4 ms·

Marc Newson to Join Apple’s Design Team

25 points by stephenc_c_ 12y ago

johansch 12y ago
I guess this is a sign of Apple moving more into fashion.
- capkutay 12y ago
  This along with signing the CEO of Burberry and Yves Saint Laurent. Clearly, they're not trying to win the battle for best tech gadget which Samsung and others have flung themselves into in an attempt to beat Apple products. I'm guessing things like the iWatch, phones, and tables will be fashionable, high margin products built to 1) be easy to use 2) look very good and stylish rather than have the most features...
  - iQuercus 12y ago
    There ought to be an equivalent phrase to "never get involved in a land war in Asia" for getting into a feature war in technology.
  - k-mcgrady 12y ago
    >> I'm guessing things like the iWatch, phones, and tables will be fashionable, high margin products built to 1) be easy to use 2) look very good and stylish rather than have the most features... That seems like the smart way to go. Regardless of the features, for most people, it's a fashion accessory first. Take Google Glass for example. I tried one for a week. It was cool tech and I could see how it would be useful for me but there is no way I wearing that thing. Same goes for the watches.
  - Igglyboo 12y ago
    Apple products: 1) are very pretty/trendy/fashionable 2) have a very high build quality(no cheap plastic, lots of aluminum) 3) "just work" Honestly 2 and 3 are why I stick with them. After owning a mbp and iphone I can't go back to the crappy plastic that every piece of tech seems to be made out of these days, and I never have to worry about something not working on my phone or laptop like I had to with my countless android devices. When I need to get work done I'll open up my vm or boot into ubuntu/fedora/etc. but other than that I don't need/care about endless customizability that android/linux offer me. I want something works and is easy to use.
    - boyaka 12y ago
      I agree with your 3 points but I would add one more that isn't positive: 4) designed to the limits of failure, low design quality/resilience
  - threeseed 12y ago
    The CEO of Burberry also happens to be a superb retail strategist with plenty of experience in selling within China. She is a much needed and highly qualified replacement for Ron Johnson. The YSL hire was specifically to help sell the iWatch.
  - mwfunk 12y ago
    I don't see how anyone would draw this conclusion from the facts given. They haven't had high-profile engineering-centric hires in the past year because there haven't been any high-profile engineering vacancies. In any event, not trying to have the most features is a good thing. It's pointless to have the most features if the features aren't appropriate for the product. A big part of good product design is making sure that every feature that is in the product has a damn good reason for being there. Companies that pursue feature bloat for its own sake are usually just trying to pad out their marketing blurbs, or have a screwed-up management structure that incentivizes everyone involved to cram their pet features into everything for the sake of internal corporate politics. Feature creep isn't the sign of high tech products, it's the sign of an unhealthy organization that doesn't know (or care?) what it's actually creating.
- threeseed 12y ago
  Marc Newson is an outstanding product designer and also happens to be a good friend of Ive's. I know Apple has made some fashion specific hires in the past but I don't think this is one of them.
dewitt 12y ago
If I were running Apple, I'd be more worried about becoming great at online services (cloud, auth, security, identity) rather than doubling down on their expertise in fashion and user interface. This is probably just some poorly timed high-profile acquisitions (Beats) and hires (Dre, Iovine, Ahrendts, Newson), though. I'm sure this occurs to them as well...
- serve_yay 12y ago
  Companies "worry" about lots of things at once, especially the ones as big as Apple.
- WoodenChair 12y ago
  Design is much more than "fashion" and "user interface." Then again people who don't appreciate design tend to be down on Apple more generally...
  - Igglyboo 12y ago
    I'd have to agree sadly. "Use android you can do way more stuff with it and install custom ROMS". Too bad they all look like shit, especially the vendor specific UIs. Google really needs to start working on the Android UI and forcing vendors to use it, windows phone/iOS blow android out of the water when it comes to design.
    - ajizzle 12y ago
      Also, Android should really start restricting their users to a certain screen size. Preferably very very small. This is a basic design principle that they really should have done their homework on.
  - cherry_su 12y ago
    Exactly. "Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works." said Steve Jobs.
- threeseed 12y ago
state 12y ago
It's really difficult for me to see Newson's work as anything but very, very anachronistic. His formal language seems to me to be hopelessly trapped in the 90s. That being said, his range is impressive. He's capable of working in many different scales and materials. Beside the fact that he's a friend of Ive's, this seems like the best argument for him being a good fit at Apple.
- aaronbrethorst 12y ago
  > His formal language seems to me to be hopelessly trapped in the 90s. Can you elaborate on this?
  - state 12y ago
    Sure, a bit. Excessive rounded edges, bright pop-colors and lots of plastic seem to me a staple of the 90s. CAM techniques were just starting to hit their stride, so the work from the period often feels like it's just a direct product of the software. Newson's work looks to me like it popped out of a rendering on a Silicon Graphics machine. Karim Rashid, Greg Lyn are easy references. There are many others I can't think of. It's not just that his work fits the style, but that even his recent work still employs the same techniques.
    - crazytony 12y ago
      aside from the plastic it sounds like he'll get on just fine at Apple.
    - aaronbrethorst 12y ago
      Very interesting, much obliged.
    - alaskamiller 12y ago
      Concur, but 90s/00s aesthetics is rebounding back in the fashion cycle. The new design taste can be palpable to the prime demo, teens.
- wdewind 12y ago
Bud 12y ago
Slideshow of some of Newson's designs: http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2012/09/marc-newson-designs-pentax http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2012/09/marc-newson-design... Newson's timepiece designs, from his own website: http://www.marc-newson.com/ProjectCategorys.aspx?GroupSelected=0&Category=Timepieces http://www.marc-newson.com/ProjectCategorys.aspx?GroupSelect...

25 points by stephenc_c_ 12y ago

johansch 12y ago

I guess this is a sign of Apple moving more into fashion.

capkutay 12y ago
This along with signing the CEO of Burberry and Yves Saint Laurent. Clearly, they're not trying to win the battle for best tech gadget which Samsung and others have flung themselves into in an attempt to beat Apple products. I'm guessing things like the iWatch, phones, and tables will be fashionable, high margin products built to 1) be easy to use 2) look very good and stylish rather than have the most features...
- iQuercus 12y ago
  There ought to be an equivalent phrase to "never get involved in a land war in Asia" for getting into a feature war in technology.
- k-mcgrady 12y ago
  >> I'm guessing things like the iWatch, phones, and tables will be fashionable, high margin products built to 1) be easy to use 2) look very good and stylish rather than have the most features... That seems like the smart way to go. Regardless of the features, for most people, it's a fashion accessory first. Take Google Glass for example. I tried one for a week. It was cool tech and I could see how it would be useful for me but there is no way I wearing that thing. Same goes for the watches.
- Igglyboo 12y ago
  Apple products: 1) are very pretty/trendy/fashionable 2) have a very high build quality(no cheap plastic, lots of aluminum) 3) "just work" Honestly 2 and 3 are why I stick with them. After owning a mbp and iphone I can't go back to the crappy plastic that every piece of tech seems to be made out of these days, and I never have to worry about something not working on my phone or laptop like I had to with my countless android devices. When I need to get work done I'll open up my vm or boot into ubuntu/fedora/etc. but other than that I don't need/care about endless customizability that android/linux offer me. I want something works and is easy to use.
  - boyaka 12y ago
    I agree with your 3 points but I would add one more that isn't positive: 4) designed to the limits of failure, low design quality/resilience
- threeseed 12y ago
  The CEO of Burberry also happens to be a superb retail strategist with plenty of experience in selling within China. She is a much needed and highly qualified replacement for Ron Johnson. The YSL hire was specifically to help sell the iWatch.
- mwfunk 12y ago
  I don't see how anyone would draw this conclusion from the facts given. They haven't had high-profile engineering-centric hires in the past year because there haven't been any high-profile engineering vacancies. In any event, not trying to have the most features is a good thing. It's pointless to have the most features if the features aren't appropriate for the product. A big part of good product design is making sure that every feature that is in the product has a damn good reason for being there. Companies that pursue feature bloat for its own sake are usually just trying to pad out their marketing blurbs, or have a screwed-up management structure that incentivizes everyone involved to cram their pet features into everything for the sake of internal corporate politics. Feature creep isn't the sign of high tech products, it's the sign of an unhealthy organization that doesn't know (or care?) what it's actually creating.
threeseed 12y ago
Marc Newson is an outstanding product designer and also happens to be a good friend of Ive's. I know Apple has made some fashion specific hires in the past but I don't think this is one of them.

dewitt 12y ago

If I were running Apple, I'd be more worried about becoming great at online services (cloud, auth, security, identity) rather than doubling down on their expertise in fashion and user interface. This is probably just some poorly timed high-profile acquisitions (Beats) and hires (Dre, Iovine, Ahrendts, Newson), though. I'm sure this occurs to them as well...

serve_yay 12y ago
Companies "worry" about lots of things at once, especially the ones as big as Apple.
WoodenChair 12y ago
Design is much more than "fashion" and "user interface." Then again people who don't appreciate design tend to be down on Apple more generally...
- Igglyboo 12y ago
  I'd have to agree sadly. "Use android you can do way more stuff with it and install custom ROMS". Too bad they all look like shit, especially the vendor specific UIs. Google really needs to start working on the Android UI and forcing vendors to use it, windows phone/iOS blow android out of the water when it comes to design.
  - ajizzle 12y ago
    Also, Android should really start restricting their users to a certain screen size. Preferably very very small. This is a basic design principle that they really should have done their homework on.
- cherry_su 12y ago
  Exactly. "Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works." said Steve Jobs.
threeseed 12y ago

state 12y ago

It's really difficult for me to see Newson's work as anything but very, very anachronistic. His formal language seems to me to be hopelessly trapped in the 90s. That being said, his range is impressive. He's capable of working in many different scales and materials. Beside the fact that he's a friend of Ive's, this seems like the best argument for him being a good fit at Apple.

aaronbrethorst 12y ago
> His formal language seems to me to be hopelessly trapped in the 90s. Can you elaborate on this?
- state 12y ago
  Sure, a bit. Excessive rounded edges, bright pop-colors and lots of plastic seem to me a staple of the 90s. CAM techniques were just starting to hit their stride, so the work from the period often feels like it's just a direct product of the software. Newson's work looks to me like it popped out of a rendering on a Silicon Graphics machine. Karim Rashid, Greg Lyn are easy references. There are many others I can't think of. It's not just that his work fits the style, but that even his recent work still employs the same techniques.
  - crazytony 12y ago
    aside from the plastic it sounds like he'll get on just fine at Apple.
  - aaronbrethorst 12y ago
    Very interesting, much obliged.
  - alaskamiller 12y ago
    Concur, but 90s/00s aesthetics is rebounding back in the fashion cycle. The new design taste can be palpable to the prime demo, teens.
wdewind 12y ago

Bud 12y ago

Slideshow of some of Newson's designs: http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2012/09/marc-newson-designs-pentax http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2012/09/marc-newson-design... Newson's timepiece designs, from his own website: http://www.marc-newson.com/ProjectCategorys.aspx?GroupSelected=0&Category=Timepieces http://www.marc-newson.com/ProjectCategorys.aspx?GroupSelect...