Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple's Greatest Products

Leander Kahney, author of Inside Steve's Brain, gives us an intimate look at how the legendary designer made Apple iconic in his new book, Jony Ive. "Different and new is relatively easy. Doing something that's genuinely better is very hard." (Jony Ive). In 1997, Steve Jobs returned to Apple with the unenviable task of turning around the company he had founded. One night Jobs discovered a scruffy British designer toiling away in a studio at Apple, surrounded by hundreds of sketches and prototypes. Jobs instantly realized he had found a talent who could reverse the company's long decline. That young designer was Jony Ive. Ive's collaboration with Jobs would produce some of the world's most iconic products, including the iMac, iPod, iPad and iPhone. These designs have overturned entire industries and created the world's most powerful brand. Along the way, Ive has become the world's leading technology innovator, won countless awards, earned a place on the 2013 Time 100 list, and has been knighted for his services to design and enterprise. Yet little is known about the shy, softly-spoken designer that Jobs referred to as his 'spiritual partner' at Apple. This book offers a detailed portrait of a creative genius, based on interviews with Ive's former colleagues and extensive research. From his early interest in industrial design through his education at Newcastle Polytechnic and meteoric rise at Apple, we discover the principles and practices that led Ive to become the designer of his generation. Leander Kahney has covered Apple for more than a dozen years and has written three popular books about Apple and the culture of its followers, including Inside Steve's Brain and Cult of Mac. The former news editor for Wired.com, he is currently the editor and publisher of CultofMac.com. He lives in San Francisco.