a frill or afterthought, design is now being enthusiastically embraced as a key ingredient in how products and services are developed and, as important, how people use and interact with them,” Evans reports. “‘Apple has done a lot to bring design out of the studio as it were and into the boardroom,” says David Becker, president of PhilippeBecker, a branding and packaging design agency based in San Francisco.”
“Apple’s impact on design extends far beyond the world of computers or mobile devices. Its influence can be seen in everything from website design and software development to typography, consumer products and even toothbrushes,” Evans reports. “In many respects, Apple’s philosophical approach has established a benchmark for designers around the world, regardless of industry. When they talk about Apple, they use terms such as simplicity, elegance and restraint.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Dow C.” for the heads up.]
Perhaps Mr. Ive should design a toothbrush.
@Rike
Perhaps you have missed the iTooth Cleansing System, which includes a single moulded piece of Aluminium (all scraps are recycled, of course) and each bristle spins in perfect balance to actually magically descale your – wait for it – eye tooth!
So, as you can probably surmise, you must have your tongue firmly planted in your cheek to operate this miraculous and magical system.
Look for it at the WWDFC (World Wide Dental Floss Conference)
Cheers!
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The trouble is that for most companies, design is just about appearance.
While with Apple, design is about the whole widget, not just what it looks like.
@MizuInOz
Who would have thought? All these years I’ve been using aluminum as a hat to keep those bad alien waves away instead of the proper use. Thanks friend!
Design renaissance? Which companies (besides Apple) are participating in this so-called “renaissance? Looks to me like everybody else is just slavishly copying Apple.
As long as I can listen to Pandora while I brush, then count me in on the iBrush. I’m tired of having to reboot my current ZuneBrush to avoid the blue bristles of death.
Apple proves that Intelligent Design is a fact.
iTooth… that’s a hoot…
and those aluminum hats… mine could use a design upgrade…
The key difference IMNSHO:
Apple does “Product Design”
Most others do “Case Design” or “Packaging”
@Myself,
Even more accurately:
Apple designs for the whole user “Experience”
I don’t see how a Jonny Ive toothbrush could be any better than the latest Philips Sonicare. You can’t get closer to perfection.
Apple drives a Ford?
Apples design renaissance did not start 5 years ago as implied by this article. It started many years before with the original iMac!
Many work for many hours a day with a computer, why should something you look at that often not look nice? Design is essential. I don’t want a clunky Dell or HP in my living room, just not nice to look at. I still have here my old G4 cube. Hmm… the new iMacs look even better…
It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.
___ Steve Jobs
@R2
The Ive iTooth Cleansing System connects directly to your most favourite play list on your iTunes (wirelessly, of course) and uses your favourite beat to magically clean your teeth.
That’s nothing to bristle at!
As for Aluminium Foil Hats – – obviously this is what is done with all of the scraps that are produced when the UniBody iTooth Cleansing system is magically moulded to fit the shape of your hand.
And the battery lasts for over 10 hours before recharging – even with constant use.
AND don’t forget – each bristle lights up in a low light condition (unless you have fluorescent lights installed in your mouth) so that your iTooth can see what you are saying!
@TowerTone –
Ford (here in Australia) means Full Of Rust and Dents. Apple is a maturing company in regards to corporate wealth, however (because of the use of Aluminium – the proper Ive spelling, BTW) Apple has no rust or dents!
Cheers!
@R2
Does the Philips Sonicare multitask? If not I won’t have one.
I just wish Apple couldl figure out a way to keep their profit margins, and still make all Apple products in a NAFTA country. US/Canada/ Mexico). Maybe even source some of the components from NAFTA manufacturers? I’d personally be willing to pay $100 or so more for any Apple product if it was made in a NAFTA country.If you can’t by local, buy at least continental.
One more point on the hope for NAFTA made Apple Products regarding the New Zealand and Australian Apple users: Under our Free Trade Agreements (FTA), you guys wouldn’t pay any duty as long as it US made. Sadly If made in Canada or Mexico there might still be duty -unless you have a FTA with Canada or Mexico?
Moot point on my part anywa. Looks like China has got the business wrapped up for all anyway…..
Granted, Ive has taken Apple’s design to a whole new level, but Apple has been a design leader going back to the Apple ][. Elegance, simplicity, restraint, and attention to how the user interacts with the device, have always been central to Apple’s ethos. We naturally associate this with Jobs, but Wozniak had it too in his approach to designing circuits.
My first computer was a Lisa 2. At a time when you practically needed an engineering degree to pop the case on most other computers, I could open the Lisa up to replace a memory board, a power supply — or even a ROM chip (to make it Mac-compatible) — without even using a screw driver. And I have no background in hardware or software technology whatsoever.
A every step along the way, as smaller and more powerful hardware made new designs possible, it was Apple who led and others who copied.
I had the unfortunate experience of working fir a company that wanted to be the ‘apple’ of their industry. Complete with the CEO tirades. The hard part of copying Apple is that the company itself is designed differently and that starts from the top
Does the iBrush make your teeth glossy or matte? Because if it’s glossy I won’t buy one and will make my displeasure known across the Internet!
Just one word:
Finesse
The importance of Design seems to have diminished in the last few decades, with the increased concentration on package-printed feature lists and cost-cutting manufacturing processes, instead of ease-of-use, attractiveness, and life-span.
And why would a company focus on design when the customers were buying the products, no matter what?
And when Apple came along, and for no reason other than focus on quality, began spending energy and money on design as part of function, the rest of the industry could do nothing but glue some strips of chrome and coloured plastic onto their computer cases.
Look at Dell’s gag-inducing, failed attempt to pretend that they cared about design:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-9942497-64.html
Spending money on functional design is just not in DELL et al’s corporate DNA.
They can’t do anything but attach with epoxy, the illusion of design to their products.
Even with Apple’s shining example of success, I don’t know if North American or global consumers can be persuaded to pay for good design in all aspects of our lives.
Why? I call it the Wal-Mart-isation of our lives.
The people around me don’t look at products as valuable commodities in their lives.
What I see are legions of shoppers looking for one thing and one thing only;
The absolute lowest sticker price on a product.
I live in a wealthy city with a very high average income. People here have extremely comfortable bank accounts, and their pay cheques are pretty much guaranteed for life.
And yet the population here shops as if their lives depend on pinching every penny today, comfort and enjoyment be damned.
And all this does is create an even deeper mystery for me, around the success of Apple.
Is Apple truly the only company that focuses so intently on the experience of the user?
Is there any other company, in any field, who also successfully does this?