Johnny Ive
Former Chief Design Officer at Apple. He and his design firm were involved in creating the interior of Ferrari's new electric vehicle, which features a blend of digital screens and tactile buttons.
First Mentioned
2/14/2026, 3:56:17 AM
Last Updated
2/14/2026, 4:14:16 AM
Research Retrieved
2/14/2026, 4:14:16 AM
Summary
Sir Jonathan Paul Ive is a British-American industrial designer renowned for his nearly three-decade career at Apple Inc., where he served as Chief Design Officer and was a pivotal collaborator of Steve Jobs. His work defined the aesthetic of modern consumer technology through iconic products such as the iMac, iPod, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, as well as architectural projects like Apple Park. After departing Apple in 2019, Ive founded the creative collective LoveFrom, which has since partnered with major global brands including Ferrari, Airbnb, and OpenAI. His design philosophy, often inspired by Dieter Rams, emphasizes tactile quality and meticulous craftsmanship, a style recently applied to Ferrari's first electric vehicle. Beyond his commercial work, Ive serves as the Chancellor of the Royal College of Art and was appointed a trustee of the British Museum.
Referenced in 1 Document
Research Data
Extracted Attributes
Honors
Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE); Royal Designer for Industry (RDI)
Patents
Over 14,300 design and utility patents
Education
Bachelor of Arts in Industrial Design, Newcastle Polytechnic (now Northumbria University)
Full Name
Sir Jonathan Paul Ive
Birth Date
1967-02-27
Birth Place
Chingford, London, England
Citizenship
United Kingdom; United States (since 2012)
Design Philosophy
Emphasis on tactile experience and meticulous care, contrasting with extreme minimalism
Timeline
- Born in Chingford, London, England. (Source: Wikipedia)
1967-02-27
- Graduated from Newcastle Polytechnic and co-founded the design consultancy Tangerine. (Source: Britannica Money)
1989-01-01
- Joined Apple Inc. full-time and relocated to California. (Source: Wikipedia)
1992-09-01
- Led the design of the original iMac, marking a turning point for Apple's industrial design. (Source: Business Insider)
1998-01-01
- Knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) for services to design and enterprise. (Source: Britannica Money)
2012-01-01
- Promoted to Chief Design Officer at Apple Inc. (Source: Wikipedia)
2015-01-01
- Assumed the role of Chancellor of the Royal College of Art. (Source: Wikipedia)
2017-07-01
- Departed Apple Inc. to establish his own creative collective, LoveFrom. (Source: Wikipedia)
2019-07-01
- Scheduled to begin serving as a trustee of the British Museum. (Source: Wikipedia)
2025-06-01
Wikipedia
View on WikipediaJony Ive
Sir Jonathan Paul Ive (born 27 February 1967) is a British-American designer. He is best known for his work at Apple Inc., where he was senior vice president of industrial design and chief design officer. Ive is the founder of LoveFrom, a creative collective that works with Ferrari, Airbnb, OpenAI and other global brands. He has been chancellor of the Royal College of Art in London since 2017 and a trustee of the British Museum since June 2025. Ive joined Apple in September 1992, and was promoted to senior vice president of industrial design in the late 1990s after the return of co-founder Steve Jobs. He was Chief Design Officer from 2015 until his departure in July 2019. Working closely with Jobs, Ive played a vital role in the designs of products including the Apple Watch, iMac, Power Mac G4 Cube, iPod, iPhone, iPad, MacBook, and the user interface of Apple's mobile operating system iOS. He was also responsible for the design of major architectural projects, including Apple's Cupertino headquarters complex, Apple Park, and Apple Stores. Born in London, Ive lived there until his family moved to Stafford when he was about 12. He studied design at Newcastle Polytechnic and later joined the London-based design firm Tangerine, where he worked on client projects for LG and Ideal Standard as well as Apple. After leaving Tangerine to join Apple full time, he began designing the decade's PowerBooks and Macs. He acquired US citizenship in 2012. He was invited to join the Royal College of Art in May 2017 as its head of college, serving a fixed five-year term until May 2022. Ive has received accolades and honours for his designs and patents. In the United Kingdom, he has been appointed a Royal Designer for Industry (RDI), an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (HonFREng), and a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE). In 2018, he was awarded the Hawking Fellowship of the Cambridge Union Society. In a 2004 BBC poll of cultural writers, Ive was ranked the most influential person in British culture. His designs have been described as integral to the successes of Apple, one of the world's largest information technology companies by revenue and market capitalisation.
Web Search Results
- Jony Ive - Wikipedia
Sir Jonathan Paul Ive (born 27 February 1967) is a British-American designer. He is best known for his work at Apple Inc., where he was senior vice president of industrial design and chief design officer. Ive is the founder of LoveFrom, a creative collective that works with Ferrari, Airbnb, OpenAI and other global brands. He has been chancellor of the Royal College of Art in London since 2017 and a trustee of the British Museum since June 2025. [...] Ive joined Apple in September 1992, and was promoted to senior vice president of industrial design in the late 1990s after the return of co-founder Steve Jobs. He was Chief Design Officer from 2015 until his departure in July 2019. Working closely with Jobs, Ive played a vital role in the designs of products including the Apple Watch, iMac, Power Mac G4 Cube, iPod, iPhone, iPad, MacBook, and the user interface of Apple's mobile operating system iOS. He was also responsible for the design of major architectural projects, including Apple's Cupertino headquarters complex, Apple Park, and Apple Stores. [...] | Sir Jony Ive KBE HonFREng RDI | | Ive at Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2010 | | Born | Jonathan Paul Ive (1967-02-27) 27 February 1967 (age 58) Chingford, London, England | | Citizenship | United Kingdom United States (since 2012) | | Education | Newcastle Polytechnic (BA) | | Occupation | Industrial designer | | Known for | Former Chief Design Officer at Apple Inc. Co-designer of the iMac, iPod, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods and iOS | | Spouse | Heather Pegg (m. 1987) | | Children | 2 | | Awards | List of awards and nominations | | Chancellor of the Royal College of Art | | Incumbent | | Assumed office 1 July 2017 | | Preceded by | James Dyson (as Provost) | | | | |
- LoveFrom, Jony
Jony Ive is a designer. Born in London, he moved to California in 1992 to join Apple. As Chief Design Officer, he was responsible for the design of hardware, user interface, packaging and major architectural projects. Steve Jobs described Jony as his spiritual partner saying, “The difference that Jony has made not only at Apple but in the world is huge.” Their unique partnership defined a profound and enduring cultural legacy. Jony led the design of iconic and category-defining products including the iMac, iPod, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. He holds more than 14,300 design and utility patents, uniquely spanning both hardware and software.
- Jony Ive | Biography, Apple, LoveFrom, & Facts | Britannica Money
Nick Harvey—REX/Shutterstock.com in full: : Sir Jonathan Paul Ive Jony Ive (born February 27, 1967, London, England) is a British industrial designer who helped make design as central to a personal computer’s appeal as its technical performance during his time at Apple Inc. (1992–2019). ## Early education and work in London Ive studied art and design at Newcastle Polytechnic (now Northumbria University). After graduating in 1989, he cofounded Tangerine, a London-based design consultancy that counted Apple (AAPL) among its clients. ## Joining Apple and rise under Steve Jobs [...] Table of Contents Introduction & Quick Facts Early education and work in London Joining Apple and rise under Steve Jobs Redefining the home computer Designing for usability and elegance The iPod, iPhone, and design leadership Awards and honors Later years at Apple and transition to LoveFrom OpenAI’s acquisition of IO Read More Steve JobsApple Inc.Terence Conran # Jony Ive British designer and executive Also known as: Sir Jonathan Paul Ive Written byJanet Moredock Janet Moredock Freelance writer and editor. Fact-checked byThe Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica [...] ## Awards and honors Ive’s work earned widespread recognition both within the design world and beyond. In 2003, he was named Designer of the Year by the Design Museum in London for his role in developing the 2002 flat-panel iMac. The award, worth £25,000 ($41,000), is given annually to a designer born or based in the United Kingdom. By 2008, he had received six Black Pencils from D&AD (Design and Art Direction), among the most prestigious accolades in the design industry. In 2012, D&AD named Ive and his team the best design studio of the past 50 years. That same year, he was knighted for services to design and enterprise, becoming a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE). He had previously been appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2006.
- The Life and Rise of Jony Ive - Business Insider
Subscribe Newsletters Tech # The life and rise of Jony Ive, the legendary Apple designer who has joined OpenAI By Katie Canales , Paige Leskin , Rebecca Aydin , and Lakshmi Varanasi Copy link Email Facebook WhatsApp X LinkedIn Bluesky Threads Impact Link Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? . Former Apple design chief Jony Ive and his design firm LoveFrom will be taking over design at OpenAI. OpenAI is also acquiring Ive's startup io in a $6.5 billion deal. Here's all you need to know about Jony Ive. Jony Ive, Apple's longtime design chief, entered into a new partnership with OpenAI. [...] Ive is best known for his nearly 30 years at Apple. In that time, he received countless awards and accolades for his ingenuity and commitment to Apple's minimalist design aesthetic. Ive's success at Apple made him a household name and catapulted him into pop culture discourse. Here's all you need to know. ## Early life and education Jonathan Paul Ive was born on February 27, 1967, in Chingford, England, a suburb of London. His father was a silversmith, and his mother was a psychotherapist. While attending secondary school, Ive was diagnosed with dyslexia. Ive studied industrial design at Newcastle Polytechnic, now called Northumbria University. ## Jony Ive's rise at Apple [...] Over more than two decades at Apple, Ive led the design of iconic Apple products like the iMac in 1998, iPhone in 2007, and Apple Watch in 2014 — shaping everything from hardware and software to packaging, retail stores, and even Apple's campus. Ive said in an interview with Stripe CEO Patrick Collison that his ideas and work at Apple were often inspired by Dieter Rams, the German industrial designer who had a "less but better" approach. He's also said that whenever he starts working on a project, he thinks about the utility of a product and then he begins to consider what it will actually look like.
- The Designer Who Changed Apple. How Jony Ive's ... - Medium
Jonathan Paul Ive was born in Chingford (a suburb of London) on February 27th, 1967. His father, Mike, was influential to Jony’s early foray into the world of design. The father and son were “constantly keeping up a conversation about the built environment and what made-objects were all around them…and how they could be made better” (Kahney, 4). At home, the duo would work in the workshop that Mike Ive built and it was in this workshop that Jony came away with the overarching principle that encompasses all of his work: “I came to realize that what was really important was the care that was put into it. What I really despise is when I sense some carelessness in a product” (Kahney, 6). This intuitive sense of design done right and with tremendous care would eventually carry Jony Ive to the [...] Having played such a pivotal role in the creation and success of many of the Apple products in existence today, Jony Ive became the darling and star of the company. Steve Jobs even asserted that “[Jony Ive] has more operational power than anyone else at Apple except me. There’s no one who can tell him what to do, or to butt out. That’s the way I set it up” (Kahney, 251). However, even after Steve Jobs passed away in October 2011, Ive has continued to remain “a busy and engaged man” within the halls of Apple. The organizational structure of the company now revolves around CEO Tim Cook, who is seen as a more collaborative leader and less fiery than Steve Jobs. However, it is well-known that Jony Ive and his IDg have “enormous operational clout” and they call “the shots with engineering and [...] Upon leaving Newcastle Polytechnic, Jony Ive began working with a design consulting firm called Roberts Weaver Group (RWG) in London. While he grew as a young designer and impressed his colleagues in his short time there, it was evident that Jony was meant for greater and more challenging design problems that would stretch his abilities even further.