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Apple's Jony Ive Gets a Promotion

News of the job promotion broke in a Telegraph article penned by comedian Stephen Fry.

By Stephanie Mlot
May 26, 2015
Jony Ive

The man most synonymous with iDevice aesthetics got a promotion this week: Apple named Jony Ive Chief Design Officer.

When Ive moves over to the newly created position on July 1, Richard Howarth will become Apple's head of industrial design, while Alan Dye will be vice president of user interface design.

The news broke in a Telegraph article penned by comedian Stephen Fry, a longtime Apple fan (see him video-bomb our own Sascha Segan below).

When asked by Fry why he would give up control of industrial design and user interface, Ive said he was "still in charge of both," but shifting some of the burden to the new execs "frees me up from some of the administrative and management work."

Apple did not immediately respond to PCMag's request for comment. But in an internal memo published by 9to5Mac CEO Tim Cook wrote that Ive "will remain responsible for all of our design, focusing entirely on current design projects, new ideas, and future initiatives."

"His new role is a reflection of the scope of work he has been doing at Apple for some time," Cook said. "Jony's design responsibilities have expanded from hardware and, more recently, software UI to the look and feel of Apple retail stores, our new campus in Cupertino, product packaging and many other parts of our company."

"Design is one of the most important ways we communicate with our customers," Cook wrote, "and our reputation for world-class design differentiates Apple from every other company in the world."

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Howarth has been a member of the design team for two decades, contributing to each generation of iPhone, Mac, "and practically every other Apple product," Cook said. Dye, meanwhile, started with Cupertino nine years ago on the Marcom team, and worked with Ive on projects like iOS 7, iOS 8, and Apple Watch ($300.00 at eBay).

For Ive, meanwhile, design extends beyond the gadgets Apple produces. "Cook tells me that Jony Ive designed the tables that we're sitting at," Fry wrote of his experience at the Apple headquarters.

Ive's plans for Apple Campus 2 remain under wraps, though Fry did have the opportunity to visit the construction site, where a sprawling, spaceship-like circular building is expected to open to 13,000 employees by early 2017.

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About Stephanie Mlot

Contributor

Stephanie Mlot

B.A. in Journalism & Public Relations with minor in Communications Media from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP)

Reporter at The Frederick News-Post (2008-2012)

Reporter for PCMag and Geek.com (RIP) (2012-present)

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