Sir Jonathan Ive is an English designer whose work for Apple Inc. has made him one of the world’s gurus of industrial design. His groundbreaking and stylish work includes the iMac, iPod, iPhone and iPad. He has won many top design awards and has twice been honoured by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth. Ive married his high school sweetheart in 1987. They have twin sons and live in California.
Sir Jonathan was born in London in 1967. Design has been important to him since his childhood. He was fascinated by the skill of his silversmith father, whom he called a “fantastic craftsman”. Ive developed an interest in how things were made and how they worked, as well as their shape and material. He studied industrial design at university before co-founding a design consultancy in London.
Ive’s work on a project for Apple in 1992 landed him with a job at the tech giant. In 1997, he was made Senior Vice President of Industrial Design by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. He headed a team that developed some of the world’s most iconic and innovative products. Six of these are housed in New York’s Museum Of Modern Art. His creations embody simplicity of design, ease of use, and beauty.
Ive has received many awards for his genius, including the Design Museum's Designer of the Year prize in 2003. In 2007, Britain’s Observer newspaper listed him in "The 50 Men Who Really Understand Women". In 2010 Fortune magazine named him the "world's smartest designer". A year later he was knighted by Britain’s queen to become “Sir Jonathan”. Ive currently holds around 600 design patents.
