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Businesses Apple Technology

Turnover Hits Apple's Famed Industrial Design Team (wsj.com) 47

Apple's famous and close-knit industrial design team that works under design chief Jony Ive is undergoing major changes, WSJ reported this week. From the report: Rico Zorkendorfer and Daniele De Iuliis, who together have more than 35 years of experience at Apple, decided to leave the company recently [Editor's note: the link may be paywalled; alternative source], people familiar with the departures said. Another member of the team with a decade of experience, Julian Honig, plans to leave in the coming months, people familiar with his plans said. Mr. Zorkendorfer said he was taking a break from his professional life to spend time with his family, adding that he felt privileged to work on Apple's design team. Mr. De Iuliis didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. Mr. Honig declined to comment.

The departures of members of the core design team that revived Apple in the 2000s and did the work behind the iPhone, iPad and watch come amid a pause in new products, as the company emphasizes new subscription services this year instead of new gadgets amid slowing iPhone sales. It also follows chief designer Jony Ive's resumption a little over a year ago of day-to-day oversight for the industrial design group.

The roughly two-dozen person team known internally as ID is responsible for establishing the look and feel of all of Apple's products, including the iPhone, one of the most successful products of all time. The tech giant has replenished its design ranks in recent years, adding creatives from apparel company Nike, independent studios and design schools. Recent hires will assume more responsibility for product development as veterans leave.

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Turnover Hits Apple's Famed Industrial Design Team

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  • The ship is sinking. The smart guys are leaving now, before it gets really bad.
  • by BarneyGuarder ( 44042 ) on Friday April 26, 2019 @04:36PM (#58498212)
    I'm on my way to the bakery, I need to know!
  • by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 26, 2019 @04:52PM (#58498288)

    Cylinders, Rounded Rectangles, Flat things... That team was amazing.

    • by Tablizer ( 95088 )

      Kirk: "Scotty, I need more basic shapes, the Klingon OS is quickly gaining!"

      Scotty: "Coptain, I've givin 'er all she's got! There's only so many simple shapes and colors in this dimension. We already did translucent aluminum for those smelly whales."

      Spock: "Did you say this dimension? Hmm. Captain, about that somewhat restraining Temporal Prime Directive..."

  • Mr. Zorkendorfer said he was taking a break from his professional life to spend time with his family, adding that he felt privileged to work on Apple's design team

    Yeah, we've heard those words before from various people.

    The same way that "tired and emotional" is a euphemism so common, that if a journalist in the UK used it he/she could be charged for slander.

  • by Anonymous Coward

    Maybe they'll stop making terrible designs that break at nothing. Seriously Apple, make it so any water that falls in your macbook keyboard... just flow right out through canals instead of falling straight on the PCB.

  • by Anonymous Coward

    Apple dominates every aspect of technology that actually matters, whether its personal computers, smart phones or smart watches. These guys made their mark laying waste to the dipshit losers at Microsoft and in the Lin-sux "community" and have earned a long and wealthy retirement.

  • Sounds like a food-related assault.

  • an Industrial Design Team? Wow who knew!

    Just my 2 cents ;)
  • Trust me, this is about the charging pad. Form got in the way of function, and the design team was accordingly invited to suicide.

  • A good team works because you either pick or are lucky to find people who "mesh" well together. They go for years, they work well and the output is exceptional but even the most dedicated person gets bored and needs a change. It only takes one person to sow the seeds of doubt and others a) know the team won't be the same again and b) they begin to think "is the grass greener over there?". Either way a slight change to a well oiled team will break it like a chainlink being cut, the chain breaks and things

C'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas l'Informatique. -- Bosquet [on seeing the IBM 4341]

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